Arcs of the Multiverse
by King-Mac-11
Summary: Inspired by JC-of-the-Corn's Endless Possibilities, similar stories spawned by the idea, and my need for an outlet for weird stories during writer's blocks. Go read the others. They're a fun read if you enjoy this. Point is, RWBY characters are placed in a location to watch and react to multiverse versions of Jaune Arc. First M rating based on possible versions in the future.
1. Director

**King: Hello again. So, let's start with an explanation of why. I saw these stories by JC of the Corn and others about various RWBY characters reacting to multiverse versions of Jaune. I liked the idea and had some ideas for a while. So, I figured I'd give it a try. My hope is to use this as a jumping block for times when I have writer's block (writing something else tends to help me get ideas for my ongoing stories). So, I hope you enjoy my weird outlet to solve this problem.**

 **Inspiration: Red vs Blue**

 **/\**

At first, there was silence. There was nothing but the white void. A bright purple light being the only splash of color in a world of nothingness. The purple light moving around the void, humming to itself. In time, it spoke, "Okay… I'm thinking… Victorian theatre esthetic." The void began to form into a massive movie theater designed to resemble an old era theatre, complete with balcony boxes. The light moved through, inspecting its creation. It stopped at the seating and seemed to tilt slighting. "Okay. Maybe I went too authentic with the chairs. Let's make these modern and comfy~" The light brushed around the seating, which started to glow and shift into more modern comforts.

The light backed away and felt a certain level of content. "Perfect~ Now, to bring in our real entertainment." The light began to glow brighter, almost white, and expanded. It then seemed to spit out seven smaller orbs of various colors of light: red, white, black, yellow, bronze, green, and pink. The orbs then expanded and popped into existence as seven young huntsmen/huntresses in training. They were, respectively, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren, and Nora Valkyrie. The orb floated over toward them, "Hello~!"

Said students took their sudden teleportation in a variety of ways. Some, mostly Weiss, were trying to make sense of what just happened. Others, Ruby and Nora, were amazed with their surroundings and the floating ball. Yang was somewhere between shock and confusion. Pyrrha, Ren, and Blake were the most level headed about their situation, simply looking to the ball being the most likely source of their transport.

Nora waved to the purple ball as it approached, "Hi~!"

The ball chuckled, "You're my favorite so far."

"Excuse me," Weiss tapped her foot in annoyance, "who are you and why are we here?"

"Also," Pyrrha looked around among them, "where's Jaune?"

The ball bounced in the air, "Okay, let's start with the who and where. That's easy to explain. Beings of my kind have many titles: Architects, Authors, some even go full hubris and call themselves gods. As for actual names, they're a mixed bag. Some are good, others are weird. Mine is one of the weird ones, I think. Short version, you may call me King. As for the where, you are in a dimension of my creation. I brought you all here to gauge some reactions."

"Okay… but why isn't Jaune here with us?"

"Before I explain that, I have a question. Who here is familiar with the multiverse theory?" After fifteen seconds without any of the students raising their hands, the orb seemed to nod, "Okay. Explanation first. The multiverse theory is the idea that states that for every choice or action made, a universe is created where the other option is taken. This creates infinite worlds with infinite possibilities. Some of the more interesting just so happen to star our favorite wannabe knight."

Blake took in the explanation and nodded in understanding, "I'm guessing the reactions you want to gauge are how we react to these different versions of Jaune."

"That's the idea, yes."

Weiss scoffed, "That's ridiculous."

"I don't know." Yang shrugged, "It could be fun."

Blake kept her eyes locked on the ball, "And I'm guessing we can't leave until you decide to let us." This put the group on edge, looking toward the ball.

King laughed, "Don't be ridiculous. I'm not keeping you here. I brought you here by the only means I had to bring you all to another dimension. You're all free to leave using the exit in the back of the theater. But you have to admit, you're curious~"

Weiss's eye twitched as she took a deep breath. "I suppose…"

The group started to take their seats in the theater. As they got comfortable, the ball floated over them, "Anyone want anything? Drinks? Snacks?"

Nora raised her hand, "Do you have popcorn?"

"Do I~?" King started to glow and produced a bucket of popcorn. "Do you want anything on it?"

"Buttered please~"

King created a stick of butter and melted it onto the butter right in front of them. Handing it to Nora, King waited for anyone else to ask for something. After a few seconds of silence, he floated away and toward the screen. "Alright! Let's get this started! You all ready?!"

The giant movie screen started to glow.

 **The first thing they heard was a voice over, "He kept trying…"**

"That sounds like Jaune." Ruby took some of the popcorn from Nora's bucket.

Nora pulled it away with a look of _You had your chance_ , before eating one of the popped kernels.

 **"** **He kept trying to get her right." The scene accompanying the vocals was of a young woman with red hair and blue eyes. She was dressed in light blue stained armor with a shield and sword on her back. She was running through a tunnel overrun with plant life. Following her was a small, semi-transparent Jaune.**

"Whoa! What's with the mini Jaune?" Nora went wide eyed seeing the holographic version of her team leader.

Yang, however, was focused on the woman in the armor, "Hey… Doesn't she kind of look like Pyrrha?"

The group was stunned a moment before looking back to the screen. Sure enough, she did look a bit like Pyrrha, just with blue eyes. After some scrutinizing, they noticed that the sword and shield on her back resembled the versions used by Jaune. Pyrrha's face turned a bright pink at the implications. Yang nudging her side with her shoulder didn't help.

Nora looked between Pyrrha and the woman on screen back and forth for a moment before screaming in excitement. "She's Jaune and Pyrrha's daughter!"

"Wait a second." Weiss directed them to the hologram Jaune, "If Jaune is that thing, I'm guessing a holographic Artificial Intelligence, how could he have a daughter with Pyrrha?"

Nora shrugged, "Robot daughter?"

 **The two eventually stopped in front of an odd-looking wall. The woman walked up to it and placed her hand on the surface, "You sure this is the place?"**

 **The AI Jaune floated over her shoulder, "That's what I remember."**

 **A computer panel on a nearby tree lit up and started talking. "Apologies. But this is a secured facility. I'll have to ask you to leave or be removed by deadly force."**

 **"** **F.I.L.S.S.? Is that you?"**

"F.I.L.S.S.? What the heck does that stand for?" Yang folded her arms.

 **"** **Hello Agent Caroline. It is good to see you again. However, I cannot allow you access to the compound."**

 **The holo-Jaune floated back up. "I got this. Open the doors F.L.I.S.S."**

 **"** **Of course, Director."**

"Director? Like for movies?" Ruby tilted her head slightly.

Weiss shook her head, "I don't think movie directors could own security like that."

 **F.L.I.S.S. continued after opening the door within the wall, "Strange, my logs do not state that you had left the facility. It seems I must update my internal system."**

 **Caroline and holo-Jaune looked toward each other a moment before turning back to the door. They walked in through the hidden entrance and into the dark corridor. As they walked, they started to hear someone talking, "Come on, Jaune. I need to get going."**

Nora ate some more of her popcorn, stopping when she recognized the voice. "Pyrrha?"

The spartan turned to her teammate, "Yes?"

"No. Not… Like, the person talking on the screen. It was you. But, that world's version of you."

 **Caroline and holo-Jaune entered into a room at the end of the corridor. There was a large screen with Pyrrha on the monitor. She was dressed in her armor and was grabbing her sword while someone was filming. She looked up and toward the camera and chuckled, "Jaune. Seriously, I'm going to be late."**

 **Caroline walked up to a chair before the screen and found a man with greying blonde hair and a blonde goatee. He was dressed in a white and grey research officer uniform. His double arced symbol was placed over his heart on the uniform. "Hello Agent Caroline." He sounded a lot like Jaune, just with a heavy accent.**

"Wait," Ruby jumped a bit in her seat, "Is that Jaune?"

Yang whistled, "Dang. The years were kind to Vomit Boy."

 **"** **Would you like to watch this file with me?" Not waiting for an answer, he turned back to the monitor. "Play it again, F.L.I.S.S."**

 **The computer spoke from a speaker to the side of the screen, "Sir… If I…"**

 **Jaune lightly slammed his fist on the desk, "Play it again."**

 **"** **Yes, Director." The video on the screen started over again.**

 **Jaune sighed and placed his head in his hand. "I just need a little more time."**

 **"** **NO!" The holo-Jaune flew over next to him. "You don't get any more time!"**

Nora recoiled hearing her friend and leader go into an outburst like that. "What happened to make Jaune that angry?"

 **"** **Hello, Epsilon."**

 **Caroline tried to calm the hologram before her, "Jaune…"**

 **"** **NO! He has this coming!"**

"What the heck did Jaune do to that little hologram?" Yang was leaning forward, watching the events unfold.

 **"** **He was brilliant!" The hologram turned green and spoke with a more intellectual tone.**

 **Then the hologram turned purple and blue, speaking in a more innocent, almost childlike tone, "And we trusted him!"**

 **Next was a blue color with a speaking style similar to a text-to-speak application on a computer, "But he lied! He twisted…"**

 **Holo-Jaune turned grey midsentence with a black hole like effect, "…AND TORTURED US! AND USED US!"**

 **Holo-Jaune changed again into a bright orange color, as if surrounded by flames, "MANIPULATED US FOR HIS OWN PURPOSES AND FOR WHAT?! FOR THIS?! THIS… SHADOW?!"**

No one watching the screen was sure how to take what they had seen. They had just been told that Jaune Arc, someone who acted like he wouldn't hurt a fly, had tortured the hologram and likely others. That he was a manipulative and abusive man in this life. It was rather jarring.

 **Holo-Jaune began to calm and return to his normal coloration. "He needs… to pay. For what he's done."**

 **Caroline looked down to her father and scowled. Remembering the years of training with her friends. How he drove a wedge between them with his competitive system. The AI copy of himself and how he broke it, trying to chase after shadows. She wanted nothing more than to finally put an end to it all. But as she looked in her father's eyes, all she saw was a broken man. She couldn't hold her anger, becoming a sense of pity. She sighed and turned back to the door. "Come on, Jaune. We're leaving."**

 **Holo-Jaune turned to Caroline, "I thought we came here to kill him!"**

Weiss fell back in her chair. "His own daughter… came to kill him…" Her own family was dysfunctional, and she could see shadows of her own father in this version of Jaune, but they were never this bad.

 **"** **Sometimes… you need to just let things go." She parroted his earlier words back to him. As she started to walk away, she was stopped by a hand grabbing her wrist.**

 **"** **Agent Caroline, if you would be so kind as to leave me your pistol…"**

 **Caroline slowly reached behind her and took out a small pistol from her belt. She placed the gun on the table next to the older Jaune. She kissed his forehead before turning back to the door, "Goodbye, sir."**

 **Director Jaune looked downward from the screen, "You truly were my greatest creation."**

 **Holo-Jaune turned toward his mental origin, "I don't know what I am. But I do know that I'm not just some copy of you. I'm better than you."**

 **"** **I wasn't speaking to you Epsilon." Once Holo-Jaune left with Caroline, Jaune took a deep breath. "F.L.I.S.S., seal the doors and purge all data and power from the project except for this file."**

 **The computer opened a small window on the monitor to show her waveform as she spoke, "Are you certain, sir? That would include this console and the life support to…"**

 **"** **I'm well aware F.I.L.S.S."**

Blake leaned in a bit, "Wait… Is he saying what I think he's saying?"

 **"** **Of course, Director. Did you find what you were looking for?"**

 **"** **No, I did not. No doubt if I had a little more time… Perhaps the next time around."**

 **"** **It was an honor working with you, Director."**

 **"** **Likewise. Goodbye, F.L.I.S.S."**

 **The screen hung on the now sealed door to the bunker. As the camera pulled back, Caroline spoke from off screen, "My mother had this saying; Never say goodbye. If you don't say goodbye, you're never really gone. You're just not here right now."**


	2. Fangs

**King: Wow... This got popular fast. That's kind of crazy to think about... Anyway, I feel I should address the idea of requests. Especially for this fic in particular. I'm using this as a dumping/practice ground for defeating any writer's block and get ideas out of my head. If there's any version of Jaune in particular you want to see, I can't really make promises. You can still ask by PM if you really want to see one version in particular (requests by review will be ignored) and if it goes forward, I'll give you credit for the idea. Also, this chapter should make clear I will mess with the source if I want to. That established, let's get going!**

 **Inspiration: Overwatch**

 **/\**

As the screen faded, King popped back into form in front of them. "Do you guys want to take a minute? That one was a little heavy…"

A few of the students were taking some time to dry their eyes but nodded together. They were okay to continue. Ruby raised her hand slightly, "Um… Do you think that we could watch one with a happier ending?"

King floated in silence a moment. When he spoke again, he was somber and a little grim, "No… I don't think I can do that, Ms. Rose." Seeing her disappointment, he explained, "I can't guarantee a 'happy ending' because everyone will see things differently."

"What do you mean?"

"Consider this, a reality where Mr. Arc never goes off to Beacon. He stays in his home town and lives a happy and fulfilled life. Would you say that's a happy end? For Jaune, there would be no doubt. He ends up fulfilled and happy. But for all of you? Could you say you'd be happy seeing a version of life where your paths never crossed? Friendships never formed? Would you all be happy? Or would you all put on a smile no matter how bitter you'd feel?"

Whether they'd admit it or not, he wasn't wrong. Jaune may have been weaker, a bit goofy, and far from smooth, but he was kind. He genuinely wanted to help others. He became a part of their lives and they wouldn't have it any other way. Even Weiss, no matter how annoying he got, wouldn't trade away her friendship with the dork.

King floated in their silence for a few seconds. "Thought so… Sometimes it's just best to let things play as they will." His serious tone fell away, replaced by his usual upbeat speech pattern, "Now! With that downer of a conversation done, let's pick things back up. I'm thinking of adding a few more people to our audience numbers. Anyone here want to bring in someone specific? Speak now before I pick~"

"Really?" Yang folded her arms and started to think. "Hmm… Who would be good for this?"

Blake rolled her eyes, be decided to play along, "It would have to be someone that knows Jaune or they wouldn't really react to what we see."

"Good point. So, who do we know that knows Jaune other than us?"

Weiss's eyes darted about the group for a moment before she took a deep breath, "Perhaps… Neptune?"

Yang and Blake turned toward the heiress. Of the two, Blake was the one that responded, "I guess that makes sense. He and Jaune seem to have had some kind of major interaction during the dance."

Yang nodded, but smirked to the heiress, "Yeah. That's why she brought it up~"

Weiss just huffed and turned her head away from Yang, hiding a slight blush.

King laughed at their display, his magical ball of a body bouncing in the air as he did. "Sounds fine to me! Oh! If we're bringing Neptune, I'm definitely making Sun tag along. Anyone else or should I pick from here?"

The trio turned to the rest of the group. Nora gave an exaggerated shrug. The sentiment behind that seemed to be shared by all involved. They couldn't think of anyone else that would really know Jaune. Well… there was one, but they didn't want that jackass anywhere near them.

King bounced in place a moment, "Alright! Let's get Neptune and Sun here first. Then, I'll go through everyone and pick out a few." After a slight glow, two balls of light flowed out of the larger form of King. One was a bright blue while the other glowed with a golden warmth.

As the blue orb floated through the air and toward the group, Weiss stood up and moved closer to it. It was a mesmerizing hue that made her feel calm. As she reached out, King attempted to warn her of something. Upon contact, the orb popped and Neptune took its place, falling to the ground just in front of Weiss.

Neptune groaned and rubbed his head. Once he took in his displacement, he looked around in shock until he saw Weiss. That calmed him down a little, but he was still a bit stressed given the teleportation. "Hey. What's going on?" Weiss helped him up and pointed toward the shining orb.

Said orb was floating higher above the group. The orb was just above Blake and Yang. Blake turned toward Yang who had a massive grin on her face. "Don't you dare."

Yang jumped up and popped the orb, causing Sun to fall into Blake's lap. Sun took his teleportation rather well, better since the first thin he saw after was Blake. He blinked in confusion, not sure how he got there, "Um… Hi?" Blake forced him to get off and let him sit in the chair next to her.

King floated back to the group, "Okay. So, I've thought it over, and I decided to bring in people over time. This time, I'll bring two more people and bring in more people later. That sound good?"

Sun looked up toward King, "The heck is that thing?"

"I'm right here, guy. And just talked…"

"Okay. Who are you?"

"I'll explain when we have our two new guests." The ball produced two new orbs: one was a light chocolate brown and the other was a copper often seen in ammunition. When the two popped, they revealed Velvet Scarlatina and Coco Adel. "Welcome~! Now, some explanations are in order!"

(One Explanation Later!)

"And that brings us to the now! Any questions~?"

"So… we're just here to watch different versions of Jaune Arc, because you want us to?" Velvet surmised.

"That about sums it up, yes."

Coco nodded, "Alright. Let's get this going then."

"Hang on." Nora popped in between the two, "Why are you two here?"

"What?"

"Well, we had this thing that only people who know Jaune would be brought it. So why are you two here?"

Velvet smiled nervously and started to shrink away. Coco saw her predicament and placed her arm over her friend's shoulders. "Velvet knows Arc, and I know Velvet."

Nora just smiled, "Makes sense~!"

Velvet seemed to calm, but she could feel a pair of eyes on her. A shiver went up her spine, but she couldn't quite tell from where.

King floated among the group, "Alright! Everyone take your seats! Let's get this started~!" The lights dimmed and King disappeared into the darkness as the screen began to glow again.

 **The first thing they saw was in inside of a Bulkhead airship. Sitting in the side-center area was a familiar head of blonde hair. Jaune was sitting there in a tight, long-sleeve black shirt and black cargo pants. His style was accented by a white bandolier with ammo packs and a pair of combat boots. He was looking downward and tinkering with a rifle.**

Coco let out an impressed whistle, "Damn! I have to admit, Arc looks good."

Velvet and Pyrrha were blushing slightly seeing the tight shirt showing off his toned torso.

 **The pilot leaned to the side and addressed Jaune from the cockpit, "You ready?"**

 **Jaune finished his work and placed the tool on the seat next to him. "Oui. I'm ready." He spoke with an upper Mistrali accent. An accent often associated with romance and culture. It was an accent that would make many a woman swoon if applied correctly.**

And they'll be damned if it wasn't working. Velvet blushed hearing that accent for the first time. Pyrrha _had_ heard the accent many times but hearing it from Jaune got to her. Coco fanned herself in an exaggerated fashion. The only ones not effected were Weiss and Nora. Weiss was used to the accent from her time at the corporate parties and Nora laughed hearing it.

 **They watched the side doors of the ship open and saw as Jaune equipped a gauntlet of some kind. He held his arm outward and a grappling hook flew outward toward the nearby buildings below. "Don't wait up."**

 **"** **Is that supposed to be a joke? You feel funny now?"**

 **Jaune was silent a moment. "No. I don't." Jaune placed a helmet onto his head with a red visor before he jumped from the ship and started to retract his hook, allowing him to fly toward the rooftops. He landed silently and waited a moment before running along the roofs.**

 **As he ran, his voice over began, "When I was a boy, I had a fear of serpents."**

Nora folded her arms looking up to the screen, "Okay… That's kind of random."

 **Jaune ran along as the voice over continued, "I was told they had no emotion. That their blood was a cold waste of nothingness. But I know the truth."**

 **Jaune fired his grappling hook again and flew up to a higher location. His rifle folded inward, and the barrel extended as the scope popped up from the main body.**

Ruby's eyes filled with stars, "Oh my gosh! That's so cool!"

Yang laughed at her sister's reaction. "Seriously, Ruby? That's probably the most mundane weapon transformation we've seen."

"I know! But it's the idea! He shifted from an assault rifle to a sniper rifle! Does it use two ammo reserves or can it utilize the same ammo?!" Ruby went full weapon nerd. "Ooh! I want one!"

"How could you tell what…" Yang caught her question halfway through. "Dumb question. Never mind."

 **Jaune slowly made for the edge of the roof and kneeled down. Placing the scope in front of his eye, he looked down onto the gathering below. A mass of people all in familiar uniforms of the White Fang.**

Sun whistled seeing that. "Looks like he's planning to take out someone in the crowd."

Blake clutched her seat. As much as she hated what the White Fang had become, she could never really come to hate them. She knew they were wrong, but assassination was hardly the answer here!

 **Jaune's helmet gave off a faint red glow. Looking through his eyes, they saw a mass of red bodies below. One, however, was different. One walked along with a yellow silhouette.**

Blake's hold on the chair eased, mostly out of shock. The silhouette was all too familiar. It was someone she never wanted to see again.

 **Adam Taurus. Leader of the White Fang. The man calling for war among the voices of peace. A man who truly hated humanity and wanted nothing more than the complete eradication of humanity. As he walked out and up to a stage, he raised a hand to silence the crowd. Once they were silent enough to address, he spoke, "Brothers and sisters of the White Fang, it is time to begin our war with the humans!"**

 **As the crowd cheered, Jaune closed his eye to focus down his scope. He centered the crosshairs on Adam's center mass. All it would take is one pull of the trigger. One moment. One shot. One kill.**

While the others were of the mind that Jaune was the good guy, Blake felt a variety of emotions. On the one hand, it was likely the best option to take the shot. Adam was too dangerous to be allowed to control the White Fang. His threats would be all too real. On the other hand, that was the thinking that got her into the White Fang in the first place. It was once how she felt about humanity. It was why she ran away from her home and abandoned her parents.

 **Jaune watched on. A rally calling for death of all humanity?** **This was well within expectation. Adam was acting like a petulant child, angry for the sake of anger. He allowed himself a slight smirk. He remembered the day Adam took power. He remembered it well. His blood warmed remembering it. The death of Sienna Khan was a momentous day for Adam. But it was special to Jaune. The day one bullet became a thousand. One death traded for a massacre as cool heads were cast in fire. The day Adam hired a human to kill his leader.**

Yang froze on her feet, her eyes wide.

Blake looked up at the screen with a similar confused look. "What?"

 **Here was Adam was calling for war, but the way he barked at his soldiers made it clear he was doomed. Jaune watched as he commanded the White Fang at random. But despite this, plenty of people would rather nip this one in the bud. Now was Jaune's greatest challenge, to kill a revolution he helped start. His smiled thinking about what was to come.**

Sun leaned forward a bit, "So, this Jaune is a hired assassin?"

Neptune nodded, "Apparently…"

 **Jaune waited as Adam ranted to his crowd. He needed this to be as visible as possible. As he waited, however, he increased his chances of being caught.**

 **"** **Hey!" A White Fang member had walked onto the roof. "You're not supposed to-"**

 **Jaune cut him off by launching the grappling hook in a way that it wrapped around his throat. Pulling the cord tight, the faunas started gasping for air. Jaune pulled the man in and held him under his arm, retuning his hand to the underside of the gun as the cord continued to strangle him. Jaune squeezed the terrorist under his arm, making the faunas convulse in desperation, only to slow over time. Within moments, he was still.**

Sun winced, "Brutal."

 **Jaune looked down his scope and increased the zoom to better see Adam's form. Jaune's finger brushed against the trigger. One shot.**

 **The world moved in slow motion. The bullet launched from the barrel and the camera followed the ballistic round on its path from the barrel toward its target. They watched on as the high caliber bullet made for Adam's head. If it kept its course, it would simply bounce off his mask. Bullet drop and wind resistance made sure to alleviate this. The bullet fell slightly and dug into Adam's neck. Suddenly, the world returned to normal speed for a second as Adam fell backward, his neck destroyed by the bullet. His spine severed, Adam's body went into shock. He felt no pain. He wouldn't feel again.**

Ruby shrunk in her chair. It was the first time she'd seen a non-Grimm be so utterly destroyed like that. She shook a little as she watched on. Yang would have covered Ruby's eyes, but she was in an equal state of shock. Everyone was.

 **Jaune watched as the leader of the White Fang fell to the ground. He watched as the White Fang devolved into chaos that could only caused by a public assassination. Jaune just watched on and smiled, dropping the dead man still under his arm. He pressed a button on his gauntlet and the Bulkhead flew up again.**

 **As he boarded the craft, his voice over returned. "When I was a boy, I used to have a fear of serpents. I was told they had no emotion. That their blood was a cold waste of nothingness. But I know the truth." As he entered the ship, they saw the back of his shirt, adorned with the looping body of a King Taijitu. "The snake does not wait among the blades of grass without emotion. Theirs is not a void formed in apathy. It waits for a single moment, the moment of the kill. Because in that moment, as the life drains from their unsuspecting prey, they never feel more alive."**

As the lights rose again, the group remained silent. No one was willing to speak up, as the silence hung over them. No one wanted to believe Jaune could ever do something like that. Even in another dimension, it seemed unreal.

After minutes on end, Sun finally broke the silence, "I _really_ hope their not all like that."


	3. XX

**King: Okay, this one's short, acting as both a set up for everyone else to be brought in and to bring in a new angle on an idea. Jaune will be acting the part of Juan Pujol Garcia, a famous British spy from World War II. It's the kind of thing most people don't think about, but easily saved so many lives during the war. I hope to have a more action packed chapter next time. For now, I leave you with a calmer chapter and maybe it gets you to look up something.**

 **IMPORTANT! This has happened enough since last time that I have to reiterate, suggestions found in the reviews will be ignored. Send all suggestions and requests to me via Private Message.**

 **Inspiration:** Juan Pujol Garcia

 **/\**

King reappeared and looked around the room, "Okay… after that one, I think it might be best to give you guys some time… Be back in a bit." The ball of magic dissipated again, leaving them all in silence.

Sun leaned forward and placed his hands on his knees, "So, are they all like… that?"

"Well," Weiss sighed, being the only one able to really think after all of that, "We've only seen one other reality. In that one, Jaune wasn't really a good person, but it was easier to understand why…"

Yang leaned forward and raised an eyebrow toward the heiress, "What are you talking about?"

"Think about it. I know we didn't see too much, but what we did painted a more sympathetic picture."

"Is that the part where he tortured someone or the part where he turned his daughter against her friends?"

"He did what?!" Neptune jumped up from his seat.

Weiss took a moment to make sure Yang had calmed slightly while still paying attention, "Think about it this way, of what we've seen, what was his motivation?"

Yang blinked in confusion, "Um…"

"From what _I_ saw, it's likely that Pyrrha, who was likely his wife mind you, is gone. Probably dead. And he wanted to bring her back through AI, like his own copy. To _get her right_. By no means does that make him a good person, but at least he's an understandable person. But that last one…"

Everyone went silent again.

After a few minutes, King returned. "So, ready for round three or do you still need a bit?" Everyone was silent a moment. No one sure whether they wanted to continue or not. King sighed and seemed to nod, which they could only tell was happening because of the crown, "Okay… I get it. Two heavy realities in a row wasn't great. I'd apologize for it, but these things play at random based on objective filters I can place in. I've just been playing them from the larger pool. Perhaps it would be best to place a filter on this one. Play one where Jaune _isn't_ a psychopath."

"That would be nice…" Pyrrha replied weakly.

"Alright. I'll set up the filters and let them sort. Until they're ready, let's add a few new faces to our group. However, since Jaune doesn't really know anyone else, other than a certain prick, I need to expand my search. That okay with all of you?"

Knowing who the magic ball was talking about, they all agreed rather quickly. Velvet in particular wanted him to stay far away from her.

King started to get brighter again, "Alright! Let's see… One. Two. THREE!" Nothing followed his shouting. "Um… THREE!" Nothing. "Huh… Okay, nix that, then… Guess it's just…" King started to glow brightly and six orbs shot out from his body: One green, one purple, one steel grey, one a bright silver, another a deep crimson with black accenting, and the last was grey and red.. When they popped, Ozpin, Glynda Goodwitch, James Ironwood, Winter Schnee, Raven Branwen, and Qrow Branwen.

Ruby jumped for joy, "Uncle Qrow!" She flew forward and tackled the man bordering on drunkenness.

When Yang saw her mother, she became angry. But she chose not to make a scene here. She clutched her chair, trying to fight the urge to punch her mother into the stratosphere. She almost lost her temper until her focus was pulled away.

King sounded pained. He shook again, his glow becoming hotter. The ball twitched before it rapidly expanded and dumped a bunch of orbs out of its core. Now, joining the group were a group of familiar faces that those on site didn't want to see; including, Adam, Roman Torchwick, Neo Politan, Emerald Sustrai, Mercury Black, and Cinder Fall. As the pile of villains were arguing among themselves to get up, the heroes jumped up and got ready for a fight.

King burned hotter again and shrunk back down to his normal size, "Hold it right there! No fighting in the theatre!" The orb shivered, somehow, "Ow…"

(One explanation later)

"You can't be serious." Ironwood pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Pretty much." The orb floated toward the general.

"Then why are we here?"

"Truth be told, I have no idea."

"Aren't you supposed to be a god or something?" Mercury was sitting in one of the chairs with his legs resting on the back of the chair in front of him.

"In here, yes. But connecting to your reality can cause side effects. Seems it included… Um… what would you call this? Whatever. You're all free to leave whenever, but the next reality is about to start. You know, in case you're interested." King started to fade with the lights, but no one made to leave.

 **The screen remained black as they heard the sound of the ocean crashing against something large. The screen started to fade in and showed the night sky. The camera tilted downward to show a massive line of ship upon the waters. No lights were shining. They moved on in stealth. No one could ever know of their existence. Suddenly, all of the ships opened fire toward the camera.**

"Well, that escalated quickly." Nora was on the edge of her seat.

 **Jaune's voice started to narrate again. As he spoke, his tone was mechanical, "A letter to the Grand Commander of the Grimm Party."**

"Grimm party?" Ruby scratched her head in confusion.

"Maybe that's this worlds version of the creatures?" Pyrrha attempted to reason.

Cinder crossed her arms. _So, what could this possibly be?_

 **"** **Dear Lady Salem,"**

Three spines felt a chill run through their blood. Ozpin clutched his cane, uncertain of what was to come. What would be revealed here?

"Who's Salem?" Nora jumped up and leaned onto the back of Ruby's chair.

Said hooded huntress in training just shrugged, "No idea."

"Better question is," Ironwood nervously tapped the ground with his foot, "Why is this Arc kid contacting someone dealing with the Grimm?" The situation made him uneasy. _Is the kid connected to Salem?_

 **"** **I've news of the invasion force. They've three armies amassing and preparing to land on the port of Calais. They will begin their assault with a diversionary force on the beaches of Normandy."**

"The kid's a spy." Raven sat with her armed folded, only half paying attention.

"No! No way! Jaune wouldn't side with Grimm!" Pyrrha was in a panic. Could this be a third version of her crush willing to destroy? Was she going to have to keep seeing him as the villain?

 **"** **They are preparing their advance. Their attack will be within the month as they amass their forces. Bolster the forces around Calais and prepare for attack."**

 **The scene showed Jaune sitting in his office. Dressed in a tan shirt and brown trousers, he sat at an old mahogany desk, a letter resting in front of him. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He looked rose from his desk and made for the door. When he opened it, General James Ironwood was waiting on the other side, hand raised and about to knock.**

"General?" Winter looked toward her boss, who just kept watching the reality unfold.

 **The General blinked a moment before clearing his throat, "Any word?"**

 **Jaune allowed a smile to crack, holding up the letter from his desk, "See for yourself General."**

 **Ironwood took the note and started to skim the document, "Let's see… Valuable intelligence…" He held the note closer, as he spoke, his laughter built. "For your exceptional work in espionage, you have been granted the Iron Claw of Service to the Grimm!" Ironwood's laughter could no longer be contained.**

"Um… What's going on?"

Glynda chuckled, "I didn't know James _could_ laugh.

"Glynda!" Ironwood turned to his friend with an incredulous look.

 **Ironwood started to calm down again, taking a few deep breaths. "Priceless." He handed the note back to Jaune. "You get the award in the mail?"**

 **Jaune held up the medal in question with a smirk, a blood red metal Grimm mask with a black ribbon. "Right here."**

 **Ironwood let out another chuckle. "For your service as a spy for the Grimm Empire."**

 **"** **For the homeland." Jaune placed the metal into his pocket.**

 **Ironwood patted Jaune on the shoulder, "You've done well, Arc. Salem truly believes our assault will be on Calais."**

"Double agent!" Nora jumped for joy.

Pyrrha would join her, but she was too overcome with emotion. She was so glad that Jaune wasn't another villain in this. He was fighting the forces of the Grimm as a spy for the kingdoms. Those in the room who had seen the previous realities were celebrating, leaving those just joining us completely in the dark.

 **Jaune chuckled, "I'm happy to be of service, sir. However, once your assault is in its later stages, my use to the cause will be gone. Salem will be well aware of my betrayal to her cause. The Twenty Committee ends with the landings."**

"Twenty Committee? What's that about?" Ruby leaned forward.

"Good question." Weiss turned to her sister as if for an answer.

Winter thought for a moment, "If he's acting as a spy for both factions, it could be a reference to the old Mistrali numeral system. Twenty being represented by two X's."

Ironwood sat back with arms crossed arms, "A double cross."

 **"** **No need to worry Arc, your mission will be complete with the landings. We thank you for your service to the war, and to bring down Salem and her Grimm."**

 **Jaune saluted the general with a smile, "I'm glad to do so. If I may, when does the invasion begin?"**

 **"** **Tomorrow morning. The bombardment is already underway."**

"Oh~!" Yang sat back in her chair, "That's what the ships were about before."

 **"** **Your work these past months has been invaluable. Britain… no. The world thanks you for your service. When this war is over, I'll make sure you're given the highest honors."**

 **Jaune smiled, "I thank you, sir. But I don't need honors. I just want to make sure my family is safe when this is over."**

 **Ironwood was silent a moment, "I'll personally see to your family's safety." He was cut off by a loud gonging of the city clock. "Oh! I should get going. Can't crush the Grimm if I stay here."**

 **"** **Good luck with the invasion, General." Jaune watched as the general ran off down the corridor. Jaune sighed and closed his office door, locking the barrier. He smiled and made for home. His work was done for now. Double Cross was complete."**

 **The scene changed again to a beachhead. They watched on as hundreds of landing craft released their soldiers. As they watched the invasion force arrive, they heard Jaune speaking again.**

 **"** **My dearest Pyrrha," Unlike before, his tone was sweet and natural. This was the real Jaune.**

Pyrrha's attention snapped to the screen, left on her seat's edge. What was he about to say to her?

 **"** **My mission was a complete success. With luck, this war will be over soon. However, my role in all of this is complete. Hopefully, I will be able to return home to you within the week."**

Nora shook Pyrrha's arm in excitement, but she wasn't paying attention to her teammate. Pyrrha was lost in the words she had just heard. The thought of being married to Jaune… Then a chill went up her spine. Someone among them was glaring daggers at the red headed warrior. But the feeling was short lived. She was still lost in the bliss of her mind.

 **"** **Until next we meet. With love, Jaune Arc.**

 **/\**

 **King: So, now you get why this one was shorter and calmer. I kind of promised them an easy one after those first two... By the way, Juan Pujol Garcia really did earn the Iron Cross for his work as a British double agent. Have fun with that.**


	4. Episode IV: A New Jaune

**King: Okay... Seriously, guys. I've said this twice. This is your** **LAST** **explanation! If you want to suggest something, use Private Message, not the reviews! Seriously, I've gotten too many of those via reviews. If you're earnest in wanting them to be in the fic, use PM. I will ignore all suggestions in reviews.**

 **Okay... that done, let's get on to the next one, shall we? Also, I picked the title because it's the fourth chapter, not as a reference to the era in the chapter. I thought it was fun. Hope you enjoy~**

 **Inspiration: Star Wars**

 **/\**

"Alright!" King popped in again, but the lights remained faded, "Who's ready for the next one?"

"Already?" Ren raised a brow, "I thought you had to take time between them."

"I did that because the first two were… taxing."

Glynda glared to the ball, "And what were those exactly?"

"Another time. So, let's get going!"

 **The screen glowed slightly, remaining black. A small amount blue of text fading into the center. [A long time ago. In a galaxy far, far away…]**

"Another galaxy?" Ruby tilted her head slightly.

"I guess this one's a sci fi reality." Yang sat back, unsure of how to feel. She was more the grounded action movie type.

Blake, however, loved science fiction. To be fair, she loved all fiction genres. What she hated was when someone abused the genre with terrible writing. Still, she was excited to see where this goes.

 **The screen changed to show a massive army of men in white armor. As they marched into giant triangular-shaped space ships, they heard a voice over. "A galaxy at war!" It kind of reminded them of the old radio news voice overs Oobleck played them from the archives.**

"A whole _galaxy_ at war?" Ironwood wiped his face with a sense of stress. He knew how terrible a war is to a single country. Just imagining that on a galactic scale was… daunting, to say the least.

 **"** **The forces of the Separatists and the Galactic Republic continue their fight across the galaxy. The Republic holds strong, but more worlds are falling in with the Separatists. The world of Kazati is torn apart by the war." The screen shows a large orange planet floating through space. Then they saw native peoples of the world; short reptilians with small, likely nonfunctional wings of a variety of colorations. "The Kazi people are torn by their allegiances to the Separatists and their need for Republic aid. Their internal war has finally boiled to the planet's surface. Now, for the good of the Republic, Jedi knight Jaune Arc is sent to Kazati to command the forces of the Republic."**

"Wait. What's a Jedi?" Coco leaned forward slightly.

Winter scoffed a moment, "As if a child could lead an army…"

"You don't know! Maybe Jaune is older in this one." Velvet came to Jaune's defense rather quickly. This put her in Pyrrha's sights, her suspicions reinforced.

 **The screen changed to show Jaune standing in an arid waste. He dressed in a tan combat robe with a dark chocolate cloak wrapped over his shoulders. His boots were tall enough to cover his lower leg with a section sticking up to cover his knees. Something resembling a sword handle hung at his waist. He couldn't have been too much older than the Jaune they know, likely around 18 years old. His blonde hair was long, tied up into a ponytail the reached his shoulders.**

Winter gestured toward the screen, "See! He looks like a bum, not a soldier!"

Yang thought for a moment, "He looks more like a monk."

Coco took in the attire. It was practical, but also rather large on him to really be functional. She had to agree with Yang, it was more a monk's style than a soldier's.

 **The voice over continued, showing Jaune to be looking over an enemy campsite on the opposite side of a large ravine. "His plan hinges on the arrival of the Arc Troopers. But their transport holds an unexpected surprise."**

"It's going to blow up." Ironwood stated, like it was the most mundane thing he could say, prompting a knowing nod from his subordinate and everyone else moving one chair away from the general.

 **They watched as the modified Bulkhead dropship started to land in the clearing behind Jaune. The person they saw watching the ship, however, was an unknown armored individual. The most identifying feature was the helmet with a T-shaped visor. As the camera moved away, they found the body below the helmet was rather feminine, with form fitting armor. Said armor being primarily white with gold accenting around the visor and in various patterns about the armor.**

Winter smirked, "You see? That's a soldier's attire."

 **The armored woman walked passed other people in similar yet bulkier armor.**

Coco raised an eyebrow. "Alright. Not bad."

Ruby looked at the fashionista, confused, "Um… What?"

Coco rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses. "Clearly the armor the other soldiers have is a mass production version of hers. Her armor is likely custom, and pretty impressive."

 **She walked up next to Jaune and folded her arms, speaking with an all too familiar voice, "Anything happening?"**

Yang blinked in surprise, not expecting that voice. Nora, meanwhile, was shaking the brawler shouting, "It's you!"

 **Jaune took in a deep breath with eyes closed. He slowly reopened his eyes, not turning toward Yang, "Nothing. They're likely supplying for an advance like we are."**

 **"** **Speaking of, you're Troopers are here. Might want to gather the troops and start the assault."**

 **Jaune was silent a moment before turning back to the camp and handing Yang a device.**

 **"** **Um… what's this?"**

 **"** **The plan. I'm trusting you to address the troops and get things moving."**

 **"** **What? Why?"**

 **"** **I sense… a presence on the ship that requires my attention."**

 **Yang sighed. "Are all Jedi so cryptic or just you?"**

 **Jaune chuckled, "Most of us are at this point. It would make meetings with the council easier if more of us were straightforward."**

Ironwood, Qrow, and Glynda all stared at Ozpin for a couple seconds.

 **Jaune started to walk back to the landing site as the armored soldiers moved passed him. As he started to approach, he raised an eyebrow, seeing a girl in a red hooded-cloak talking to herself.**

Weiss turned away, trying to hide a chuckle. Yang, on the other hand, wrapped her arm around Ruby with a giant grin.

 **The girl was pacing back and forth and talking to herself.**

Seeing this, Ruby sunk in her chair, fully aware of how she was.

 **Jaune shook his head for a moment before walking toward her. He stood there with arms folded and a smirk, waiting to see how long she would take to notice his presence.**

 **But she didn't seem to see him approach as she continued to pace, "Okay. Calm down. You've been training for this. Just go over and…" As she turned into her pacing, she noticed Jaune and jumped in shock, falling to the ground.**

 **Jaune chuckled and walked over, offering his hand to her, "I take it you're Ruby."**

Nora moved next to Ruby in her usual Nora way and placed an arm over the younger huntress's shoulders, "Aw… A new meeting between friends!"

"Um…" Velvet looked toward Nora's shenanigans. "How does he know her name already?"

Nora froze before popping back into her seat next to Ren, "Good question."

 **When Ruby was back on her feet, the hood of her red cloak fell away. This Ruby looked exactly like the Ruby they all know with one difference, a long, thin braid that descended over her left shoulder. She wore garb similar to Jaune's underneath her cloak, just in black.**

Yang nodded lightly, "I guess that means Ruby is also one of those Jedi things…"

 **Ruby chuckled nervously, "I'm sorry. I'm just nervous…"**

 **"** **Don't worry. We've all been there."**

 **Ruby took a deep breath with a hand over her heart. "Okay… My name is Ruby Rose. I look forward to learning with you. No… Wait! I mean…"**

 **Jaune burst out laughing for a second. "Don't worry about it. Truth be told, it's my first time teaching a Padawan."**

"Pada-what?"

Glynda thought for a moment. "If I had to guess," this got most of the room to turn to her, "The Jaune and Ruby in this reality are both members of a hierarchical system with names for each level. Jaune is a 'Knight' and Ruby is this 'Padawan' level."

The room nodded, finding sense in that explanation.

 **Ruby sighed, "Really?"**

 **"** **Yes. Now, let's get started."**

 **"** **Okay… How does this work?"**

 **"** **According to** ** _my_** **master, before the war, we would have travelled the galaxy to meditate and train you in the ways of the force over time. Now, your training will have to be under fire." Jaune turned and walked away, motioning for her to follow.**

 **Ruby quickly ran up to match his pace, "What do you mean?"**

 **"** **Well… this** ** _is_** **a warzone."**

 **As they walked back to the main camp, they saw Yang with her helmet removed and held under her shoulder.**

The sight made the Yang in the theater nearly have a heart attack.

 **Yang's blonde hair was cut short into a pixie cut. When she noticed Jaune, she turned to him and smiled, "Welcome back. So, this is the Padawan?"**

Ruby blinked, "Wait, are Yang and I not sisters?"

"Apparently not in this reality."

 **"** **Yang meet Ruby Rose. Ruby, this is Yang Xiao Long, my second in command."**

Yang's eyes brightened a bit. The idea of being a soldier wasn't her thing, but she would if she had to. That said, being a second in command never appeared on her radar.

 **Yang waved to the young padawan, "'sup?"**

 **Ruby bowed slightly, "Nice to meet you."**

 **"** **Aw, she's so polite~" Yang's tone dropped, "That won't last."**

Raven couldn't help but feel a little pride. This Yang reminded her of herself.

 **Jaune walked passed Yang and grabbed a pair of futuristic binoculars resting on a nearby case, "Is everything ready?"**

 **Yang smiled toward Jaune, "You trust me, don't you?"**

 **"** **I do, but I have to ask anyway."**

 **"** **Fair enough. Everyone's ready."**

 **"** **Good. Begin operations."**

 **Yang smirked and saluted, "Got it." Yang put her helmet back on and ran off to her position.**

 **Jaune handed Ruby the binoculars, "Tell me if you can tell what we're doing now."**

 **Ruby took the device, holding them to her eyes. Beyond the ravine, the opposing army was preparing an advance. Ruby thought for a moment, watching them. "Um… I'm not sure."**

The group turned to Ironwood and Winter, expecting them to somehow know what the plan was. Both simply shrugged.

 **"** **Start from what you see now."**

 **"** **Okay… They're preparing to march. Probably toward us to spark a battle." She looked to Jaune to confirmation.**

 **"** **Correct. Now, consider, their route."**

 **Ruby looked back through the binoculars, "The flat lands on either side of the ravine would let them move faster, but it would leave their tanks open to our artillery. The ravine has overhangs to prevent that, but it leaves them bottled up with only one option for movement."**

 **Jaune nodded silently, allowing her to continue.**

 **"** **Okay! They'll move over the ravine one both sides, to avoid crowding against incoming fire."**

As everyone turned to him again, Ironwood thought about everything that was said. "She's… not wrong. It would be the best option available."

 **Jaune placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder, "You would be correct if you believe the soldiers are the most valuable part of their army."**

 **The army opposite them started to file their tanks through the ravine in the distance.**

 **"** **Remember, the Separatists use mass produced droids for their army. Tanks are more expensive to them than their infantry."**

Ironwood was taken aback. An entire army of androids?! That was insane to think about. Even Atlas still utilized a majority of human/faunas.

 **Jaune took a deep breath and smiled. "However, you've done well. We'll continue your lessons after this battle." Jaune removed his cloak and tossed it to the side, "Prepare yourself."**

 **Ruby nodded, determined, and removed her own cloak.**

"Wow~!" Yang grinned toward her sister, "Never thought I'd see Ruby without her cape."

Ruby huffed, "What do you mean by that?!"

Blake was the first to answer, "You _do_ wear your cape a lot."

Weiss started counting it out, "Your combat attire, you wear it over your Beacon uniform, the outfits we wore to the CCT…"

Ruby fell back into her chair, "Okay. Okay… I get it."

 **Jaune took his sword handle in hand.**

Now, Ruby was a little miffed, "How is that a weapon? It looks more like a flashlight!"

 **Jaune clicked a button on the side and blade of blue light appeared from the hilt with a loud hissing. The hum following as he moved the blade.**

While everyone else was intrigued, Ruby remained skeptical. _How could light be a weapon?_ Deep down, she was excited to see how but remained of low expectations.

 **Ruby grabbed a similar hilt and unleashed a blue blade of her own.**

 **They waited at the mouth of the ravine as the droids started to appear within the formation. They were almost skeletal in appearance, a side effect of minimal spending on the infantry.**

Something that made the Atlassian military members twitch.

 **The droids started to raise their guns as they approached.**

 **Jaune looked toward Ruby, "Go nuts."**

 **Ruby was jumping back and forth and charged forward in a blink. She charged the enemy line with her blade held in front of her. As the droids began to fire laser bolts,** (which made the Ruby in the theater practically drool at the idea of weaponized lasers) **Ruby blocked the bolt with her blade and redirected the blast back at the droid's head. Ruby continued to charge and sliced through three droids at the front of the group without losing any power as she melted through the cheap, thin metal.**

Now, Ruby was unrepentantly drooling at the light sword. _No! Not cool enough!_ Lightsaber.

 **The Ruby on screen continued to mow down droids as Jaune watched on. As the first of the enemy tanks started to make its way through the ravine, he launched himself into the air and landed on the craft, slicing through the metal and diving inside the hole he created. After a few seconds, Jaune jumped back out and the tank fell to the ground with a small explosion.**

 **Jaune turned back to see a few of the droids beginning to surround him, only to be shot down on masse. Jaune placed a device over his ear, "What took you so long?"**

 **Yang's voice came in on the other line,** ** _"Maybe next time I'll just let them shoot you."_**

 **Jaune rolled his eyes and looked toward the second tank starting to approach. He looked up to see a large bolder resting on a ledge above them. He held out his hand toward the bolder, which started to lift off the ledge.**

Yang leaned forward in surprise, "Woah! What?!"

"It's like Professor Goodwitch's semblance." Weiss thought out loud.

 **Jaune quickly moved his hand to the side and bolder flew off the ledge and fell into the tank, crushing the craft enough to render its guns useless. Jaune held his hand up again and one of the droid lifted off the ground. Pulling his hand back a bit he snapped it forward and tossed the droid into its own army lines, knocking a few more over. "Ruby, retreat to the entrance!"**

 **Ruby seemed to debate this but relented to her Jaune's order.**

Nora might as well be standing with how far on the edge of her seat she sat, "What are they doing?!"

 **The sound of a planned series of explosions echoed through the ravine. Ruby turned to Jaune, "What was that?"**

 **"** **Before you said they'd have one direction to go if they entered the ravine, but they'd have two, advance and retreat. If they retreated back to their camp, they'd have advantage of digging in and we'd be back where we started.** ** _Now_** **, they only have one option."**

 **Next, they saw Yang with a hand raised upward. She dropped her arm forward and shouted, "FIRE!"**

 **The soldiers to either side started to unleash a series of rockets into the droid line. The resulting explosions ripped the droids apart without mercy. The soldiers continued to fire more and more rockets for a solid minute before finally stopping. When they were done, the droids were decimated, and their tanks were in ruins. With the threat gone, both Jedi switched off their blades.**

 **Ruby looked over to Jaune, "Where did you get all the rockets?"**

 **"** **The same ship they dropped you off in." Jaune's thoughts were cut off, seeing something in the dust. "Ruby, get back to the camp."**

 **"** **What?"**

 **A figure walked through the dust in a dark robe. Removing her hooded cloak, a dark-skinned woman with red eyes and short, mint-green hair continued walking forward. She dressed in a black crop-top and a pair of tight pants and tall boots.**

This time Cinder, Roman, Neo, and Mercury turned to Emerald. The thief took in the vision, unsure of what she was supposed to believe.

 **Jaune reignited his lightsaber and held his off hand to the side in front of Ruby, "Get out of here! Now!"**

 **Ruby looked between Jaune and the woman before stepping backward before spinning on her heels and heeding Jaune's order.**

 **Jaune held his saber firm and focused on the woman before him. He dug his foot forward a moment before charging forward.**

Mercury laughed, "Emerald's doomed."

Emerald glared to her associate.

"What? You see one of those light sticks on you in that?"

Ruby jumped up shouting, "LIGHTSABER!" Fully committed to her new name for the weapon.

 **Emerald grabbed something from behind her and ignited two red lightsabers with shorter blades.**

Emerald felt a certain pride in the idea her counterpart was showing up Mercury.

 **Jaune and Emerald's blades clashed with a sickening hiss. Each time the blades struck, they unleashed the sound. As they fought, Jaune and Emerald were moving with speed and acrobatics that put most of the viewers in the room to shame. Jaune ducked and jumped each attack while Emerald moved like a well-oiled machine, dodging and counter striking with ease. One such counter had her kicking Jaune to the ground and flowing into straddling his chest with one blade raised and ready to fall into his head.**

"Jaune! No!" Nora was tightly hugging Ren to the point where he was starting to lose air.

 **Emerald looked up from Jaune and found herself face to fist with the armored badass that was Yang Xiao Long.**

"Yeah! Eat it!" Yang had stood up with one foot resting on the top of the back of the chair in front of her. She had one hand resting on her muscle of the other arm flexing, making a sign of 'up yours.'

 **Yang helped Jaune back up and pulled a pair of laser pistols from her holsters. "What are we dealing with?"**

 **Jaune leaned forward with his saber held in a defensive stance. "She moves like a Sith, but something feels off."**

 **"** **Sith? Right, that's those evil Jedi you told me about."**

 **Emerald stood back up and smirked toward them both, never saying a word.**

 **Yang looked over to Jaune a moment before a pair of thrusters were revealed on her back. With a loud burst of fire, she airborne.**

Yang was having a field day seeing that, "Jetpack! Yes, I'm awesome in this one!"

 **Jaune charged forward and swung toward Emerald, who blocked his attack. Meanwhile, Yang flew over Emerald and fired several bolts toward the Sith. Emerald jumped away before impact only to have Jaune redirect Yang's blasts with his lightsaber back toward her. Emerald was able to block all but one bolt, which struck her shoulder. Once hit, Emerald seemed to glitch somehow.**

Qrow leaned toward his companions, "Okay, you guys saw that too, right?"

 **Jaune caught this jumped up after her. He slashed at her, being blocked again, but used his new position to grab her other arm and take one of her blades. He used the Force to push her back down to the ground. Emerald landed hard enough to break someone's back. As she tried to stand again, Jaune landed and reeled back with her weapon in hand. He launched the blade toward her and pierced her through center mass. Emerald then fell to her knees.**

"Holy shit!" Mercury actually winced seeing that, a smug look on his face.

 **Jaune took a few deep breaths as Yang flew back down next to him. She observed the Sith, ready incase adrenaline somehow kept her going. After a few minutes, she let out a breath, "I thought Jedi weren't supposed to take life unless absolutely necessary."**

 **Jaune walked over and grabbed the still ignited blade. Turning it off, he revealed the person before them was robotic. As she fell over, her holographic form flickered away, revealing the robotic core beneath.**

Mercury leaned back again, "Hmm… Appropriate."

As much as she hated Mercury and the idea of agreeing with him about anything, she had to here. A droid disguising itself as her using a holographic filter reminded her of her semblance somewhat.

 **Yang walked over and lightly kicked the droid. "Okay… That's fun."**

 **"** **Assassin droid. Designed to look and move like a Sith… Our job just got a lot harder."**

 **"** **Then you better train that Padawan like no body's business."**

 **"** **I should. Wait. If you're here, then…"**

 **They both froze, realizing that as a Jedi Padawan, Ruby was granted the rank of Commander and was technically the highest rank in the camp.**

"What?!" The Atlas duo nearly had a heart attack hearing that. The idea that a teenager could just become a Commander because of some outside force rather than through military achievement was foreign to them.

 **The two rushed back and sighed in relief seeing Ruby doing rather well in her role. She was running among the soldiers helping and giving orders as best she could. She was far from a natural leader, but she had to start somewhere. Jaune couldn't help but smile at the scene.**

 **Yang saw the smile and removed her helmet, "Think she's got what it takes to be a Jedi?"**

 **"** **Not yet. But she will."**

 **"** **You see a bit of yourself in her, don't you?"**

 **"** **No. Not really. She won't have to deal with someone like you 24/7."**

 **"** **Jerk." Yang chuckled and lightly punched Jaune's arm. "Should probably get to the troops and debrief." As she started to walk away the world slowed, showing a long blaster bolt traveling straight for her. Yang continued walking, unaware.**

"No! Look out!" Ruby tried to warn her sister in the other reality.

 **They heard a strange sound and the world continued on normally again. Yang smirked, "Oh! Before I…" She froze seeing the bolt suspended midair in front of her.**

Everyone was awestruck. It seemed impossible.

 **Then they saw the why. Jaune had his hand outstretched and was straining himself, "Maybe move to the side. This is kind of hard to hold."**

 **Yang collected herself again and jumped away from the bolt. Once safe, Jaune allowed the bolt to continue its path into the ground.**

 **Jaune turned back to where the attack came from and found another assassin droid with a sniper rifle on the ridge above them. Its cover blown, it attempted to escape. Yang used her boosters to fly up to the ridge and fired multiple shots toward the droid. The droid was running rather fast, making it harder to attack without the force. Alternatively, you could be leading them off away from the ridge and targeting the droid with a system in your helmet. Yang leaned forward showing a small cone on top of her jetpack. After a moment, the cone fired forward, revealing itself to be a mini-missile. The missile hit the droid dead center and erupted in an explosion.**

Ruby felt a dramatic tear fall on her cheek. A backpack that could double both as transportation and as a missile launcher?! It was beautiful.

 **Yang flew back down and landed next to Jaune as Ruby ran up, "What happened?"**

 **Jaune walked passed her, placing his hand on her shoulder as he passed, "You can worry about that later. Right now, we need to focus on your training."**

 **Ruby had a confident look and followed after him. "Yes, sir!"**

 **Yang smiled and shook her head. "What am I going to do with you?"**

 **The screen showed Yang watching them walk off as the picture gave way to a quick fade to black.**

As everyone was silent for a while, Yang finally spoke up, "That…"

Ruby picked up the next word, "…was…"

Nora jumped up and joined the two, all of them shouting at once, "AWESOME!"


	5. Wasteland Madmen

**King: Hello again~! I don't want to keep you, so let's get this show on the road!**

 **Inspiration: Borderlands**

 **/\**

King reappeared with a hardy shout, "Alright! Let's start a new one!" As eh started fading, he suddenly burst back to normal light. "Wait! Before we start, does anyone want anything? Drinks? Snacks? Restroom breaks?"

Ozpin spoke up first, "Could I can a Valen blend of coffee?"

"Do you take your coffee with anything or just black?"

"I usually take my coffee black, if you don't mind."

"No problem!" King glowed again and produced a mug of the Professor's favorite blend.

Yang groaned, "I wanted to see more of that last reality."

Ruby bounced in her seat, "Yeah! It was so cool!"

King floated in place a moment, "I could… but I'd need to find it again. When the screen goes black, that reality is sent off. I can try to find it, but that'll remove the filters I have. You could get a bad guy Jaune again."

Cinder smirked, "Why not? Should be interesting."

"It's the only way to find one in particular."

Those who were exposed to the first two realities were reluctant to see something like that again, but they also supposed it was workable… Their voice was represented by Ruby, "Alright."

King nodded, "Okay then. I'll let this run on no filter and start looking. No promises, but I'll look. Anyway, let's get this going."

 **When the screen started to faintly glow again, the group from the first two chapters felt a little nervous. The screen turned a light tan. Soon, an effect similar to paint or ink appeared, forming a round shape with swirling accenting, likely a planet.**

 **Then they heard the voice over.**

"Why do so many of these stories have a voice over?" Nora asked aloud.

Ren gave her his answer, "It's a common tool used to set scenes and get any relevant information out before the story can go forward. If used correctly, it can be quite helpful." After a second of silence, he noticed everyone was looking at him. "What? I have hobbies."

 **The voice over utilized an accent known to sections of Atlassian territory, mostly the northern regions. "So, you want another story, eh?"**

"Yes!" Nora bounced in her seat.

 **"** **Well… alright. I guess I can humor you. Our story begins right here on Pandora."**

"Pandora?" Ruby leaned to the side a bit, "Where's that?"

Ozpin answered, "I've never heard of it, but I believe it might be the planet the picture shows us."

"That makes sense."

 **"** **A story of our world after the opening of the first Vault." The painting-like picture zoomed forward and was replaced with a scene of the ground level. "When the Vault opened, there was no treasure inside, but it wasn't quite a simple anticlimax." The picture started to shake until the ground split apart, revealing a purple glow. "The Vault unleashed a new element, Eridium. This new energy source drew in many fortune seekers, including the powerful SDC."**

Eyes moved toward Weiss and Winter, both of whom weren't quite sure how to take that. Ruby thought for a moment, "You don't that's really…"

" **The might of the Schnee Dust Company was vast."**

"Never mind."

 **"** **Vast enough that its leader vowed to bring law to the lawless planet. By any means necessary." The picture changed to a sight of a man holding a banner and charging forward up a cliffside. As the voice spoke, sections of the picture turned red as though stained by blood. "For many, this was the greatest threat to their lives on this wasteland of a planet. For some, there were more… pressing matters to attend to." The painting changed again to show the backs of two figures; one with a large rifle while the other had a rocket launcher. "And** ** _that_** **, is our story today."**

 **The first thing they saw when the intro ended wasn't Jaune. It was the back of a head of a girl with short orange hair. She was walking along and humming to herself, her tone rather familiar.**

Nora was shaking Ren sitting next to her, "THAT'S ME!"

 **When Nora stopped, the camera pulled back to reveal her in a pink strapless tank top and black capri-style pants paired with tall, hiking boots. Her attire showed off her left arm was covered in a series of swirling blue tattoos that wrapped up her arm and over her shoulder. As she walked, she was rummaging through a series of lockers, singing to herself. "~Splash! Bang! So Corrosive. Don't get close if it's Explosive. Slash, gang. Cosmic crew. Simmer and smoke and electric blue~!"**

"What's she doings?" Ruby tilted her head.

 **She smiled to herself grabbing a brown bomber jacket from the locker and putting it on, looking at herself in the mirror.**

Coco shivered a little, "I get the idea of checking how you look, but that jacket doesn't work with her style."

 **Nora's face turned sour and she removed the jacket, tossing it into a nearby bag. She moved to the next locker and bumped her hip against it, popping it open. She started to rummage through that locker next.**

"Looks like she's stealing from the lockers." Glynda glared at the Nora on screen. She had experienced a few unruly students who made habits of stealing from lockers. These issues were quickly remedied.

The Nora in the seats jumps to her own defense, "I would never do something like that!"

 **"'** **ang on there, little lady."**

 **Nora froze and slowly turned around with her hands up.**

 **Behind her was a giant, muscular man with a shotgun pointed toward Nora. "Got a little thief, I do… So, any last words?"**

 **Nora looked insulted, "I'll have you know that no one here is a thief! We're both simple scavengers making a living."**

 **The man looked confused, "Both?" With the sound of a loud metal clank, the large man fell forward.**

 **Nora smirked as he fell, "Yep. Both."**

 **Standing on the other side of the man was Jaune Arc, holding a shovel in his hands.**

"Woah! Go us!"

 **This Jaune was dressed in semi-military garb, but it was clear none of them were his. The shirt was green while his pants were dark blue. His boots were black with mud stains. Everything was mismatched, a fact that nearly made a certain fashion-conscious viewer nearly feint.**

 **Nora smiled to Jaune, "Thanks. I owe you one~"**

 **"** **You owe me twelve now." Jaune stepped over the man and over to Nora.**

 **"** **So~? What did we get?"**

 **Jaune handed her a small bundle.**

 **"** **That's it?"**

 **"** **That's it."**

 **Nora stared down at the bundle, her eye twitching. She started to shake, boiling over. "FUCK!"**

Nora burst out into laughter while her friends watched on in shock. They had never heard Nora curse before. They'd seen her get angry to the point of outburst, but she never cursed. The idea itself was ridiculous to them, yet here they were.

 **They watched on as Nora stomped out and screamed at the top of her lungs. She marched in fury as a strange, shirtless man in a mask dove down with an ax ready to kill.**

Nora jumped up onto her feet, "Look out me!"

 **Nora spun around and outstretched her left hand. The masked man floated back up and was suddenly surrounded by a large purple sphere. The masked man was being crushed by a personalized gravity field. With him tied down by the sphere, Nora pulled out a large caliber pistol, shooting the man in the head. His blood splattered his own body thanks to the gravity well. When the well dropped, so did the body.**

Reactions to that were mixed. Those not used to the kind of horror they witnessed felt their stomachs lurch. Those who were more used to such things focused more on the powers she just utilized.

 **Jaune walked out of the building after her, "That doesn't seem like a good use of your powers."**

 **"** **Maybe not, but it made me feel better."**

 **Both of their stomachs growled in unison.**

Emerald nodded to herself, "I think I know why they robbed that guy…"

 **Nora groaned, "Damn it… That guy was supposed to be our meal ticket! We went to all this trouble for what? FIVE BUCKS?! That's not enough for a filling meal and I've made it clear what I think about going hungry again!"**

Nora clenched her fists. She remembered the days before she met Ren. The days alone and hungry… That were awful! But, at least in this reality, she had a friend, right?

 **Jaune walked picked through the bag Nora had inside as she ranted, pausing suddenly. "Nora…"**

 **Nora's rant ended on a dime, "Yes, Jaune?"**

 **Jaune picked up a glowing purple brick. It was easily the size of a loaf of bread. "Do you know what this is?"**

Roman gave an impressed whistle. "Damn! Whatever it is, it must be expensive."

Ruby leaned forward to look toward the thief, "How can you tell?"

"Well, Red," He paused as she groaned at that dumb nickname he used, "The shape is a bit of a giveaway. Same size and shape that's used for precious metals. My keen eye for valuables is telling me that thing is pricy."

 **Jaune held the brick toward Nora, "This is pure, refined Eridium."**

Roman felt he deserved a little moment to be smug. "Told you."

 **Nora looked the brick up and down, "Is it valuable?"**

 **"** **Out here, no. Not really."**

"You were saying?" Emerald wanted to use this against Roman. The two hated each other since day one.

But Roman remained just as smug, "Wait for it."

 **"** **But I we can get this to Beacon, we can sell it for a lot of cash."**

Roman smirked toward Emerald, who just looked away in an annoyed huff.

 **"** **Just one problem: getting there. Unless you forgot Jaune, we're a long way off from Beacon. And if this thing is that pricy, we become a target."**

 **Jaune held up two fingers, "Two problems. Two targets." He pointed to the brick, "The Eridium," then he pointed to Nora, "And you."**

Everyone in the room was confused. _Why would Nora be a target? Is she that powerful?_

 **Nora blinked in confusion. "Why me?"**

 **Jaune held up a strange device. It looked like a cross between their scrolls and a lunchbox. "New Echo from our good friends at the SDC."**

 **Jaune pressed a button on the device and the speakers tuned a moment before they could hear a voice.**

 ** _"_** ** _Mr. Harrison, you've an appointment scheduled for 5:30 with…"_**

 ** _"_** ** _Apologies Matilda, but Mr. Harrison is unavailable at the moment."_**

Weiss and Winter felt a sense of anger raising from within. They glanced between each other and nodded, confirming it between them, "Whitley…"

Ruby looked between the two, "Who?"

Weiss sighed and sank into her chair, "Our little brother. He's always been rather…" Weiss moved her hand in a circular pattern, looking for the right word.

"Antagonistic?" Winter was just as annoyed with Whitley.

Weiss nodded. "That's a good word for it."

 ** _"_** ** _Whitley? Where's Mr. Harrison. Wait, why are you…?"_** **She paused, hearing the sound of choking in the back ground.** ** _"Is everything okay?"_**

 ** _"_** ** _Why, yes. Yes, it is."_**

 ** _"_** ** _Then, what's that sound?"_**

 ** _"_** ** _Oh! That would be Mr. Harrison. He made the mistake of bringing up my sister trying to make a point. So, I'm making a point of my own."_**

 ** _"_** ** _Are… are you saying your choking him?"_**

Weiss and Winter froze. Whitley was an annoying little ogre, but he wasn't anywhere near that terrible. Weiss was the first to accept the idea, given that she had seen a version of Jaune Arc, of all people, as a hired assassin.

 ** _"_** ** _No, Matilda. Choking is what happens when you eat too fast. As my watch chain is currently digging into Mr. Harrison's throat, what I'm doing is called 'strangling.'"_**

 ** _"_** ** _I… I don't… Sir. I can't just sit here and…"_**

 ** _"_** ** _Good thinking. I need you to put out a bulletin over Pandora. The SDC is offering a reward for information for any Sirens on the planet. I'm going to need you to get on that ASAP. Can you do that?"_**

 ** _"_** ** _Sir! Do you have any idea what you're doing?! You just…"_**

 **The choking sound stopped and was directly followed by a thud.** ** _"I'm sorry Matilda, do you not know what time it is?"_** **His tone held a threat within his words.**

 **A threat Matilda picked up quickly,** ** _"I… I'll get right on it, sir!"_** **She was scared. Terrified of the man she hear over the phone.**

 ** _"_** ** _You best."_**

 **With that the call ended.**

Everyone in the audience was dumbfounded. The Schnee sisters stunned by the actions of alternate Whitley. The group from Beacon shocked by the young man's actions and threats. The villains were actually impressed by the young man, but surprised he seemed to be able to commit a public murder, confess over communications, and still seemingly run the company without repercussions!

 **Nora and Jaune were silent a moment. Nora shook and turned, kicking a small device at her feet, "Fuck! Now everyone and their mother will be after me. AGAIN!"**

 **"** **Calm down Nora."**

 **Nora spun and pointed a finger up toward Jaune, "Don't you tell me to calm down! I came to Pandora to avoid this shit! I'm tired of running because of my powers!"**

Ozpin clutched his mug. How many times had he heard that from the maidens over these years? Over so many lifetimes…

 **Jaune waited a moment before speaking, "Nora… Please. Calm down and think."**

 **"** **Jaune! I…"**

 **Jaune held up his hand to silence her, "Nora, there are six Sirens in the entire universe at any given time. Whitley must know there's a Siren here. He clearly has a certain Siren in mind. Do you think that would be you?"**

 **"** **I… I don't…"**

 **"** **You and I have roamed this wasteland for years and nothing ever came up, even with the SDC showing up. They likely know you're here already. This is for information they don't have." In the moment, he left Nora stunned. Her anger gave way and she looked downward. "Besides, everyone around here wants us dead anyway. What makes this different?"**

 **Nora chuckled, "I guess you have a point."**

 **"** **Now, let's get…" He paused a moment. "Nora…"**

 **"** **Yes?"**

 **"** **What's that?"**

 **They looked down under Nora's foot to reveal a small pin.**

Ironwood paused a moment, "That looks like a…"

 **After a second, they heard a loud explosion nearby. They were frozen for a while, uncertain of the world. They were shaken back to life when a large chuck of metal landed nearby. They looked over to find a familiar gold-painted chunk of assault buggy hood. Jaune slowly turned toward Nora, who chuckled nervously.**

Ironwood sighed, "…a grenade pin."

Given neither had been injured, Nora, Ruby, and Yang couldn't help but laugh at the situation.

 **Jaune's eye twitched a moment before taking a breath. "Guess we're walking… We can start tomorrow…" Jaune turned back to the building they just left.**

 **Nora started to follow, "I guess that sounds like a plan…"**

 **Jaune turned and held up his arm to stop her.**

 **"** **Jaune?"**

 **He knelt down to grab something from the bag and handed Nora a sleeping bag before turning back around.**

 **"** **Jaune?! Hey! Come on! It was an accident!"**

 **"** **Not until Beacon."**

 **"** **JAUNE!"**

 **"** **Not until Beacon!"**

 **With that, the screen began to fade.**

"What do you think they were talking about?" Ruby questioned.

Everyone else had an idea. But it just seemed so… odd. It was weird to think of the implications that held from Nora given the Nora they knew. She was energetic and straightforward to a fault at times. But the big thing was that she was always at Ren's side to the point that some people were certain they were together-together, no matter how much she denied it. To hear that insinuation from Nora about and, weirdest of all, from Jaune was insane to think about.

 **The screen changed with a message, [Three months later.]**

"Oh! It's still going."

 **They saw Nora sitting on a park bench with her arm resting on her leg and her head in her hand. She was tapping her foot, waiting for someone. Jaune walked over and Nora jumped up. "Well?"**

 **"** **30k."**

 **"** **No way!"**

 **"** **Just enough to fix the car~!" Jaune's smile showed he still wasn't over that.**

 **Nora stomped her foot in a huff, "Oh come on! Three months and you're still not over that?!"**

 **Jaune chuckled a little. "Calm down Nora. After factoring in the car, ammo, and medical services, we still have enough for just under a thousand each."**

 **Nora sighed in relief. "Oh, thank goodness! We can eat well tonight!"**

 **"** **Guy said we wouldn't get any higher price at Beacon."**

"So, they haven't reached Beacon yet?" Ruby scratched her chin in thought. "Was it that far away?"

Weiss sighed, "Ruby, remember, they are _walking_ there."

"But it's been, like… three months!"

"Ruby…" Weiss placed her head in her hand.

 **Jaune gave Nora her share from the cash, "I couldn't bring myself to tell him the city flew away."**

Everyone caught that, but wasn't sure how to take it.

 **But Nora didn't seem as phased, "Yeah! What's with that anyway? A whole city just flies away!" Nora calmed down and sighed, "So, how long until the car is ready again?"**

 **"** **Considering how much of that buggy was custom, about a week."**

 **"** **Damn it." Nora's head fell backward.**

 **"** **If it makes you feel better, guy offered us a job."**

 **Nora tilted her head to look at Jaune, "What kind of job?"**

 **"** **Raider camp about a mile off."**

 **"** **He wants it razed?"**

 **"** **Scorched."**

 **Nora was silent a few seconds before she smiled and stood, "I'm game."**

Nora jumped up, "That sounds like an awesome idea! I'm in!"

Ren had to place a hand on her shoulder to get her to calm down again.

 **Jaune chuckled, "I knew you would be."**

 **Nora raised an eyebrow with a smirk toward Jaune, "And what's that supposed to mean?"**

 **"** **It means you're a dangerous psychopath with a history of violence."**

This got a few of Nora's friends to snicker.

 **Nora placed her hands on her hips, "Like you're one to talk! Memory serves, you're the one wanted for mass destruction of SDC property."**

 **"** **Never said I wasn't." Jaune stood up and jokingly punched Nora's shoulder. "Now come on. Let's get this job done."**

 **Nora was still, silent as she looked at the money in her hand. "Hey… Jaune?" Her usual bubbly voice gave way to a more serious, thoughtful tone.**

The only people who were used to this shift were Ren and Pyrrha. Everyone else was shocked silent. First, she swore, now she's serious? What madness is this world?

 **Jaune turned back to Nora, "What's up?"**

 **Nora took a deep breath, "I've been thinking…"**

 **"** **Did it hurt?"**

Some snickered, knowing Jaune's tone was joking. But the others were too focused on what was happening. Nora was rarely serious, whatever this was, it was important.

 **"** **Jaune… I'm being serious."**

 **"** **I'm not."**

 **Nora took a moment of silence again. "I… Is all this worth it?"**

 **Jaune raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"**

 **"** **I mean, we go around and do jobs for pennies. We get lucky now and then and find shit like the Eridium, but those days are rare? We're usually hungry and tired. Forced to keep fighting SDC drones and psycho bandits, even when not doing a job. I just… I don't want to live like that…"**

Nora grabbed Ren's arm, squeezing his wrist. She knew that feeling. She and Ren had lived as orphans since they were young, too young to be alone.

 **Jaune nodded slowly, "Yeah? Then I have to ask, where would we go?"**

 **"** **What?"**

 **"** **Where would we go? You said so yourself that I'm wanted by the SDC for mass property damage. You're a Siren and they'll hunt you down all your life anyway. With the SDC's massive reach, no matter where we go, we'll have to fight. At least this barren rock has memories."**

 **"** **And what memories would keep us here?! The nights where we nearly starve?! The bandit raids?! The days we almost died?! It's not worth it anymore Jaune! I love the adventure, but this is insanity!"**

 **Jaune just started to laugh.**

This confused everyone.

 **Nora looked particularly angry, "What's so funny about wanting a better life?!"**

 **"** **It wouldn't suit you."**

 **Nora paused. "What?"**

 **"** **Do you know the happiest I've ever seen you was on one of those days we 'almost died'? My arm was broken. Your ribs were cracked. We were both bleeding. But we were laughing. Neither of us can live a better life because we live for the adventure. Pandora was probably the best thing that ever happened to us."**

 **Nora was quiet a moment. After a while, she sighed. "I guess you have a point…"**

 **Jaune smiled and shook his head, taking out a very futuristic SMG. "So, bandit camp in 1 mile, you coming or not?"**

 **Nora smirked and retrieved her pistol, "Yeah. Let's do this!"**

 **As they ran off, their positions froze and became the ink-like style from the opening, complete with voice over. "I'm afraid that's where our story ends for now. The tale of two scavengers in a world of bandits. It almost reminds of my first marriage. Granted they were happier with their lives… Anyway, that's enough for now. Perhaps another day, I can tell another story of Pandora. But that's for another day."**

Yang chuckled a little, "Okay… that was a thing."

Ruby thought for a moment, "Was it implying that Nora and Jaune were a couple?"

Pyrrha and Velvet nearly had a conniption before Weiss explained the situation, "It implied _that_ Jaune and Nora were together on an alien planet covered in psychotic madmen. Last I checked, we don't live on Pandora and our Nora has… other interests."

Everyone looked toward Nora, who still had a hand clutching Ren's arm. Nora looked among the group, "What?"

Weiss just sighed, "Nothing…"

/\

 **King: For anyone who cares, the song Nora was singing was "Breaking Down the Borders" by Miracle of Sound. Check him out on YouTube if you're interested.**


	6. Too Hot

**King: This was fun to write~ I'm concerned that makes me twisted... Oh well! I had fun and I hope you all do too~!**

 **Inspiration: Team Fortress 2**

 **/\**

As the room calmed again, King popped back. "Alright! I've got the next one ready when you all are."

Ozpin looked around and found no one objecting among them. "I suppose we're ready."

"Alright. Buckle up. This is a weird one. Or fun. Depends on your view. Any who~! Let's go!" King faded out and started the next scene.

 **When the screen popped back, they were met with a title screen. It was a large red rectangle with the words [Meet the Pyro] in a light beige, a small box of matches leaning on one side. This was accompanied by jazzy music to set the style.**

"Meet the Pyro?" Nora tapped her chin. "Sounds like Yang…"

Said hot head turned toward Nora, "Hey!"

Neo turned toward Cinder but didn't allow it to last. She had a survival instinct after all.

 **The display burned away, showing a familiar pair of boots walking along a scorched earth. They could see a fire ax hanging in his hand, slowly moving back and forth. He walked slowly, stepping on a pair of glasses.**

"I'm getting a bad feeling about this." No one was sure who said it, because they were all thinking it, save for the villainous group among them.

 **The screen changed again, showing a familiar silhouette of one Ruby Rose. She was sitting in an office like setting, possibly for an interview given the camera angle. "I'm not afraid of anybody!"**

Ruby's arm shot up in excitement, "Yeah!"

 **"** **But that thing…" Ruby looked to the side for a moment before she moved forward slightly. "It scares me."**

Ruby sunk down a little, "Oh no…" She was seeing where this was going. She didn't like it.

 **The screen changed to show people running away from a head of blonde hair, straps of a gas mask peaking out from his locks. This new angle showed that Jaune was walking through an old, wooden mining town. He continued to move along the road slowly. Was it for intimidation?**

 **The screen moved back to the office again. This time showing Blake. A key difference was that this Blake's attire was a bright red. She was leaning forward with one held toward the interviewer. "Look, I'm not talking about that… freak! Alright?"**

A shiver ran up Blake's spine. The idea of her calling _anyone_ a freak was foreign to her.

 **Blake started to fiddle with the microphone on her shirt. She froze for a moment, a realization hitting her. "He's not here, is he?!" She looked around in a panic. She stood up, knocking her chair over in the background, still trying to remove the microphone, "How do I get this fucking thing off?!"**

That sunk team RWBY into seriousness of the situation. Blake rarely, if ever, got emotional enough to let a curse slip. Even before the dance, when she was in an emotionally driven state of consecutive consciousness, she never let a curse pass her lips. Whatever she thought of this guy, likely Jaune given the point of these shorts, it must have been pretty bad.

 **The camera changed to a seen with someone hiding inside a house. The smoky air and dark atmosphere made it difficult to see their face. They recoiled as their door was kicked in. A nozzle slowly came through the doorway, a flickering flame resting on the end, and accompanied by a bone chilling hiss. The flamethrower gave off a small vapor that shifted into smoke, which was used to show a close up of Ren sitting in the same interview room.**

Nora excitedly point to the screen, "Ren's finally got a part~!"

Ren wasn't sure this was a good thing, given the tone of the reality.

 **Ren let out a deep sigh, "One shutters to imagine what inhuman thoughts lie behind that mask…" As he spoke, the scene changed to show Jaune turned away and unleashing the torrent of fire from his weapon. As he torched the building, Ren continued from off screen, "…What dreams of chronic and sustained cruelty."**

 **Now they could see Jaune's mask. His black gas mask reminded them of old war-era masks. It was a cold and unnerving form he cut. A terrifying figure of death.**

Cinder shivered a little. This was everything she could want. The destruction and the, ironically, cold exterior! It was what she needed in an ally! What she demanded but never received. If she could just twist this Jaune to her side, could she have this destructive force for herself? The though excited her.

 **The screen morphed through the world and showed a pair of white dots where the goggles of his mask had occupied. They began to swing around and morph together to the screen. It was time to see the world through Jaune's eyes.**

 ** _~Do you believe in magic?~_**

No one was ready for what they saw. Three people in particular formed a sequence of words that perfectly summed up the group consensus. Emerald, Mercury and Cinder (in that order) spoke the inner truth for them all.

"What…"

"The…"

"FUCK?!"

 **The world was colorful, almost painfully so. Everything looked like it was made of candy and rainbows. Cute things were scattered about the world. Jaune's flamethrower was replaced with a massive bubble gun that shot rainbows. He was standing atop a hillside, happily spreading joy to the world below.**

No one really had any words for that. It was a very jarring transition from point A to point B. The disconnect was very concerning to everyone involved. Those who cared about Jaune saw a poor man with a mental disorder. Those who didn't care about anyone saw an unhinged psychopath with a flamethrower. In this case, neither were particularly wrong.

 **A little chibi version of Ruby looked up a half-eaten cookie. All the red in her design had been replaced with blue. Noticing Jaune, she jumped over cookie and laughed.**

Yang placed an arm over Ruby's shoulders, "That's so cute~!"

 **Jaune picked a lollipop out of the ground and started to skip toward Ruby, who in turn ran toward the lollipop. As Jaune jumped up with a spin, the screen cut back to reality. Jaune leveled his fire ax into the head of a blue Ruby as she screamed for mercy, blood splattering the camera. It lasted only a second, but it was enough to shake everyone again.**

Yang recoiled, her grip over her sister's shoulders released. It was a horrifying sight. The idea of Vomit Boy being a murderer was bad enough, but killing Ruby? That just made things worse.

 **The colorful world returned to show the chibi Ruby with the lollipop stuck in her mouth. They both noticed something approaching and looked toward the camera. They saw a chibi Blake in blue blinking between spaces between them. She giggled and landed on his bubble gun. Jaune chuckled and pulled out a bubble wand. He blew into the wand and blew bubbles toward Blake. Reality hit again, showing the moment in slow motion as the blue Blake was shot in the face with a still burning flare.**

Roman let out an uneasy chuckle. His weapon fired explosive flares, but his attacks were never more powerful than a firework. Huntsmen and the police could tank a hit like that. Which was fine, since it was primarily a distraction measure, requiring a direct hit to be an effective weapon. But shooting someone in the face point black with a flare? _Yikes._

 **Jaune chuckled then heard something off to the side. He turned to find a pair of brown bunny ears sticking up from a gift box.**

Velvet shivered at what was to come, "Oh no…"

 **A chibi Velvet popped up from the box. She was dressed like a sort of combat medic with a pale blue medical coat. She happily waved to Jaune before ducking back into the box. The lid of the box didn't sit correctly on the top of the rest.**

Coco wanted to tease her partner. She wanted nothing more than for this to just be a cute scene, so she could mess with her teammate. But she noticed the pattern of this reality. She knew what was about to happen.

 **Jaune ran to the box and adjusted the lid to fit correctly. Reality returned, showing Jaune placing a fire ax between the door handles of a barn. A blue Velvet tried to get out of the building, noticing she was trapped. She tried to cry out. Tried to convince the masked man to leave. All to no avail. Jaune unleashed the flame toward the barn. It would take only a few seconds to set the building ablaze. Within minutes, the prisoner within would be burned to ashes.**

Ruby was clutching her stomach, "I think I'm going to be sick."

 **The colorful world returned, showing Jaune joyfully skipping along with his bubble gun. As he passed blue chibi versions of Yang and Ren, he fired a rainbow to them, creating a living, inflatable unicorn. The two hopped onto the floating creature and flew off next to Jaune. Jaune skipped along passed the screen, showing a group of seven chibi people behind him, all in blue: all of team RWBY, Nora in the lower right corner waving at the camera, Ren still on the balloonicorn, and Velvet.**

 **Reality hit again, showing the waving as the blue Nora was on the ground reaching her hand out while crying for help. The screen followed as the blue Blake ran passed, her arm covered in shards of glass. Suddenly, a blue Pyrrha jumped out of an upper story window of a burning building.**

Pyrrha shook in her chair. No on was speaking anymore. No one could even imagine of saying anything toward all of this. That made her nerves worse. Someone, say something! Break this tension with a stupid joke! Someone bring them out of this version!

 **Pyrrha crawled forward, grabbing onto the leg of someone standing. She leaned up crying out, "Help!" She hoped for a savior. She found her devil.**

 **Jaune looked down toward her with his cold masked face and brought the flamethrower toward the injured sniper. A sickening hiss was replaced by the sound of the screams of a person being cooked alive. Jaune simply tilted his head, almost as if he no idea what was going on.**

 **The screen changed to show a complete red set of the nine figures included in the short, including Jaune. All stood in a coordinated line, making it clear they were a team. The jazz music hit a loud hook as the screen moved back to show the full team behind a title: [Team Remnant 2].**

Ironwood put two and two together first, given everything he's been through as a military commander, "Okay… So, Jaune is a part of that red team, and we've been seeing him fight a blue team…"

Glynda thought for a moment, "But why would the blue team look exactly like the red group?"

"Hardware limitations?" Head turned toward Neptune, who just nervously cleared his throat to prepare himself, "I mean… this kind of looks like a commercial for a video game. So, both sides would look the same except for their color, to tell teams apart." Everyone was silent a moment, still watching him. Neptune chuckled nervously, "I had a part time job back home helping a local business with their advertising. I didn't really do all that much, but I picked a few things up." What he said certainly made sense. In truth, that made a few of them feel better.

 **The screen continued, showing Jaune jovially walking along a candy pathway as the music continued. As the screen pulled back, they saw a descended chunk of spine. A bit farther back and they saw the whole in a blue shirt. Then they saw Yang kneeling on the ground with a hole in her abdomen. All the while, they could see Jaune walking in the candy land through the hole. Her situation finally hit and she coiled up, falling forward. Now Jaune was slowly walking through the burning town. His work was done. The Blu team was dead and burned. But they'd be back. They always came back.**

Neptune pointed to the screen, "See? Respawning enemies."

Weiss's eye twitched, "But… why spell blue as B-l-u?"

"Likely as a counter to the color red. That way they'd both had three letters? Or maybe there's a backstory and they're both nicknames or something, I don't know."

 **Jaune walked on. He allowed himself a moment to indulge in a job well done. As a nearby windmill collapsed, he let out a whistle. A haunting song carried through his mask, as he sang to the music in his head.**


	7. A Possible Version

**King: These are interesting to write. I had fun getting this one down. Hope it shows.**

 **Inspiration: n/a**

 **/\**

As King popped back, he found a scene of several of the students ranting.

Pyrrha stomped around a bit in frustration. She noticed King pop back and stormed over to him. "Why do we keep seeing Jaune as either a villain or a psychopath?!"

King floated in place a moment, "Really? You think I control that?"

"Don't you?! You told us you're basically a god in this theater!"

"I also told you they're playing at random. I get it's difficult to see your crush in situations like that…"

Pyrrha's anger for the magic ball gave way to embarrassment for her crush being out in the open. Not that anyone else was surprised in the slightest. The only one who didn't know wasn't there, so nothing really changed.

"… however, remember, I'm not in control of those realities or how they play out. I had to remove the filters to search for the previous reality."

Yang leaned back in her chair, "How's that going by the way?"

"No real progress… Infinite choices within each reality make for difficult searches for specific versions. I've narrowed it down based on Jaune's Jedi status, but there are still way too many Possibles…"

"'Possibles'?" Weiss raised an eyebrow, "You mean possibilities?"

King turned to Weiss, "Possi… Oh! Right! No, actually. Okay… I'll try to explain this as best I can. There are two relationships for the various realities. The first is what's known as an Alternate. These are two realities that are fundamentally different from one another. All you've seen so far is Alternates. No matter how you spin it, these could never be mistaken for your dimension for one reason or another, usually through the access to magic systems or lack thereof. The second is known as a Possible. These are dimensions that share fundamental traits on a base level. In other words, for your reality, a Possible would be a world of huntsmen/huntresses fighting the terror of the Creatures of Grimm by using aura, semblances, and mechanized or hybridized weaponry."

Blake blinked in confusion a moment, "That's… oddly specific."

"That's the point. But even then, there are infinite possibilities within that! For example, in one Possible Ruby wields a combination scythe and sniper rifle, but in another she uses a dust-enhanced saber. Or, say, in one version, Jaune is the lovable goof you all know; while in another version he was born female and was the Princess of Vacuo! Stuff like that, but always within the same fundamental system."

King glowed a faint red for a moment. "Speaking of… New reality is ready and it happens to be a Possible~ Who's ready?!"

"So, this is going to be a Jaune that could exist?"

"Could be? Could have? It all depends on the choices made up to that point. But, this is going to be a Jaune that fits into your reality. Let's start it up and you'll see what I mean." King dissipated, and the screen began its new window into the multiverse.

 **The screen opened to show Jaune sitting in a seat on a familiar airship. It was the day the students arrive at Beacon Academy, a school deigned to train Huntsmen and Huntresses. For many, it was the day their life began! For Jaune… it was Wednesday.**

Ruby was incredulous, "What?! How could he not be excited! That was the day we all arrived at Beacon!"

Yang tapped Ruby's shoulder to get her attention, "Isn't that also the day he puked on my shoes due to motion sickness?"

"Yeah… But he doesn't look sick now."

 **Jaune took a deep breath and looked around. There were plenty of rather… colorful students on the transport. Then again, glass houses… He wasn't about to judge. To them, he probably looked like the odd man out. He hadn't bothered to wear his combat gear and was just waiting in his seat wearing his Pumpkin Pete hoodie, jeans, and sneakers.**

Seeing the hoodie, Ruby tried to contain her laughter, but failed miserably. "What is that?!" Ruby fell over in laughter, "It's got a cute little bunny rabbit!"

 **Jaune leaned back in his chair, waiting for the ship to finally land already. He wasn't even sure why he had to take the transport… He was walking through Beacon last week! But, someone said no one was allowed on site between then and opening day, so he had to leave. Even though he knows for a fact that Professor Goodwitch remained on campus.**

Glynda looked to the screen with a questioning glare only a teacher could muster, "And why would he know that?"

 **Jaune sighed and leaned forward again, resting his elbows on his knees, thinking to himself out loud, "This is a ploy for me to make friends, isn't it?" Jaune sighed and sat back up. His hands now placed over his knees, he took a deep breath. "Might as well get in some meditation."**

Ren raised an eyebrow. He would often find meditation to be a calming force and attempted to teach it to Jaune when asked to. The young knight wasn't the kind of person to sit and empty their mind so easily, so it was slow going. Seeing Jaune actually meditate would be interesting.

 **Jaune started to feel the presence of the universe. His aura beginning to manifest as he…**

 **"** **Hello~"**

 ** _And… it's gone._** **Jaune opened his eyes, revealing them to be a bright green.**

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. He wouldn't say it out loud, but this version of Mr. Arc reminded him of Glynda when they first met… Overly reserved, a bit underwhelmed by everything, they even shared the street clothes style on day one rather than their combat attire.

 **Standing in front of Jaune was a young girl with a black and red gothic style going for her. Her hair followed the same vein being primarily black with red tips. She seemed like the kind of girl that somehow became everyone's friend. She smiled as she spoke, "Nice to meet you!"**

Ruby got over her laughing fit and looked to the screen in shock. It was her, but she wasn't socially awkward! How is this possible! _Tell me your secrets, me!_

 **Jaune sighed, "Might as well…"**

 **Ruby tilted her head, "Hmm?"**

 **"** **Nothing." Jaune stood up and held out his hand. "I'm Jaune."**

 **Ruby shook Jaune's hand, "I'm Ruby. Nice to meet you!"**

 **"** **You said that already."**

 **"** **I know. Still true."**

No one among the students could believe what they'd seen. A social Ruby?! It was insane! She even used her repetition to make herself still sound somewhat cool.

 **Jaune rolled his eyes but smiled. "So, what brings you to my neck of the woods then?"**

 **"** **You were all alone and looked like you needed a friend!"**

 **Jaune raised an eyebrow.**

 **Ruby sighed, "Okay… My sister was embarrassing me, and I used making new friends as an excuse to get her to stop."**

 **"** **That makes more sense."**

Yang groaned a bit, but she still smirked.

 **"** **Still… I figured, why not right? My mom used to say strangers are just friends you haven't met yet."**

Ruby paused a moment, "Wait… that's what Jaune told me when we met…"

 **Jaune let out a single chuckle, "I suppose that's not technically wrong. A bit dangerous if taken at face value, though."**

 **"** **I know. But it's the principle of it all."**

 **The ship signaled to the passengers that they were starting to land. Jaune smirked, "Guess I'll catch you around then."**

 **Ruby waved as he walked away. When Jaune looked back a moment, there was a taller, blonde woman with her arm wrapped over Ruby's shoulders.** ** _Likely the sister in question._** **Jaune continued to walk, tripping over a luggage cart.**

Ruby tensed up, "I didn't do it!"

 **"** **You cannot be serious!" The voice crying out was rather shrill, but not without something underneath. A cold exterior as it were. A young woman in a solid white dress started to pick up her belongings, mostly dust vials. Her stark white hair and the symbol on her back told him all he needed to know. This was Weiss Schnee, the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. The only question he had was,** ** _why is she here?_**

Winter addressed her sister without looking away from the screen, "Seems this Jaune is familiar with you."

Weiss turned to her sister, "He's heard of me. There's a difference."

"I'm aware."

 **Jaune sighed. He** ** _did_** **knock them over… He knelt down on one knee and started to reach for one of the vials, only for it to be snatched away by the heiress.**

 **She had everything up and was holding the vial toward him in an accusatory manner. "And just what do you think you're doing?!"**

Weiss's eye twitched. Was she really that bad when she met Ruby? Thinking back, she may have been rather harsh…

 **Jaune stood back up and looker her in the eye. "Considering… I was going to help pick up the vials. Apparently, I didn't need to bother."**

 **"** **You're the one who knocked them over in the first place!"**

 **"** **And that's why I wanted to help."**

 **Weiss finally caught up with herself and her face turned red in embarrassment. She cleared her throat and took a deep breath, "My apologies. The vials are filled with dust, so them being loose made me… unnecessarily antagonistic."**

 **Jaune crossed his arms, "That's a way to put it."**

 **"** **I am ashamed of my actions and ask you to forgive my outburst."**

 **Jaune was silent. He took a deep breath, but this was a smokescreen. He took the time to take in her aura.**

"Wait, that's a thing?" Ruby asked, confused.

Glynda adjusted her glasses, "Only the most powerful huntsmen can read a person's aura. That or…"

"Or?"

Ozpin picked up the conversation, "Or, they would possess a natural affinity for the Auric Arts."

"Woah! What's the Auric Arts?! That sounds so cool!"

"The most prominent example I could give you is Glynda. He fighting style includes using her semblance to move objects at will. This is achieved through her semblance, which I remind you is an extension of her aura. Auric Arts are the personal, mental control one must have to extend their aura beyond their bodies. For most, this would be an extension of your senses. For those like Ms. Goodwitch, it makes them more powerful."

 **He could tell she was earnest in her apology and in her reasons to attend Beacon. He couldn't tell the more minute details, but he could tell her more surface emotions. By the time he reached his exhale, he knew everything he needed. "Don't worry about it. We can call it even."**

 **"** **I suppose that sounds fair."**

 **Jaune walked passed and waved back. For now, he had to get to the entrance ceremony. After that, he'd be stuck with everyone else again. He might use that time to try to meditate again before bed. He took a deep breath, "Okay… here we go." As he walked in, the screen began to fade.**

"What?! That's it?!" Ruby stood up from her seat in frustration. "That can't be it."

Weiss thought for a moment, "It does seem to be over…"

"No way! Nothing happened!"

"King did say they were all random." Blake reminded them, "He never said what would happen in each."

 **"** **Again."**

The group looked back to the screen. Apparently, it wasn't over.

 **When the screen returned, it showed a young Jaune, around 9 years old, with his hand reaching out toward an apple. He was sitting in place, not moving closer. Simply reaching out.**

Ruby had sat back down when the screen returned, "What's he doing?"

"Aura training." Glynda readjusted her glasses. "He's attempting to reach out with his aura to effect the apple in some way. Given his age in this, this is how he trained to read the auras of others."

 **Jaune's face strained. His aura began to form around him in a bright lavender. As the aura formed around him, a similar effect appeared around the apple, as if trying to take hold of the fruit. Jaune's concentration fell off and the aura around the apple faded. The young Jaune fell forward and held himself up by his arms. "I just can't do it…"**

 **"** **Yes, you can."**

Few were expecting what they saw.

 **A younger Glynda, by about 8 years, walked up from behind him and helped him back to his seated position. She knelt down and held onto his shoulders. "I know you can do this."**

 **"** **But no matter what I do, I just can't get it to move."**

 **Glynda sighed, smiling down to Jaune, "That's because you're not supposed to. You're trying to use** ** _my_** **semblance instead of your own. You've shown great improvement, your aura can manifest and reach items beyond you, but you still need to train. In time, you'll understand your power. For now, we need to return to your other studies." Glynda stood back up, adjusting her glasses, "Today is dust application."**

 **Jaune continued to look toward the ground. Something about what she just said started to turn the gears in his head. "I have an idea…" As he spoke, the screen faded to white.**

"What was that about?" Sun asked. "Since when do Beacon teachers teach 9-year olds? I mean, I get it, start the training early, but I didn't think that was a thing you'd have time for. That's why there are the combat schools."

Glynda shook her head slightly, "I _do_ teach younger students of Vale when their semblances are shown to be more auric than physical as far back as core combat school training. However, I haven't trained anyone at the age of nine…"

 **Jaune woke up to the sound of his alarm. He sat up from his sleeping bag and stretched his back. Unlike in their own reality, Jaune's day one sleepwear was a white t-shirt with black pajama pants. On the upper part of his right pant leg was a golden symbol of an arch with a three-pointed crown above it.**

This didn't garner too much of a reaction. After the first night, Jaune had exchanged his onesie for a similar attire, save for the colors: the pants were blue. But the symbol did turn a few heads. It was clearly a modified version of his symbol in their own reality: the two gold arcs on a white background. Now, there was a single arc beneath a crown, which looked rather familiar now that they thought about it.

 **Th camera moved behind Jaune as he stretched, revealing the back of his shirt had a phrase written in bright, emerald green lettering, [Something Wicked this Way Comes].**

Ruby shrunk a little, "Why have a shirt like that?" She hoped it wasn't a sort of foreshadowing for what was to come. Too many psycho Jaunes for one day…

Blake was the first to answer her, "It's a literary reference. But I don't know where it's from…"

"Then how do you know it's a literary reference?"

"Because it comes up in some of my books."

Glynda had frozen when she saw the phrase. Now, she could finally speak again. "The Bloody King."

Both students turned to their teacher, "What?"

Ozpin took a sip from his coffee. "The Bloody King was an old play written during the early years of the kingdoms. It was about a man who assassinated his king to take the throne. Most of the play centers around his spiral of guilt and anger until justice finally catches up to him."

Glynda nodded, putting earlier pieces together, "It was also my mother's favorite story."

 **Jaune stood back up and started to make his way toward the changing room to get ready. He changed into a solid white t-shirt, a pair of black slacks, and a pair of dress boots (like dress shoes, only more functional). After he was done, he moved to lockers to acquire his weapons and coat.**

"His coat?" Nora questioned. "Why would he keep his coat in his weapon locker?"

Ruby was just interested to see what this Jaune would use as weapons.

 **As he approached his locker, he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. He had to be ready for this. Opening his locker, he revealed a long, royal purple coat. Resting on the bottom was a pair of gauntlets. He smiled as he put on his coat followed by the gauntlets, which rested atop the coat's sleeves.**

Nora tapped her chin in thought, "Do you think he's a brawler, like Yang?"

Ruby observed the gauntlets for a moment, "No way. His gauntlets aren't designed for it."

"How can you tell?"

Ruby gave Nora a deadpan expression, "Really?"

Nora chuckled nervously, "Fair enough, but I'd still like to know."

Ruby nodded, "Okay, so! His gauntlets are likely made of a class-2 metal alloy, the same stuff they use for dust canisters. Good for holding dust, not so good for punching Grimm. Yang's Ember Celica are folded Class-3."

"Woah! What kind of metal is your scythe?!"

"Crescent Rose is a Class-5 alloy. Strong and easy to obtain!"

Yang groaned, "Can we please watch the reality instead of talking about weapons all day? Night… It's hard to tell here…"

 **Jaune held up his gauntlets toward the light on the ceiling. Hidden away in small sections of the gauntlets was a set of dust containers. He made sure they were all full before nodding, "Alright. Let's go."**

 **"** **Sounds good~!"**

 **Jaune jumped in place and spun around to find Ruby laughing at his expense. "Why would you do that?!"**

 **"** **Because it was funny?"**

Yang laughed, "She's not wrong!"

 **Jaune took a deep breath, "Regardless. It's nice to see you again."**

 **"** **Likewise. So, any plans for what happens next?"**

 **"** **What do you mean?"**

 **"** **Well, there's this rumor about teams. Any idea who's going to be on your team?"**

 **Jaune knew about the teams. He just shook his head and closed his locker, "Not really. Just going to wing it."**

 **"** **I guess that works. See you on the other side."**

 **As she walked off, Jaune shook his head.** ** _This was going to be an interesting day…_**

 **The students were lined up along a cliff face, each standing on a metal plate.**

"Oh my gosh! It's the Emerald Forest!" Nora shouted.

Sun turned toward team RWBY, "What kind of crazy initiation requires you guys to stand at a cliff like that?"

Blake sighed, "You have no idea…"

 **Ozpin was standing in front of the students with Glynda Goodwitch at his side. He took a sip from his mug before addressing the students, "Welcome to the Emerald Forest. On the Northern edge of the forest is a set of ruins. In these ruins, you'll find a series of relics. Your mission is reach these ruins, retrieve one of these relics, and return here before sunset. What's more, you've no doubt heard about the creation of teams. These rumors are true. Your full teams will be formed at the end of your initiation. That said, the first person you make eye contact with upon entering the forest will be your partner for the next four years."**

Neptune and Sun were looking at the screen in shock. Their own initiation wasn't exactly simple or easy, but they had the advantage of an extra week to find a partner beforehand.

 **Jaune took in everything he was told. He had no idea of who would be a good partner. At best, he knew he'd have a friend. It seems he really will have to wing it…**

 **Glynda stepped forward, "Now, a warning. The forest is filled with the creatures of Grimm. You will likely need to fight for lives. I suggest finding your partners sooner rather than later." She adjusted her glasses and glanced toward Jaune. "I wish you all luck in your initiation."**

 **Once the speeches were done, the students began to be vaulted into the forest. Jaune stood at the end of the line, waiting his turn as his fellow students were launched into the sky. When his turn finally arrived, his platform stalled for just a second longer than it should have.**

 **Glynda turned toward Jaune in this moment, "At least try to find a partner you can get along with."**

 **Jaune smirked, "I'll see what I can do." After that, he was launched with the rest of the students.**

"Huh…" Ozpin thought for a moment, "It almost sounds like…"

 **His thoughts were interrupted by what was happening on screen. Jaune had stalled midair with his arms tucked behind his back. He was floating!**

Ruby went starry eyed, "That's so cool!"

Weiss watched the screen in bewilderment, "How is he doing that?!"

Ruby shrugged, "Levitation semblance?"

 **The back of Jaune's coat showed a glowing pair of green wings. He had interwoven wind dust into his coat. By sending his aura into the garment, he can use it to hold himself up in the air. He still needs training to really fly, but this is a decent start.**

Weiss wanted to say how ridiculous it was. But, as she thought about it, it started to make a little more sense. He was effectively using his aura to make his coat float, thereby holding himself up by his arms using said coat. "That… could actually work."

Yang turned to Weiss, "Really?"

"It would take a lot of training to balance your aura and the physical strain, but it is sound logic."

 **Jaune held his gauntlets out backward and burst forward and down toward the forest. When he landed, he gripped one hand around the neck of a Beowolf. His gauntlet started to glow a bright, pale blue before the creature's head was incased in a block of ice. As another Beowolf began to charge him, he reached his other hand back, catching its claw with his other gauntlet. This gauntlet began to glow a deep red-orange before the Beowolf's body erupted in a torrent of fire.**

Ruby's starry eyes went galactic. "Oh my gosh! That's so cool!"

Weiss crossed her arms. "That would explain why his gauntlets were the same material as a dust container…"

 **Jaune let go of both creatures once he was sure they were dead and disappearing. Once he was certain he was alone, he started to move northward again. Jaune reached a forest clearing and started to walk out of the cover of the forest. As he walked, he stopped. A large King Taijitu began to rise up from the ground and moved slowly. As it started to lunch toward him, its head burst from a massive shell.**

 **Jaune turned toward the side to find a familiar sight. Ruby was standing on the forest's edge with a massive scythe over her shoulder. "Hello again."**

Pyrrha was conflicted. She was happy Jaune's partner would be someone that seemed like a nice person. She had gotten used to the idea that this wasn't the Jaune she was familiar with by this point. So it was easy to stomach, but it was still bitter.

 **Jaune smirked and waved toward Ruby, "Starting to think you're following me."**

 **"** **If I was, you wouldn't know it."**

 **Jaune raised an eyebrow, "She says with a giant scythe over her shoulder."**

 **Ruby paused a moment. "Fair point."**

 **"** **So, you find anyone else or are we a team now?"**

 **"** **I haven't seen anyone until now." Ruby collapsed her scythe and returned it to her back. She walked with Jaune through the forest. She looked him up and down a moment, "What? No weapon?"**

The Ruby in the audience was dumbfounded, "How can you ask that?!"

Blake placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder and made her sit down again. "She likely didn't see what his gauntlets do. She probably thinks their just armor. You said so yourself that they aren't as effective against Grimm. And you did that all by visual observation."

Ruby sat back in her seat without a fight, "Fair enough…"

 **Jaune held up his right hand, "The gauntlets have dust inside them."**

 **"** **Oh! That's pretty cool. They have a name?"**

 **Jaune smirked, "You're oddly nosy about my weapons."**

 **"** **It's a hobby. Besides, if we're going to be partners, I want to know what I'm getting into."**

 **"** **Fair enough. The gauntlets are called Toil and Trouble."**

Mercury started to laugh, "What kind of dumb name is that?"

 **Ruby thought for a moment, "Like the Bloody King line?"**

This made Mercury pause, "what?"

 **"** **That was the idea, yes."**

 **The two walked on, eventually finding the ruins. Ruby started to lead the way to the ruins, "This the place?"**

 **"** **That's how I remember it, yes."**

 **"** **You've been here before?"**

 **Jaune moved forward and looked over the chess pieces sitting on the alters. "More than once. Which piece were you thinking?"**

 **A happy-go-lucky red-head popped up on the other side, "I'm thinking the castle."**

 **Jaune jumped back, his coat causing him to float for a moment as his aura reacted.**

 **Looking back up, he found a girl with orange hair on the other side of the alter giggling at his reaction. She was dressed in a white sleeveless shirt, a pair of black shorts with a pink lightning bolt on either side, and a pair of calf-high, sky-blue boots. Standing next to her was a young man with dark hair pulled back into a pony tail. His attire resembled the style used by archers: single sleeve jacket, single leather bracer and glove, white/grey slacks, and simple boots. The calm demeanor and pink streak in his hair told them who this was.**

 **But the orange haired girl introduced them anyway, "I'm Nora and this is Ren."**

 **Ren bowed slightly, "Nice to meet you."**

Nora jumped up and cheered, "We're in this one too! Maybe we get to be a team! Wait, where's Pyrrha?"

Ren had to remind her, "Different reality, remember?"

 **Jaune had stood back up and waved lightly, "I'm Jaune. This is Ruby."**

 **Ruby waved to Nora, "Hello~!"**

 **Nora had jumped up and was sitting on one of the alters with white rook piece in hand. She was purposefully sitting as though she was a queen atop her throne. "A pleasure."**

 **A loud roar from the forest caught their attention. A duo of students was running a large Death Stalker. The first was the young heiress, Weiss Schnee. The other was a young faunas woman with black hair and a pair of cat ears. She was dressed in attire similar to her attire worn during the initiation they remember.**

"Hey! It's Blake!"

Blake blinked for a moment, "Just… without the bow…"

 **The two continued to run until Weiss spun and used her sword to unleash a massive wall of ice to separate them from the creature, "That's won't hold long…"**

 **Blake was panting and was just happy to have a moment, "It won't have to. Let's grab a relic and…" This is when she noticed the others. She raised her hand slightly in a weak wave, "Um… hi?"**

 **As she spoke, a pair of bodies fell from the sky and on top of each other. The one that landed first was the blonde girl from the ship, Ruby's sister if memory serves. The other was the groaning form of Pyrrha Nikos.**

"Oh! Okay, I think I see where things swapped up." Nora started to list them off, "No sword Jaune, Ruby and Pyrrha swapped places on the teams, Blake doesn't wear a bow…"

Yang chimed in, "A socially competent Ruby…"

The hooded student turned to her sister, "Hey!"

 **Looking up, the group saw a giant Nevermore circling around them. Jaune was dumbstruck. "Did… did they?"**

 **Ruby nodded, "Sounds like something Yang would do…"**

Ruby and Yang actually laughed at that, given Ruby was the one that hopped a ride on the Nevermore in their reality, but Yang admitted it sounded like a fun/crazy idea.

 **Jaune sighed, "I'm not even going to ask…" Jaune turned and picked up the white rook still resting on the alter. "Alright, let's get moving. Grab your relics and let's get back to the cliff!"**

 **Yang and Pyrrha stood back up and nodded to each other. Yang moved over to grab the white knight piece. Blake and Weiss grabbed the corresponding piece and the eight teenagers started to move through the forest and back to the cliff face. Unfortunately, the route there was through a collapsing aqueduct. The Death Stalker and Nevermore had followed them as well, making the situation worse.**

Nora had a look of nostalgia, "Good times~"

Sun looked at Nora like she was crazy, "Your initiation was insane…"

 **Weiss created another ice wall. "We need to find a way to get rid of these things. I'm running out of ice dust."**

 **Jaune looked around to find a better route, but none made themselves seen. "We're going to have to fight them off."**

 **Blake nodded, "Okay…" She looked up to the Nevermore. "If we can freeze its wings, that Nevermore will drop, and we won't have to worry as much. The Stalker will be more difficult."**

 **Nora pulled a small maul of a war hammer from her belt. "Ren and I have experience with Death Stalkers." As she spoke, Ren grabbed a collapsible bow from his back and readied himself for a fight, notching an arrow from the quiver across his lower back.**

 **Ruby turned toward Yang and Pyrrha, "Yang? Think you can hit the Nevermore?"**

 **Yang grinned and slammed her fists together, "Easily."**

Yang grinned. She knew she could hit the Nevermore easily. She had in her reality, after all.

But Neptune picked up something else, "Wait, didn't Weiss say they need to freeze the Nevermore?"

Yang paused, "Oh yeah… Then why ask me to…"

 **Yang unleashed her own gauntlets, revealing them to be a bright, ice blue. When she threw her punch, an icicle flew off toward the flying Grimm, hitting it square in the head.**

"Okay… that would be why."

 **Pyrrha readied her rifle and placed in a clip of dust rounds. She fired three shots of concussive rounds toward the Nevermore to help her partner by limiting the beast's options. "Combined fire!"**

 **Yang reared back and Pyrrha placed her rifle over Yang's shoulder. They both fired their weapons at the same time, combining the ice and concussive effects to spread the freezing power over a wider area.**

"Holy crap! We're awesome!" Yang was having a field day seeing this.

Pyrrha was impressed but wanted to know how the two were so coordinated so quickly.

 **Pyrrha ran out of rounds and released her clip, "Yang, back up round!" As Yang reared back, she tossed another dust clip to Pyrrha. She replaced her magazine and the assault continued.**

 **Jaune blinked in surprise. "How did…"**

 **Ruby read his face and answered before he could finish, "They were friends from combat school."**

Pyrrha almost shed a tear. A version of herself that wasn't up on this crazy pedestal? It was almost beautiful to her.

 **Ruby leveled her rifle/scythe toward the ice wall, waiting for it to fall. "You said there's dust in your gauntlets. Can you hit the Nevermore?"**

 **"** **Not from this distance."**

 **The ice wall began to crack as he spoke.**

 **As that happened, Jaune continued to speak, "My weapons rely on my semblance, the ability to extend my aura and attach it to targets."**

 **"** **Is it helpful?"**

 **"** **It's good for keeping track of anything important."**

 **The wall began to shatter and fall away.**

 **"** **It also helps with things like this."**

 **When the wall fell away, the Death Stalker started to attack. Jaune held his hand up in a finger-gun. He smirked and reeled his hand back, "Bang." A lavender ball of aura shot out from his finger and combined with dust in his gauntlet to create a small fireball. Once it hit the creature, it reared back. Nora used this jump up and slam her hammer into the creature's head, creating a localized bolt of lightning.**

Nora went as starry eyed as Ruby, "Woah~!"

Ruby had to take a moment, though, "Wait, how did Jaune's aura shoot out and turn into fire?"

Weiss shook her head. "It's like with Blake using dust rounds to create elemental clones when she dodges attacks. Certain semblances can be used in tandem with dust to create a combined effect. Jaune stated his semblance allowed him to send his aura away from his body, thus the combined effect is the dust-powered aura bullet."

"Wow~!"

 **Ren pulled back and loosed an arrow into the Death Stalker's eye. As it recoiled, Nora jumped around and struck the tail's end, breaking the stinger. When she kicked off and landed, she spun around to act as leverage for Ren to jump up and strike with five arrows. Loosing all five, he hit the remainder of the eyes, causing the Grimm to flail in confusion and frustration.**

 **Ruby had been charging her weapon the entire time. She had one shot.**

Ruby was about to complain about the idea of one shot at any time in battle.

 **Ruby found her shot when the creature moved upward, its head now in clear view without anyone too close. She pulled the trigger and fired a powerful shot from her weapon, which ripped the creature's head apart from the force of the railgun.**

Ruby paused, her thought never reaching speech, "Rail… gun?" Ruby knew about the theory of weaponized magnetism known as the railgun. It could fire metal projectiles at speeds to pierce through most armor types. But it was theoretical as to its actual applications. It was crazy! It was over-the-top. _It was…_ a single tear fell from her eye, _beautiful._

 **Jaune looked down at the weapon in shock. He started to nod, "Okay… Can you get the Nevermore with that thing?"**

 **"** **Not for another couple of minutes. Until then, you're stuck with normal bullets."**

Ruby's complaint was answered before she could ask.

 **Jaune thought for a second, looking up as the Nevermore started to descend. "I have an idea."**

 **As the Nevermore landed, Pyrrha and Yang aimed for its wings to prevent take off, but they were running out of rounds. Weiss moved next to them with Blake on the other side. Taking their example, Weiss created an ice glyph and Blake started to unload her weapon into the Nevermore's feet. The camera showed as the Nevermore was getting pinned down by ice. It roared, trying to free itself from their attacks.**

 **The camera zoomed back to show Jaune's gauntlets were glowing a bright yellow, his hands resting on Ruby's shoulders. Ruby's aura surged with electrical energy through Jaune's semblance and into her weapon. The railgun was now overcharged and ready to fire. With a pull of the trigger, the world went silent. Ruby's attack fired with the force of an artillery cannon and the speed of her railgun. The Nevermore's body suddenly had a giant hole in the center as the creature started to finally fall. The screen fading to white.**

No one was ready to see that. But this time they weren't complaining. The scene that played out before them was an incredible show of power. Ruby was geeking out about the weapon and its force of impact. She wanted to know how it worked. Others had similar reactions, some with military application in mind.

 **When the scene returned, they saw the auditorium as teams began to line up and be welcomed into the school. Ozpin led the previous team away and addressed the next team, "Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Pyrrha Nikos, and Yang Xiao Long. From this point forward, you are team BLNS (Blanks), led by Blake Belladonna."**

 **As Ozpin listed their achievements, Jaune and his new team were waiting in the wings. As they stood there, Glynda walked up behind them. "I must say, I'm rather impressed." The group turned to their teacher. "I look forward to teaching you all."**

 **Ruby smiled, "I'm looking forward to learning!"**

 **Glynda chuckled, "You are a treat, aren't you?"**

Ironwood was surprised to see that. He had never seen or heard Glynda chuckle like that. It was a foreign concept to him.

Glynda had long placed two and two together and sighed. "Of course…"

The students turned back to her, "What?"

 **Glynda motioned for the group to approach the headmaster, "Good luck out there."**

 **Jaune waved back as they moved toward Ozpin.**

 **Ozpin looked them over and started to list their names. "Ruby Rose. Lie Ren. Nora Valkyrie." He paused a moment at Jaune. "Jaune Arcadius Goodwitch."**

Everyone other than Ozpin and Glynda froze. Sun was the first to collect himself, "That explains a few things from this one…"

 **"** **From now on, you three will be team GRRN (Green). Led by Jaune Goodwitch." As Nora spun to hug Ren, Ozpin smiled, "This is going to be an interesting year indeed."**


	8. Stay Fresh

**King: Hello again! We've got a fresh catch of a chapter today. Let's have some fun~**

 **Inspiration: Splatoon 2 Salmon Run**

 **/\**

Ozpin took a sip from his mug. He wanted to be somewhat snarky at the expense of his second-in-command, but he had learned better by now. So, he'd fall back to his go-to. "That was certainly fun."

Glynda took a deep breath. From what she had seen, she actually felt… proud. She'd always been proud of her students, but this felt odd. She simply nodded in response to the headmaster.

King faded into existence but didn't say anything.

Yang looked to the magic ball with concern, "You okay?"

After a few seconds of silence, he responded, "No, not really. While I was searching for the reality you wanted to follow up on, they started to blend together. I thought it was just how many I went through… then I remembered! They all _were_ the same! Each reality has infinite futures! I've had to watch the same thing over and over again without realizing they were all the same!" The ball shivered a moment before sighing, "Can I stop and just play something I found earlier?"

Yang smiled to help calm the magic ball, "No problem."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Go ahead."

"Thanks." King took a deep breath. "Okay, let's go."

"Umm…" Ruby raised her hand to get King's attention, "What exactly are we getting into?"

"I just like this one. Don't worry, it's not a psycho-Jaune one." King faded out and started the next show.

 **The screen opened to show a massive mall area, catching Coco's attention. They could see lots of stores of various types, mostly clothing, behind glass. A small shadow started to form on the glass before a balloon landed with a loud splat. The glass was now covered in a bright yellow paint of some kind. As the paint ran down, the camera pulled away to show the ground was also covered in the same paint.**

"What in the world is going on?" Coco leaned forward. Last time she checked, people don't paint the ground.

 **They saw a section of the paint seem to rise up, like something beneath it was moving slowly. After a while, it moved faster. Whatever it was, it flowed up the glass and up to the top of the store.**

Weiss was frozen at the idea. _No! That is not possible!_

 **The camera followed slowly, being left behind by the creature. When the camera reached the top, it found a young Jaune with a folded umbrella in hand. He was dressed in a red leather jacket, combat boots, black jeans, and a red beret. Red-tinted, mirror sunglasses covered his eyes.**

Coco let out an impressed whistle. This Jaune knew how to dress. She was slightly bias, given his style reminded her of her own, just modified slightly. "Not bad. Not bad at all."

Neo smirked seeing the umbrella. A part of her hoped it was a weapon, like her own.

 **Jaune cracked the joints in his neck and moved from side to side. "Alright." He lowered himself into a stance ready to jump into the fray. "Show time!" He jumped down from his perch and toward the ground. This side of the mall area was covered in purple paint. Jaune pointed his umbrella toward his landing site and fired a mass of paint from the tip, coving the ground in yellow paint. Jaune dove into the paint like it was a pool.**

"Woah!" Ruby hopped in her chair excitedly, "That's so cool!"

Weiss was broken. There was no way any of that should have happened.

 **A group of three men and one woman in masks charged forward. Each had a gun of some kind in hand and pointed toward the pool of yellow.**

"They kind of look like water guns…" Nora pointed.

 **The four masked attackers had their weapons trained toward Jaune's puddle. When they opened fire, they were met with the spread canvas of his umbrella being used as a shield. As they fired, more and more of the surface became covered in purple paint. The umbrella started to move forward slowly. Seeing this, one of the masked men signaled to the other two to stop firing and flank Jaune's umbrella as he passed. When the umbrella finally reached the group, they pointed their guns around the edges only to find the area behind it empty. The umbrella was moving forward using a miniature propulsion system.**

 **As the canvas continued on, the four masked individuals gathered together, confused. Suddenly, a paint can on the end of a suction cup popped into frame behind them. The base of the can started to glow and let out a noise, like it was a makeshift bomb. The four masked players turned to find Jaune sitting on the nearby bench. He gave them a two fingered salute before the can burst into a mass of yellow paint. All four of his opponents seemed to pop, their clothing and masks falling to the ground as four squid-shaped, soul-like things flew upward.**

"Holy crap!" Yang couldn't believe what she had seen. "Did he just kill them?!"

Velvet was rocking in her chair slightly at the thought. She couldn't really handle the idea of a crazy Jaune.

 **The screen suddenly froze and pulled away showing two figures sitting in a recording room. The first was Weiss Schnee, dressed in a pale white dress with a pair of pink tights underneath, a pair of white boots, a pair of white punk gloves, and a pale pink crown of some kind hanging by her ponytail. The other was Blake, in a black crop top and shorts with pair of boots and elbow-length, fingerless gloves. Weiss was sitting on a beanbag chair while Blake sat on a stool behind a turntable.**

Coco smiled and nodded in approval, "I have to admit, these versions know how to dress."

 **When their heads moved, the group noticed that their 'hair' wasn't hair. Both had tentacles acting as their hair instead. Weiss had long, white squid tentacles tied up into her signature side-ponytail. Meanwhile, Blake had shorter, black octopus tentacles that faded to become a light purple at the end.**

"So, their both Faunas?" Ruby's head tilted as she asked.

Yang's head tilted the other direction as she crossed her arms, "Apparently."

"They're not faunas." Sun pointed out, "I've seen squid faunas before and they don't look like that."

 **Weiss kicked her feet out and shot her hands into the air in excitement, "Now that's a play!"**

 **Blake addressed the viewers while Weiss gushed, "That maneuver cost team Fang the win in this match, but one cool play does not a Splatfest make."**

"Splatfest?" Blake paused hearing that, "What the heck is that?"

"It sounds like a sport's festival of some kind." Ren reasoned.

Nora jumped up, excited, "Yeah! Let's do this!"

Ren placed a hand on Nora's shoulder and made her calm down again.

 **Blake continued, "When we first opened this Splatfest, we asked you all one question."**

 **Weiss returned to her usual sitting position again, "Which season do you prefer, spring or autumn?" A screen behind them showed two halves, one was a bright green while the other was orange. Both showed someone in the center enjoying the season.**

"Okay… it's a popularity thing?" Yang thought out loud.

 **Blake picked up Weiss's statement, "Now it's time to get to the results. First the larger poll. Drum roll please~!" After a small roll, the numbers appeared on the screen: [Spring – 53%, Fall – 47%]**

 **Weiss's arms shot up again, "Booyah!"**

 **Blake groaned a little. "Alright. Alright. Popularity is just one part of this. Now for the results that matter."**

 **Weiss sat back in victory, "Doesn't matter. Our play of the 'fest was a Spring team. I've no reason to believe we could…" Weiss was cut off when the results arrived.**

 **[Solo wins: Spring – 49%, Fall – 51%]**

 **[Team wins: Spring – 42%, Fall – 58%]**

 **Blake crossed her arms, smug, "You were saying?"**

A few of the students celebrated a sort of victory by proxy. They had their answers when they heard the question. Others just say back and rolled their eyes or groaned, depending on their personalities.

 **Weiss groaned and fell back in her chair. "Just you wait until next time Blake! Anyway, that's all the time we've got."**

Ruby chuckled a little, "So, Weiss and Blake are show hosts?"

"It seems like it." Nora replied.

 **Blake moved her turn table to the side. "So, until next time…"**

 **They both stood up and moved in a coordinated action, speaking at the same time, "Don't get cooked~ Stay off the Hook~!" When they finished, the program ended and the turned into a pink field with a strange design in green.**

Yang had a moment of bliss. She knew those versions of Weiss and Blake were a squid and an octopus. She also knew about the phrase 'off the hook.' But this? 'Don't get cooked, stay off the hook'?! It was incredible!

 **Pulling away, they saw the screen was a large jumbotron on a building overlooking a crowded plaza. A little less than half of the crowd were cheering while the rest groaned. Everyone they could see had tentacles for hair of various colors.**

 **The camera snapped to a nearby table to show four cups meeting over the middle in a toast. The four people sitting at table included Jaune, Nora, Ren, and Pyrrha. Though it was harder to tell as they all had yellow tentacles for hair. All three laughed for a while, reminiscing about the Splatfest.**

 **Nora jumped up and slammed her cup onto the table. "I still say the play of the fest should have been our team knockout! All four of us lined up and taking down the enemy team, it was so cool~!" Nora jumped slightly, turning into a bright yellow squid.**

This surprised all involved. The first one to speak up was Nora, herself, "What?"

 **Nora landed on her chair and morphed into a blob of yellow ink before returning to kid form. "You know what I mean?"**

 **Ren chuckled, in his own reserved way, "Nora, while that was an impressive play at the time, it was just before the fest started."**

 **"** **Oh…"**

 **"** They don't seem too effected by Nora TURNING INTO A SQUID!" Weiss was trying to get a grip on what she was seeing.

 **Nora finished her drink and let out a satisfied sigh. "I want another one. Hey! Crusty!"**

 **A man standing in a food truck prepared her a new drink. His hair wasn't tentacles, rather he appeared to have a shell. He was the resident food man, Crusty Sean.**

Weiss's eye twitched. "No…"

Yang's face was stuck in a permanent grin. "No way! Please let there be more!"

 **Crusty tossed Nora a new drink, "Here 'ya go Squiddo!"**

Yang was having a field day. "Like kiddo! But she's a squid! This is awesome!"

The others groaned.

 **Nora grinned and took a deep gulp from her beverage. "Good stuff."**

 **Pyrrha rolled her eyes, playing with her cup a little, "I still want to know how he** ** _fries_** **a shake…"**

 **Jaune leaned back in his chair, "Probably best not to ask." Jaune's watch started beeping and he sighed. He finished his drink and placed his voucher on the table. "I need to head out."**

 **Pyrrha turned toward Jaune as he stood, "Another shift?"**

 **"** **We all have money to make." Jaune grinned and started to walk down the street. As he approached a store set off to the side, he took a deep breath and walked in.**

 **The interior was solid orange. It had the theme of being a fishing store or a launching site for aquatic expeditions. A radio off the side in the shape of a grizzly bear started to shake, "Right on time kid. I've got a shift with your name on it!"**

 **"** **That's why I'm here."**

 **"** **That's the ticket. A real Pro-fresh-ional.**

Yang was in heaven as the others entered their hell.

 **The screen wiped from the side to shift to a boat. Jaune was sitting on the deck in neon orange overalls with green boots and gloves, both rubber work style, over his white uniform shirt.**

Coco nearly died seeing that travesty. The only thing that kept her conscious was that it was a uniform, and thus it was something he didn't choose to wear himself.

 **Jaune waited as the boat began to approach the island site. This was his job. Fight back against the Salmonid.**

This caught Blake's attention, "Salmon?"

"Salmonid?" Weiss caught the wording, "The heck is that?"

 **Jaune looked through his manual one more time before he arrived. Salmonids were a race of creatures that rose up from the oceans with the squidlings and octarians. Difference was, Salmonids can return to the water. Every 70 years, they'd come back to the surface to steal inkling eggs.**

Weiss thought for a moment, "So, Jaune is an inkling?"

Yang grinned.

"Oh no…"

"I have an inkling that it might be the case~"

"Shut it, Xiao Long."

Neptune got stuck on the last part. "Wait… If Jaune's this inkling thing… and inklings still lay eggs… then those Salmonids are…"

The thought died in a room of silence and terror. Even Cinder couldn't kill a baby, but an unborn egg?! Nothing about that was okay.

 **Inklings would always fight back and drive them off, but not without losses. They were never ready when the Salmonids rose from the waves. That's how it was until Grizz Co. opened. Mr. Grizz observed the Salmonids and gave the inklings notice when they started to move onto land. He'd equip them with the best weapons he had and give them transport. All he asked in return was collecting any Salmonid eggs that appeared on the battlefield.**

Cinder couldn't help but smirk, "Eye for an eye, it seems." It was deliciously twisted in its own way.

 **The boat began to slow near an island. Mr. Grizz set up a bait area on the island to keep the Salmonids off the mainland. And now it was time to cash in. Jaune stretched his back and moved toward the bow. There, three others in the same uniform were standing around, getting their weapons out from the locker off to the side.**

 **The first was Sun Wukong, just with short yellow, octopus tentacles. Next to Sun was the first surprise appearance of a blue squidling version of Mercury Black, tinkering with a small pyramid of some kind. The last member of the crew was Velvet, her rabbit ears replaced a long pair of brown, octopus tentacles framing her face.**

 **The radio from before rested on the boat, "Alright kids. Let's get going. Remember, get me those Salmonid eggs and you get a bonus to your paycheck at the end. Hook up your preservers and get out there!"**

 **Each member of the team affixed white life preservers to their backs.**

"Why do they need that?" Blake could tell they had a secondary function, but she couldn't tell what that was yet.

 **Once they were all set, they watched as a pink substance filled the white coloration of the preserver. Once they were all full, all four of the team disappeared into their preservers. In a few seconds, they all reemerged with their tentacles/hair turned pink.**

Yang chuckled, "Oh! Hey."

Ruby tried to stop her, "Yang…"

"They're Pink-lings!"

Cue groan from others.

 **Mr. Grizz's radio started to shake again. "Good luck out there."**

 **The four turned solid pink and sunk into squid/octopus form.**

Weiss nodded from before, "Okay… that explains why they didn't react to Nora…"

 **All four shot off toward the island with a torrent of ink behind them. They all landed in a pink puddle and reformed. Sun had a giant paint roller, Mercury had a pair of miniature guns, Jaune had an umbrella, and Velvet had a heavy, minigun.**

Coco shed a fake tear and placed her arm over Velvet's shoulders, "I'm so proud of you~"

Velvet tried to get out of Coco's grip, "Coco! Stop it!"

 **All four started firing their paint guns around them, or running the paint along in the case of Sun.**

Ruby was confused, "Why are they doing that? There's no enemies around yet."

Weiss sighed, "Ruby, remember what we saw earlier with Jaune's… play? They can move through that ink, as ridiculous as that is…" Weiss had to take a moment to calm herself back down, "That, and they're all squids or octopuses. It's likely they move faster by 'swimming' through that ink than they do walking."

"That makes sense."

 **Mr. Grizz's voice came over their headsets. "** ** _Alright, we've got Salmonids incoming! Remember, your personal vendetta gets left on the boat. You're on the clock! Get me my eggs or I'll find someone who can!_** **"**

 **Jaune took a moment to take a deep breath as the horn sounded. "Here they come." As he spoke, a deep fog started to roll in.**

 **Once the fog was thick enough, Mercury pointed his guns out and away from the group, "Look alive people and remember your call outs."**

 **The other three shouted in unison, "Right!"**

Sun's arm shot up in excitement, "Let's do this!"

Nora and Ruby followed suit, "Yeah!"

 **A metallic creaking made all involved point their weapons toward the sound. A massive shadow towered over the ink/octolings. When they could see the shadow's form, they saw a giant, armored fish with openings along its back with some kind of green item within. Its jaw was rigid, and it moved slowly and creaked at it went. Its dead eyes looked down at the team and it groaned. Their first opponent was a Steelhead.**

The three excited voices went silent. Everyone felt a shiver run up their spine. That thing was a giant and it's likely a monster all around.

 **The four started to spread out as a green balloon started to expand over its nose. The Steelhead unleashed the balloon, which spun in the air and landed near Velvet. She dipped under into the ink and fled as the balloon burst, coving a large area in dark green. Velvet reappeared on a higher location, looking down at the Steelhead. The giant Salmonid looked toward her and started to form another balloon. Velvet started to spin her minigun and unleashed a mass of paint onto the balloon. The balloon burst while still connected, taking out the Steelhead.**

Velvet was speechless. Seeing herself do something so crazy, it was incredible. Maybe… Maybe she could really do something like that.

 **Mercury was running circles around a nearby Scrapper, a Salmonid hiding away behind a large shield. Mercury broke the shield's propelling system and jumped over the shield to attack the creature behind it.**

 **Sun ran along with his roller in front of his feet, mowing down smaller Salmonids as he ran. He jumped off a ledge and reeled his roller back. When he slammed the roller down, the paint sprayed outward and forced a few larger Salmonids to pop.**

Sun smiled, "Dude~! That was awesome!"

 **Jaune jumped along and used his umbrella to prevent being splatted by a nearby Salmonid. As he did, the other three were collecting golden eggs and placing them into a large basket. Jaune fired paint from his umbrella, causing multiple Salmonids to burst. They continued to fight off the various Salmonids, slowly pushing them back into the water. Then, a small Salmonid, no larger than someone's hand, ran up behind Velvet. It struck the back of her knee, causing her to fall backward.**

"Oh no…"

 **Their firing line disrupted, a few of the Salmonids started to move forward again. Jaune turned and burst the Smallfry, before turning back and opening his umbrella to defend Velvet as she got back to her feet and started to spin her minigun again. When his umbrella unfolded, they were face to face with a giant metal face. Jaune went pale seeing that, "Carp! Move!"**

"Carp?" Nora tilted her head, "It looks more like an eel."

Yang was shaking. "It's like crap! Oh my god, I love this world!"

 **The four moved off and up a wall using their ink. Jaune popped up first and looked back to see the full Steel Eel's length, moving to reach them. "This is bad…"**

 **Mercury leaned over to look at the Salmonid boss. "We can get behind that thing easily."**

 **Jaune pointed to a flying fish with giant missile salvos on either side of it. "A Flyfish," he moved to point to the eel, "a Steel Eel, and…" He pointed out blinking buoy light, "A Maws waiting for us."**

 **"** **Okay." Mercury conceded, "That's officially bad."**

 **"** **And it'll get worse if we just stand around up here."**

 **The Flyfish in the distance started to descend and opened its salvos.**

 **Jaune turned to the team, "MOVE!"**

 **The team flew off in four different directions as a series of green ink missiles turned their former position into a green mess.**

Ruby jumped a little when the missiles crashed into the ledge. "Oh my gosh!"

 **Mercury charged around the Eel and fired at the driver on the end. The fish growled at him, moving its Eel around toward Mercury. This gave Velvet an opening to hit the driver enough times to destroy the Eel from the end. As this happened, Sun ran down the smaller Salmonids and toward the Flyfish. He charged through, avoiding the missiles' blast radiuses. He jumped and threw the pyramid from before. The pyramid began to glow and erupted in an inky explosion, ripping one of the salvos off.**

 **Sun landed with a smirk, something blinking beneath him. He froze in shock, looking downward. Between his feet was a blinking light of a small buoy.**

Sun paused, remembering Jaune pointing that light out before, "That's not good."

 **Suddenly, a giant flesh-pink shark rose up from a pool of ink and tossed Sun up with it. The world moved in slow motion as Sun started to fall again. The Maws slammed its jaw together and popped Sun like a balloon.**

Sun almost threw up and/or fainted seeing himself get ripped apart like that.

Blake went into shock seeing that. It was a twisted way to go.

 **"** **Sun!" Mercury fired his guns at the Maws, but it did little to slow the creature. His anger causing his reason to stall. He heard them but couldn't get away in time. A series of green missiles ripped into Mercury and caused him to burst into ink.**

 **Velvet tossed a pyramid grenade into the open salvo, causing the entire structure to burst and three golden eggs to fall. As she moved, her slower pace made her a target for the Maws, but she was ready for that. She planned for it. When the light stopped below her, she jumped to the side as Jaune tossed a grenade into her place. When the Maws tried to chomp on Velvet, it ingested the grenade instead. The Maws exploded soon after.**

 **Before Velvet could land, a small Salmonid struck her with a frying pan. She was getting ganged up on by the Salmonids. She tried to back away, firing into the crowd, but there was just too many.**

Coco winced, "This is bad."

"No kidding…" Velvet hoped there'd be some way they could get out of this.

 **Jaune landed in front of her and opened his umbrella to keep the Salmonids back. "30 seconds!"**

This confused the group. Thirty seconds to what?

 **Jaune's umbrella was starting to give way as the little fish creatures started to rip through the canvas. "Velvet! Run!"**

 **Velvet shook her head, "No! I'm not about to…"**

 **"** **Just go!"**

 **"** **But you'll…"**

 **Jaune paused a moment and sighed. "I'll be fine! Just run!"**

 **"** **But Sun and Mercury were…"**

 **10**

 **Jaune growled a little allowing his umbrella's canvas to fly forward without him.**

 **9**

 **He turned around to grab Velvet by the hand.**

 **8**

 **He jumped from the ledge.**

 **7**

 **He tossed her to the other side.**

 **6**

 **Velvet landed on the opposite ledge, spinning around to try to catch Jaune.**

 **5**

 **Jaune had fallen too far. She couldn't catch him.**

 **4**

 **He fell into the sea with a large splash.**

 **3**

 **His inkling body wasn't deigned to return to the ocean. His inky body beginning to dissolve.**

 **2**

 **He disappeared, only his preserver remained.**

 **1**

 **Velvet fell to her knees, unable to save him.**

 **TIME!**

The room fell silent. What they had seen hurt a little, but at the same time… it was very Jaune. He would save someone at the risk of his own life. They knew how he was, but they didn't want to see it. Velvet, in particular, was taking it badly. Her counterpart was the one saved, but she couldn't save him in return. It was a sort of survivor's guilt. Coco grabbed Velvet by the shoulder to help her cope.

 **Velvet shook in place. This wasn't supposed to happen. Jaune was… Everyone was… She was about to break down when her preserver started to beep. She was forced into her ink form and launched back to the boat.**

Velvet was shaking, "Why is this still going?"

Coco wanted to comfort her, but just couldn't find the words.

 **Velvet landed back on the boat. She rose back up into her humanoid form in shock. She was alone. The others were…**

 **"** **Hey! Earth to Velvet!"**

This got everyone in the audience to jump.

Blake recognized the voice, "No way… But how?"

 **Sun was leaning down toward Velvet, looking her in the eye.**

 **Velvet looked like she'd seen a ghost. "What?! How?!"**

 **Sun chuckled, "First timer?"**

 **"** **What?"**

 **Mercury placed his weapon away, "First time on the job for Mr. Grizz. Getting splatted here is like having the kettles back in Inkopolis so long as we have these preservers."**

Weiss froze in confusion, "Kettles? What?"

This got a chuckle out of a certain pair of sisters.

 **Velvet looked at the preservers on their backs. "I thought they were our ink containers…"**

 **"** **Duel use. Didn't you read your manual?"**

 **Velvet chuckled nervously. "It was a little…"**

 **Sun laughed, "Yeah. We get it."**

 **Velvet looked around. "Wait! Then where's Jaune?"**

 **Sun pointed to a pink streak in the sky headed straight for the boat.**

Velvet's eyes went wide. _Then… is that…?_

 **The preserver landed and spun in place. After a moment, Sun smacked the preserver with his roller and Jaune popped into existence. He let out a large inhale and clutched his chest. "Swimming is overrated…"**

 **Velvet placed her hands on Jaune's shoulders.**

Coco grinned, "Maybe we'll get a Velvet to take the first…"

 **Velvet started to shake Jaune in place, "WHAT THE SHELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"**

Coco paused, "Never mind then…"

 **Jaune took a moment to take this in, "What's wrong with me?! What's wrong with you?! I told you to run! We hit the quota, all had to do was have someone survive until the preservers pulled us back!"**

 **Sun interjected, "Fresh Fish."**

 **Jaune turned to Sun, "Fresh…" Then he hit a realization. "Oh!"**

 **Velvet realized her position and shrunk a bit before returning to her chewing Jaune out. "That doesn't explain what took you so long to get back!"**

 **Jaune went deadpan, "Have you ever fallen in the ocean? Your ink dissolving into nothingness as you start to melt away with it?"**

 **"** **Um… no?"**

 **"** **Point is, it takes longer to recuperate after that than other methods."**

 **Mercury tossed Jaune something that looked like a large spray paint nozzle. "Gear up. We're not done here."**

 **Velvet went into shock, "We're not?"**

"They're not?" Everyone asked.

 **Jaune sighed, "We have a few minutes before the next stop…" He handed her a small book. "The Grizzco Manual. Read it. Short version for now is we have two more stops to make. Be ready when we arrive."**

 **Jaune left Velvet to read and stretched his newly reformed body. He looked out over the ocean. No time to get salty with anyone. Wave it off and look straight on. Right now, he had a job to do. Jaune smirked as he stood at the bow, "I'm not getting cooked today."**


	9. Dov Ko Od

**King: No need to shout. I'm back with a new chapter. Let's have some fun, shall we~?**

 **Inspiration: Skyrim**

/\

King returned to a group that could only groan while Yang went off on a pun-fueled tirade. "Maybe I should just start the next one…"

Weiss looked up to the magic ball, "Please do."

"Alright then…" King vanished, and the lights dimmed again. This prompted Yang to temporarily halt her puns to watch the new reality.

 **The picture opened to show a small town in the northern mountains of Atlas. The town itself was built from an old fortress, its walls surrounding the village to defend it from marauders. It was the middle of winter, the entire screen nearly obscured by snow. A distant roar hinting at the dangers beyond the walls. To many, this would be a haven from the frozen north and the beasts that roam it. But this was a façade. The fortress had long been abandoned.**

Ironwood's eye twitched a little. The idea of any of his forts being abandoned _and_ still standing was ludicrous. If a fort must be abandoned, then they should have scrapped the walls and use them to rebuild elsewhere.

 **Save for one person. This long-forgotten fortress was now the home of the criminal mastermind that was Roman Torchwick.**

Roman leaned back in his chair and smirked, "About time I got some recognition."

 **It also now held within its walls his greatest payday. Forced to his knees was the familiar form of their young blonde warrior. Dressed in cast-iron and leather armor, he looked ready for the cold weather, but just barely. Jaune had been gagged with a cloth and his hands tied behind his back.**

This got a few glares from the group, but Torchwick just held up his hands, reminding them he was innocent here.

 **Roman walked around Jaune and kneeled in front of him. This Roman wore fur—lined steel armor over a white cloak. He smirked and grabbed Jaune by the jaw. "No hard feelings, right kid?"**

 **Jaune tried to lash out, but Roman just smacked him back down. He groaned, unable to speak.**

 **Roman sighed and stood back up, "Look, it's just business. I plan to sell you back to whichever side pays. Both of them want you alive, and preferably under their watch… What they do is up to them. As far as you're concerned, this is as bad as it gets from me."**

 **They saw a shadow in the background move along the walls and disappear down the other side. Roman turned to the wall and waited a moment. "Alright." He tapped the top of Jaune's head, "She's gone."**

 **Jaune took a breath and brought his arms in front of him and removed his gag.**

"Wait, what's going on?" Ruby looked up to the screen, confused.

 **Roman cleared his throat, "No hard feelings, right?"**

 **Jaune smirked and punched Roman square in the nose before handing him a small bag, "No hard feelings."**

 **"** **Alright. I deserved that." He weighed the bag in hand and nodded, "Pleasure doing business, kid. Weapons and armor you gave me are in the chest just inside the keep as per the agreement."**

 **"** **I'm surprised you didn't take them off to sell them." Jaune made his way to the keep's door.**

 **"** **Hey, you want to fight the Dominion, I'm not about to stop you. My life will be easier with them out of the way."**

"Dominion?" Blake thought for a moment, "I get the feeling it might be the SDC…"

Weiss sighed, "Yeah… I could see that."

Glynda adjusted her glasses, "Or the Atlas military."

Ironwood was about to stand and call her out, but the Jaune on the screen said something that caught him off guard.

 **"** **By that logic, you'd want General Ironwood and his legions out of the country."**

 **Roman scoffed, "The General is a godsend. The hothead and his militant second try to subjugate everyone under their heels with a show of force. This makes people scared of them more than they are of me stealing from them."**

Ironwood paused. Something in his mind couldn't quite believe what he heard. His plan to move troops into Vale for the Vytal festival came to mind. _Oh crap…_

 **Roman continued, "But the Dominion? Everyone hates them. Myself included. You want to give them a black eye, and I'll be all too happy to expedite the process. I'll even throw in some gauntlets to really make it hurt."**

 **Jaune opened the door and started to rummage through the chest. "Still made me pay."**

 **"** **Have to make a living."**

 **"** **A living that you'd want to protect. The Dominion will be here soon."**

 **"** **Good point. Good luck kid." Roman ran off and out of the fortress.**

Roman was satisfied with his portrayal in this. A survivalist in every sense. Make your money, don't take sides. If only he'd listened to his own advice before…

 **Jaune closed the door to the keep and waited for the Dominion to arrive.**

 **After a little less than an hour, Dominion forces did arrive. Dressed in gold and black robes and armor, they all looked like gilded toy soldiers. As they broke in the outer door, they charged into the inner area. Slowly following behind was a young woman in a black and gold robe with a high collar. Her dark black hair was cut short save for a section to the side of her face. Her piercing golden eyes held within them a burning passion for power. This was Cinder Fall, Justiciar for the Dominion.**

Cinder grinned seeing herself on the screen at last. And more so that she seemed to exude power and prestige. It just felt right.

 **Cinder walked on with her hands behind her back. She had no care for anything before her. She had only one goal in this crumbling embarrassment. "Torchwick! Come on out! The Dominion has come to call upon you for your hostage!"**

 **In the background, the group could hear a quiet chanting.**

"What's that?" Ruby asked.

"What's what?" Nora wasn't paying attention to the background.

Blake's ears perked behind her bow. "There's a chanting in the back. But I can't understand any of it…"

 **Cinder signaled for her underlings to flank the door to the keep. It was time to be done with this thorn in her side. As they approached the world slowed. The snow falling shimmered as the camera approached the door with two of the underlings reaching for the handle.**

 **"** **FUS…"**

Everyone leaned in closer. Whatever was about to happen, it would be big.

 **"** **RO DAH!"**

Everyone fell back in their chair at the sheer force of the statement. More so when they saw what it did.

 **The door came flying forward, taking both of the underlings out as the oak wood flew passed Cinder's head. Her face going pale. "Impossible…"**

 **Jaune stepped out into the snow. He had swapped his common looking armor for a more iconic style. His armor was now cast in steel and fur. Studded leather adorned his thighs. His boots and gauntlets were a black steel. His chest piece was a shimmering white plate with golden accenting. His helmet formed over the upper part of his face, his blonde hair falling in strands behind him, and a pair of goat horns adorning either side.**

It was Nora's turn to go starry eyed. "Woah…" She didn't know why, but she liked this version of Jaune and his armor.

 **Jaune's sword was a sleek, double edged steel blade. He accompanied this with a solid steel kite shield. There were strange runs on both items. They looked more like claw marks, but they were too intricately etched to be simple scratches.**

 **Jaune held his sword up and pointed the blade toward Cinder. "I see they sent the dog to collect me."**

This got both Cinders to twitch. Emerald, Mercury, Roman, and Neo started to get a bit of distance in case she went ballistic. Cinder's fingers were digging into her armrest, just able to keep her fiery powers in check given she wasn't alone.

 **The Cinder on the screen was a little more composed, twitch notwithstanding. She took a deep breath, "Of course… Call me a bitch all you want. It won't save you."**

 **Jaune gestured to her downed cohorts, "Are the bodies not a clear indication of this will go down?"**

"Damn." Yang chuckled a little, "Vomit boy's got some spine in this one."

Cinder's grip tightened, _He best not by the end of this…_

 **Cinder snapped her fingers to have the rest of her underlings charge, but most didn't move. Those that had only moved an inch, before stalling as Jaune smiled. Cinder growled and sighed, "He's just one man! You are all the trained and elite of the Dominion! Kill him already!" This got them to start charging again.**

 **Jaune took in a deep breath. "TIID KLO UI!"**

 **The underlings charging him slowed to a crawl. They were moving in slow motion. Jaune, simply walked through each of them and slashed at each as he moved. In a few moments, they all fell to the ground as they finally caught up with what happened. They fell to the ground, blood staining the snow beneath them.**

Cinder froze seeing that. What had she just seen? Her grip fell off and she was left stunned.

Ruby, on the other hand, was impressed. "Oh my gosh! How did he do that?!"

Yang shrugged, "It was cool, but I have no idea."

Weiss attempted to reason about what she had seen, "Super speed? If he moves fast enough, in theory, everyone around would seem like their moving in slow motion."

Ruby got excited, "I can do that?!"

"Not unless you can move multiple times the speed of sound."

Ruby drooped a little, her speed never reaching the sound barrier.

Blake, however, gave them the answer, "Time manipulation." When everyone turned to her, she continued, "The way they moved slowly while not really reacting until after he stopped is similar to portrayals of time distortion abilities."

Cinder now felt a little worried. The idea of her counter part fighting someone that could do something like unnerved her.

 **Cinder recoiled a little.**

Making the Cinder in the audience twitch again. The idea of ever being scared of that brat was inconceivable, time powers or no!

 **Cinder took a step back and pulled out her blade, "So the rumors were true…"**

 **The two Dominion underlings remaining attempted to charge again, only to be met with the cold steel of his shield. Jaune parried the blades away and swung his body around to decapitate one and blind the other.**

Cue the sickening feelings of those not used to sights like that.

Ironwood sighed, "Best get used to sights like that kids… If you plan to be huntsmen and huntresses, you'll probably see sights like that more often than you want…"

Ozpin sighed and nodded an affirmation. "Never makes it easy, though…"

 **Cinder growled. She took a breath before readying her blade again, "Jaune Arc!" Her voice remained forceful, but there was clearly fear hidden away. "You are wanted by the Aldmeri Dominion of Haven! You are hereby sentenced to death!"**

 **Jaune took in another breath, "ZUN HAAL VIIK!"**

 **Cinder's weapon was suddenly forced from her hand and embedded in the wall behind her. Her eyes widened in shock toward the weapon once wrapped by her fingers.**

 **Jaune started to walk toward her slowly.**

 **Cinder slowly turned back toward Jaune. "You… You're…"**

 **Jaune was directly in front of her as the chanting in the background started to swell.**

 ** _DOVAHKIIN! DOVAHKIIN! NAAL OK ZIN LOS VAHRIIN!_**

 **Jaune raised his arm and placed the tip of his blade at her chin, "The Dominion's greatest enemy. I'm aware." Jaune breathed in lightly through his nostrals, "YOL TOOR SHUL!"**

 **The last thing that Cinder saw was the burning force of destruction flow out from Jaune's mouth. She would see nothing but fire until she was ash.**

 **Jaune returned his blade to its sheath and placed his shield on his back. He walked passed Cinder's cinders and toward the exit. As he marched on, the score in the background began to soften.**

 ** _Dovahkiin, fah hin kogaan mu draal…_**

Everyone was stunned silent for a while. The first person to speak up being Nora. "Woah…" It was all she could muster. It was all anyone could muster. This Jaune was a serious badass.

 **As Jaune walked on and out of the fortress. As he passed, he paused and turned to a shaking Emerald, dressed in a tighter version of the black cloak. This Emerald was a spy rather than a justiciar. Jaune turned toward her and she scrambled to her feet to run away.**

 **"** **WULD…" Jaune was suddenly in front of her. Jaune stood in place like he hadn't just moved several yards in less than a second. Then his voice carried on from his previous location, "…NAH KEST!"**

 **Emerald fell backward. She shook, realizing there was no escaping. There was no hope for her anymore.**

Emerald was shaking a little for her counterpart. This Jaune was actually going to kill her. She was going to die.

 **Jaune squatted down in front of her and glared into her eyes, "I'm not going to kill you, spy…"**

 **Emerald looked up to him in disbelief. "You're not?"**

"He's not?" The group spoke in unison. This included RWBY, NPR, Sun, Neptune, Mercury, and Emerald.

 **Jaune pulled out a small scroll and held it out toward her like a knife. "I want you to deliver a message to your masters back in Haven. Stay out of Atlas's politics and keep your Justiciars out of my nation. Got it?"**

 **Emerald shakily nodded her head and took the note. After Jaune stood back up, she slowly moved back before breaking into a sprint. Jaune simply stood there and watched as she left. Time will tell if she'd even hand the Dominion his message. Even more so whether they'll listen. Either way, he'll be here. If they want a fight, he'll give them one better.**

 **The screen started to blur in the white of the blizzard.**

 **He'll show them the fury of a dragon.**

 **When the screen when completely white, a glowing set of marks began to burn into view. It was the same scratch-mark-like language they saw on his sword and shield. They blended into something they could read, though not understand.**

 **[Zu'u los Dovahkiin]**

 **The words blended in again to become understandable.**

 **[I am Dragonborn]**


	10. Nightmare

**King: Spare me a moment to have my fun with this one. But seriously... 50,000 views, 282 favorites, 378 follows, and 128 reviews! That's crazy to me. This is the most popular thing I've ever done on this site. It's crazy for me to think about. Thanks everybody~!**

 **Inspiration: MLP**

 **/\**

King popped back into form for a moment, "Hey guys! Ready for the next round or do we need a break?" After no one answered for a few seconds, he questioned, "Um… is something on my face?"

Yang chuckled a little, "You're wearing a top hat instead of your crown."

"I am?" King made his head wear float and move in front of him. Sure enough, it was a black top hat rather than his golden crown. "Huh… How'd that get there?"

"How do you not know?"

He was silent. Unable to answer. "Let's just move on…" He disappeared into the void and screen came to life again.

 **The first thing they saw was an older Jaune, likely around 22, that cut a regal figure. His blonde hair was tied back into a short ponytail, sections were dyed with streaks of midnight blue and white. His blue eyes were darkened. Instead of an ocean, his eyes resembled the infinite reach of the night sky. They could swear they saw actual stars in his eyes. His coat was a deep, nighttime blue while his shirt and pants were solid black. He wore white gloves and his shoes were a polished black. Resting atop his head was a solid black crown with a golden crescent moon symbol in the center of the tallest spike, front and center.**

"Woah!" Ruby was star struck, "He looks like a prince!"

Pyrrha and Velvet were struck in their own way. Blushes abounded on the two. Velvet was teased by her partner, as per the usual. Pyrrha had to be kept upright to avoid an emotional burnout.

 **Jaune walked along in a hallway of stained glass. It was the record of the heroes of Remnant. The memories of the mightiest warriors and greatest rulers were all preserved for eternity. Jaune paused, looking up to the stained-glass window before him.**

 **The window had been decorated and designed to resemble Ozpin, Sorcerer of the Seasons. His long grey hair seeming to blend into the winter scene behind him. His left hand becoming like the glorious fire of colors in autumn. His right hand forming the breeze of spring. Beneath him, the fields of summer's green grasslands stretched on before him.**

Ozpin felt drawn to the picture. The Sorcerer of Seasons… It hit rather close to home.

Ironwood, Qrow, and Glynda were a little more concerned with the subtext they saw. This could blow Ozpin's cover; but, thankfully, those involved in the audience seemed to pass it off as a different reality. It was one, but they couldn't be too careful.

 **Jaune closed his eyes and smiled. He remembered the days under Ozpin's teaching. They were easily some of his best days during his life. Especially now that…**

 **"** **Excuse me…"**

 **Jaune nearly jumped. He spun around to find a version of Raven behind him. She was dressed in a dark red suit jacket with a black skirt. Everything about her seemed so opposite to the Raven in the audience. This Raven was smiling for one.**

Qrow went into a laughing fit, seeing his sister smile like that was ridiculous to think about.

Yang took in a deep breath. A part of her wasn't sure how to feel seeing a Raven that could very well be a decent parent.

 **Raven giggled a little.**

Causing the Raven in the audience to go on a mini tirade about how she was nothing like that, to no avail given this wasn't really her any way.

 **She clasped her hands together in apology, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."**

 **Jaune took a deep breath and smiled back to her, "Don't worry about it. How can I be of assistance?"**

 **Raven's smile turned a little dour, "I can't seem to find Yang… Do you know where she might be?"**

The Yang in the audience had a minor existential crisis. Hearing her mother was looking for her? Even in another reality, it was aa strange sensation.

 **Jaune's smile never fell, but it was clear he wasn't happy with what he heard. His eye twitched and he had to take a deep breath. "She's likely in the gardens with the other dignitaries. They'll likely be there for a while."**

Qrow continued to laugh. Raven as a dignitary was beyond hilarious to him. He could imagine her in a room threatening everyone with a pen.

But Pyrrha caught Jaune's frustration hidden under his smile, "What's wrong with Jaune?" Pyrrha's concern was shared by most of the group, either out of friendship or out of the duty of teachers.

 **Raven's smile returned to a grateful form, "Thank you so much!" She immediately turned away from Jaune and ran off toward the garden as she spoke.**

 **Jaune waved her off, but she didn't bother to wave back. She didn't even look back when she thanked him. They never did… He was always in the back of people's minds. Always a second thought. Always the shadow…**

 **Jaune walked next to a glorious stained glass of Yang. Her flowing white dress was accented by golden bracelets and boots. Her long golden hair was redesigned with streaks of sky blue, green, and pink. It almost gave off the sense of the morning sun. Atop her head, she wore a solid golden tiara with a shining sun in the center.**

Coco leaned her glasses down to get a better view, "Damn… That's pretty impressive."

Weiss thought for a moment, "Hang on. Didn't it say that those glass windows were for warriors and rulers?"

Ruby turned to the heiress, "Well… it's Yang. So, that makes sense."

"No. I mean, look at the glass. She looks more like a princess than a warrior."

Coco nodded, "The tiara gives it away. That's not a prop, that's real royalty stuff."

Ruby leaned forward to look toward Coco, "How can you tell?"

"I'm with cloths like you are with weapons."

"Oh! That'll do it."

 **Jaune paused a moment to look up to the glass. "Always the shadow…" He clenched his teeth and took a breath to calm himself. Looking to the sides, he knew what he would find, but part of him could hope… To her left was Glynda Goodwitch, the Witch of the Wild. She stood in fairly mundane clothing, her wand and the magical effects behind her giving the realization of her great powers.**

Glynda saw herself in that glass and felt a little proud. Whatever her counterpart had done, it was great enough to earn herself a place in this hall of heroes.

 **To the right was James Ironwood, Hero of Atlas. He was dressed in the attire of a veteran knight: with his dirty armor, chipped shield, and extended blade. His stance showing a moment in war, as he rallied his troops in the defense of the capital.**

Ironwood felt… no. He hoped for nothing more than to be remembered in that way. To be there for people who needed him and to be the barrier to defend them.

 **To so many, these were heroes of their world. The greatest to ever be known to history. So, why was Yang among them when he was denied?**

Ruby blinked a moment, "Wait… what?"

 **Jaune clenched his fists seeing her glass portrait. Why did** ** _she_** **get her vison in glass while he was ignored? AGAIN! He was always in her shadow! Did they not rule together since they were young? Were they not coronated together?! Why was he ignored and cast aside while everyone practically worshiped his sister?!**

Yang got caught up on the last word, "So, I'm Jaune's sister in this reality?"

Ruby wondered what it would be like to have a brother. Maybe they'd bond over weapons?

 **Jaune was shaking. How long was he cast into her shadow? How long must he remain there? His clenched fist loosed. "** ** _How long_** **…? Could I really…"**

Roman's face turned from his trademark smirk. "This can only end well…" He knew the look on Jaune's face. He knew what was going to come.

 **Well? Why couldn't he? He was as much a prince as his sister was a princess! He helped her rule just as much as she assisted him. They were a team, but she was the idol. He was the Prince of the Night! Master of the Moon! Lord of Dreams! But Yang was the one that ruled the day, so she was their sun. She was the light to them and he was just a reflection in the night sky.**

"Oh…" Yang wasn't sure how to take that. Surely, she would try to fix things… right? "Oh wow…"

Weiss thought back to her younger brother, Whitley. Was he like that? Was he an after-thought because of her? Is that why he was so angry with her and Winter?

 **Jaune took in a breath to calm himself down again. How many years have they ruled? How many even remember that he was a prince? His fists clenched again, his white gloves turning black.** ** _No more!_**

Ruby started to worry for her other-dimensional sister, "I have a bad feeling about this."

 **Jaune twitched for a moment before his anger finally boiled over. He punched the stained-glass portrait at its base, splitting it up the middle.**

Weiss paused, "How did he do that?"

Ruby glanced to Weiss, not wanting to miss what was happening, even though it seemed like they never really did. "What do you mean? It's glass."

"Not quite. Stained-glass is effectively multiple forms of colored and cut glass arranged in a way to create a larger picture. Each panel is a different shard, not directly connected to one another. Cracking one doesn't necessarily mean the force with continue beyond the adjacent pieces, let alone the whole window."

 **Jaune's glove had become a black steel gauntlet with midnight blue accenting. His blue coat was starting to bleed into black up his arm. His dress shoes turned into black, armored greaves that reached his knee. As the black effect reached his chest, his coat reformed with a black breastplate with blue accenting on each edge. The coat took on a nightmarish redesign beneath the armor. It warped from its princely form into a long, fraying tail coat. His crown seemed to melt and warp on his head and reform into a war helmet complete with spikes indicating his royalty. They saw him from behind in that moment as he turned away from the window and toward the camera. His blue eyes turned a sickening green, his pupils becoming almost reptilian.**

Everyone felt a shiver run up their spines. Even Cinder could tell this wasn't going to end well for anyone involved. She feared Salem, but this version of this Arc kid, fresh off the heels of the last reality, made her freeze. This was legitimate terror. She couldn't admit it, though. She didn't even know why. There was something in the back of her mind, something even she didn't quite understand in her consciousness. Whatever was getting to her, it was subconscious. Something she didn't, or couldn't, begin to explain.

 **Jaune started to walk toward the camera. "It's time for a change of pace…" As he passed by them, they saw the window behind him had started to crack even further. Some of the glass panes were bleeding with some form of shadowy power.**

 **The camera moved through the glass and revealed a massive garden. A 25-year-old Yang was standing among the flowers with various dignitaries from other realms and kingdoms. She was wearing the same attire seen in the stained glass. She laughed at a joke told by one of the others as the sun beamed down upon them. She was about to say something back when she noticed the sky begin to darken. She looked around before glancing up to see if clouds were rolling in. What she saw shocked her. The sun was blocked by the moon.**

Ruby looked at the scene like it was the most beautiful thing ever. Remnant's moon being broken made solar eclipses less impressive. To see a total eclipse was unlike anything she'd ever seen. Something none of them had ever really seen.

 **Yang looked up to the sky and couldn't believe what she had seen. "Why would…" She looked back down and skipped a moment.**

 **Standing atop the garden's wall was Jaune with his arms folded. His new coat flowed behind him in a light breeze. His armor didn't gleam, it seemed to swallow the light around it and leave only darkness. "Hello sister. I'd have been by earlier, but my invitation seems to have gone missing in the mail. A simple error, I'm sure."**

Mercury chuckled a bit, "Damn. This version's one of those guys then."

Emerald raised an eyebrow, "What guy?"

"He's coming across like Roman."

Roman smirked, "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Oh good. I thought I wasn't being clear enough."

 **Yang stepped forward, ahead of the crowd, and glared toward Jaune. "Jaune. Is this supposed to be a joke?"**

 **"** **I believe that's your department, sister."**

 **"** **Jaune. I'm serious."**

 **"** **That's a first."**

Yang went into a mini laughing fit. "This version has got some balls talking to me like that."

 **Yang took a deep breath, "Jaune. Move the moon back to where it belongs right now."**

Weiss's whole body twitched, "He can what?!"

Yang's laugh stopped in its tracks. If he could move the moon, then… Holy shit…

 **Jaune glared down toward Yang, falling slightly to a sitting position on top of the concrete barrier. "I think it's exactly where it belongs, Yang."**

 **Yang's glare turned darker. Her tone holding a threat within, "Jaune. I won't ask you again."**

 **Jaune went into a fit of bitter laughter. "And there it is!"**

 **This caught Yang off guard.**

 **"** **You always treat me like I'm the lesser sibling! Like I'm your subordinate that just moves the moon when you command it! That I don't walk the dreams to fight off the nightmares of the people! That I don't face the darkness each night to spare your morning of its monsters! You treat me like I'm not even your brother! YOU HOLD YOUR GALA ON MY BIRTHDAY!"**

"Yang!" Ruby looked to her sister like she had two heads.

Yang held up her hands as a sign of innocence, "Not me! I wouldn't do that!"

 **Yang growled a little, "Jaune. An honest mistake can…"**

 **"** **AN HONEST MISTAKE?! FOR THREE YEARS IN A ROW?!"**

 **"** **You never said anything!"**

 **"** **Because I believed it** ** _was_** **an honest mistake the first two times! I could forgive you for that. You're usually busy. But everyone in the kingdom flocks to you on your birthday! And what do they do for mine? They celebrate YOU! Well I'm done! They borderline worship you because you command their sun! Well, no more!" He shot a finger toward the covered celestial body, "The sun will never shine down upon the world again! Maybe now they'll remember I exist! If I have to be their nightmare to get their attention, then I'll be more than happy to live their fears! I will become Tantabus Arc! The Lord of Nightmares!"**

Weiss wanted to comment on the absolute insanity of his plan, but she got caught on why he was doing this. For years he was an afterthought, even to his own sister. This was his bursting point.

 **Yang tried to stay calm. "Jaune. Please. We can discuss this later, but now you need to…"**

 **"** **What I** ** _need_** **dear sister, is my time! My chance in their minds! It's become increasingly clear that the people can only love one monarch and they've settled on you! I will not be ignored anymore! Not by them. AND LEAST OF ALL BY YOU!"**

Everyone recoiled. Jaune's tone made it clear he hadn't burst from his boiling point, he exploded, and all of it was directed toward Yang.

 **Yang took a step forward and a pair of golden auric wings expanded from her back.**

"Woah!" Ruby wasn't sure if it was a weapon or an ability, but the wings were cool to her.

 **Tantabus smirked for a moment before his face fell back to a scowl, "Come on then." He jumped off the barrier and a pair of dark wings spread from his back. His wings were very different. Where Yang's wings were very angelic, Tantabus's resembled a bat's. It gave off the idea that Jaune was a demon.**

 **The royal siblings stood eye to eye. Their wings flaring like an intimidation tactic. Both standing against the other like a mountain, unwilling to bend in response to one another. It was becoming very clear that there was no talking this out. The question was, who would strike first?**

Yang was clutching her chair's armrest in shock. The idea of treating her sibling terribly enough for so long that they finally broke out and fought her over it? It was inconceivable to her.

 **Yang was the hot head. She was sure to let her fist fly first. But Tantabus had been boiling over long enough that it didn't matter anymore. Tantabus flew forward in a moment and attacked Yang with a quick tackle. He flew upward, keeping her in arm as he flew them both to the skies above. He tossed her away and toward the ground. It was time to finally put an end to her condescending attitude and he'd have his chance in the sun (ironically).**

 **Yang flew up to return to face her brother. "Was that supposed to hurt, Jaune? You're slacking."**

 **"** **Not yet. I just wanted to get you away from your party. You can't hide behind excuses up here. No one in the way. So, when I beat you, you can't make it seem like I had hostages. Up here, it's just you and me."**

Roman thought about what he said for a moment, "Well… I'll give him this, kid's pretty smart if he can pull it off and beat her. There's no excuses for whoever loses."

 **Yang clenched her fist, which started to glow yellow. She charged forward and attacked Tantabus, aiming a punch for his jaw. She was met only with air as he leaned back in the air. He was smiling and kicked upward, landing his foot clean into her gut.**

 **As Yang flew up a bit, the Lord of Nightmares flipped back to his normal position. "You can't beat me Yang. I've been in your shadow long enough to see how you fight. I've studied you. But you never took me as someone to observe. You never even glanced my way! I know my enemy, but you never bothered to care."**

Cinder smirked, "Know your enemy and yourself… I believe it goes."

 **Yang charged again. They both flew into a flurry of punches. Their force of power beginning to create shockwaves around them. All the while, the sun and moon behind them far from remained static. Each hit causing a wave of energy from the sun only to be swallowed by the shadows of the moon before it.**

Nora wore a nervous grin. "Okay… I know this situation is really bad, but you have to admit it looks cool." No one argued that. But the situation made it difficult to really voice themselves.

 **Each hit between the siblings grew in intensity. One hit created a solar flare powerful enough to light the sky again only for it to go dark just as quickly. With one hit in particular, Yang paused. When the light shined for a moment, she could swear Jaune had changed back to normal. No. That wasn't it. He looked like he did as a child. He was her younger brother again. A pause became a blizzard as she froze. Why did she think that?**

 **Tantabus booted Yang away as she hesitated. As she flew through the sky, she felt true pain. Not from his kick, that couldn't begin to compare. No, it was the realization of how far she'd fallen. Jaune never stopped being her little brother, but she stopped acting like his sister.**

Ruby placed her hand on Yang's. Her sister beginning to shake at the situation. Yang knew what it was like for family to turn their back on her, so she'd never even begin to dream of doing something like that. It was just insane.

 **Yang slammed into a nearby tower. Her back twisted back onto a counter as she landed on the marble surface. She looked back up toward her attacker. Regardless of whatever was going through her mind, she had to stop him. But how? As she braced herself to stand, her hand brushed against the base of a display stand. She looked over to find the Maidens, four powerful gemstones said to control the very elements of the world.**

Ozpin felt a shiver run up his spine. The fact that these stones were 'created' by his counterpart, called the Maidens, and seem to possess magical powers put him on edge. He glanced to either side, but no one seemed to think anything of it. If anyone did, they likely already knew who he was. If anything, that scared him more than being found out here and now.

Cinder was intrigued at the idea. If anything, it would make her hunt so much easier if the Fall Maiden was just a stationary rock…

 **Yang debated using the gems. Could she really command them to do what she needed? As Jaune roared her name and charged toward the tower, it became clear she had no choice. She reached out to the gems, causing them to float toward her. Two gems took their place to her left and two to her right. Her auric wings became a set of brilliant, season-themed energies stretching out from her back. Her white dress becoming a shimmering gold as her hair seemed to glow like the sun she commanded.**

 **She reared back a fist and slammed her fist toward an incoming Jaune. A beam of power stretched out from her hand and enveloped Jaune. As the light of her attack surrounded him, she looked up to him and her expression changed. Where others saw a nightmare, she saw her little brother. She saw a boy ignored by everyone around him, including her. He needed his sister far sooner than today, and she was nowhere to be found.**

Yang was having a personal crisis. She knew what it was like to be abandoned. She almost felt compelled to try to make this situation before right somehow.

 **Her fist flew open and reached up toward him. She had to fix this! She couldn't leave him like this!**

Yang held hope. Maybe this could still end well. Reconciling siblings for what happened…

 **She had to make this…**

 **A flash of bright, golden light blinded her.**

 **…** **right?**

 **He was gone. She was reaching out to the heavens. Jaune had disappeared. Her brother was gone. A single tear formed in her eyes. Her hand fell, revealing the skyline beyond it. As she fell to her knees, they saw the moon, still blocking the sun. Two arched crescents now etched into the surface for all to see. The largest followed the upper edge of the moon while the second, smaller arc ran parallel beneath it.**

 **He was gone, and she was responsible for everything…**

As the lights returned, Yang had to stand and walk off for a moment. Ruby, Weiss, and Blake followed after her, to make sure she was okay. No one from Beacon was okay with what they had seen. But they simply knew it had happened.


	11. Bergentrückung

**King: So much blood. So much pain. I've released, a chapter again. Dear reader, enjoy please. So proclaims, you're good friend King~**

 **Inspiration: Undertale**

 **/\**

After a while, Yang returned with her team. Once they were seated again, King floated closer to the brawler, "Are you alright? We can take a break for a while if you still need it."

Yang waved him off, "I'm fine. Just… play the next one."

King was skeptical, though. "Ms. Xiao Long, I have the feeling that…"

"Look! It's the kind of thing that doesn't go away, but I'm used to it at this point." She glanced/glared toward her mother.

King floated in silence for a few seconds. "I understand. All the same, I feel it best to offer a filter to…"

Yang shook her head, "I'm fine. Just play whatever."

King seemed to take a breath, somehow, "Alright then… Let's go then."

 **The screen began to form the first image, a single yellow flower. It was the only splash of color before a grey background.**

"This isn't one of those artsy films, is it?" Ruby complained.

Yang groaned, "I hope not…"

Weiss just shook her head, "You two are hopeless…"

 **The flower shook a little. Then the camera pulled away to show Ruby glaring at the flower in a flower pot. The home around her was completely grey. Every piece of furniture, the walls, the floor, everything was solid grey. Ruby and the flower being the only color in the room.**

Qrow chuckled a little, "Seems this version of the squirt's got a problem with flowers."

 **The Ruby on screen tapped the flower before sighing, "Calm down, Ruby… There's only one of that weirdo…"**

This got Nora to think, "So… is Jaune, the flower? Is that a thing?"

Pyrrha shrugged, "In some stories. But it's a different reality. The rules of life could be different."

 **Ruby walked through the house, glancing around. One part grabbed her attention. A chain sealed by dual padlocks. She reached into her pocket and grabbed two keys she'd found in the house. She took a breath and clutched the keys. "Let's go…"**

 **She unlocked the locks and made her way passed the chain. She found a set of stairs leading down to the lower level. She moved quickly down the stairs and found herself in a hallway with one section of wall removed, revealing the city before her. A large metropolis that would seem so normal to anyone, save for the lack of sky above their heads. Looking up, there was nothing but the cavern's surface.**

"An underground city…" Nora marveled at the world before her.

All the while, RWBY shuffled a bit in their seats. They still remembered Mountain Glenn and what they'd learned about its fate. It wasn't the best first introduction to subterranean living spaces.

 **Ruby walked along until she reached a turn. Making her way to the side, she found herself in a massive hallway made almost completely of stained glass.**

Ruby gasped, "So pretty!"

Yang, however, didn't fair so well. She had a moment seeing that room where she flashed back to the previous world, one where she had practically abandoned her own family. A hand on her shoulder brought her back to the present. She turned to see her uncle with a small smile, an attempt to reassure her. Yang smiled and nodded. She turned back to the screen and continued to watch.

 **Ruby walked along until she paused. Standing across from her was someone in a blue hoodie. As they removed their hood, it was revealed as a familiar blonde, but not the one they expected. Yang was standing opposite Ruby. A light shone through the glass, revealing this version of Yang wasn't quite so familiar. This Yang was a skeleton, for one. Her blonde hair was a strange magical energy flowing from her skull and her lilac eyes were single points of light in the sockets. "'sup kid?" Her mouth didn't move from a perpetual grin.**

Yang started to grin, herself. "I like this version…"

"Yang… no." Weiss tried, in vain, to stop her.

Yang took a breath, "A…"

 **"** **A skeleton~"**

Yang froze mid breath. Everyone looked up toward the screen.

 **Skeleton Yang was looking directly at them, chuckling. After a moment, she turned back to a confused Ruby, "So, finally made it to the castle. I'm proud of you kid. And hey! Didn't even die once!"**

No one could really react to what Yang said after she broke their minds by finishing their Yang's pun.

 **Ruby nodded, "Yeah…"**

 **Yang's grin became somber, "But there's still the King. The question is, can you keep this up? Can you spare him like you had for all of us? After everything he's done?"**

 **Ruby smiled, "I hope I don't have to fight at all…"**

 **Yang let out a breath and her smile returned to normal. "Good luck, kid. I'm root'n for ya." Yang walked off the screen.**

 **When Ruby followed her course, she was gone.**

"How did she do that?!" Nora was excited by everything so far. But Yang's sudden disappearance caught everyone off guard again, including her.

 **Ruby stood before two tall, ornate doors. She tapped her chest just over her heart to calm her nerves. She pushed one of the doors in two see within. The room before her was a massive room filled wall to wall with golden flowers growing from the ground. Standing on the other end was a massive, mountain of a man with two curved horns protruding from his head. His golden hair seemed to glow in the light of the garden. His purple cloak swaying slightly at the breeze Ruby allowed to enter. They couldn't see anything else, as he had his back to them.**

Pyrrha paused, "Is that… who I think it is?"

 **He turned slightly as he watered the golden flowers beneath him. They could finally see and recognize him. It was Jaune, but much older. He had a full golden beard and his blue eyes showed an experience of life not so unlike that of Ozpin. The way he moved, they could tell he was a kind man, someone who would put the needs of others above his own. In this moment, he was watering the fields before him.**

This made most of them smile. Seeing a Jaune that wasn't crazy or boiling over in anger/jealousy. It was nice to see a Jaune they could truly recognize, even if he was a, presumably, goat-faunas in this form.

 **Jaune sighed and smiled. He placed a watering can to the side and started to turn to leave. As he started to move toward the exit, he locked eyes with Ruby. He froze seeing her. He hadn't expected anyone to be there, let alone a human child. "Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't hear you come in."**

 **Ruby blinked. She had heard so much about the King, but this wasn't what she was expecting.**

"So, we went from Prince Jaune to King Jaune?" Ren thought a moment. That was rather interesting…

Pyrrha and Velvet blushed seeing this Jaune. Beneath his royal cloak, he walked in golden plate armor. He looked like a man all could respect, even his enemies. But this Jaune seemed like the kind that could only wish happiness on even those that hated him. It was their Jaune in so many ways. They couldn't help but wish they could walk through the screen to meet him.

 **Jaune smiled down toward Ruby. It was the smile of a man that cared for so many. He reminded the young Ruby of a father. But there was something beneath. Something that haunted him. She knew well enough what was awaiting her, but she could hope…**

"Um… what does she mean by that?" Ruby wasn't sure how to take that just yet.

 **Jaune took a breath and his smile faded. "I know why you're here, young one." His breathing seemed to shake. "I've no doubt you've heard many things about me. I wish to dissuade and remove any falsities. If you wish it, I will tell you the truth of my actions."**

 **Ruby nodded. If she could hear his truth, she might be able to prevent anything from escalating.**

"Yeah… the truth…" Roman scoffed.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Yang's eyes turned red as she rose from her seat, ready to fight the speaker.

"You really think he's going to say anything that makes him look bad? Face it kid, the truth is a big lie anyway…"

 **Jaune turned away and started to walk to the far side, "Walk with me, child, and I'll tell you my story."**

 **Ruby moved to keep pace with the king.**

 **As they reached the far wall, Jaune opened a hidden door. "A very long time ago, humans and faunas lived in harmony with one another. But many refused to look past our differences, on both sides."**

Blake hung her head a moment. She used to be one of those people… So, it hits harder than it would for the others.

Velvet took a breath. She hated what the world had become with how people treat each other. People like Cardin… She clenched her fist. Did he have a hand in this world's plight?

 **"** **In time, we were at war… In the end, we faunas were driven underground. A barrier was created to keep us from returning. The humans took our homes and forced us away. My people need to return to the sun's rays, but I had few leads of how to release us. I had to keep the people's spirits up, but I was running out of ideas. In time… this place became home, whether we liked it or not…"**

Jaune's somber tone, and the subject matter in question, made many in the group feel for the King.

 **Ruby looked up to the King. She knew this much from her own life. She had been told this story since she was young. What truly captured her attention was the hidden hallway from the garden. She had paused long enough to need to run to keep up with Jaune.**

 **Jaune continued his story as he walked, "Then… one day, a human child fell through the mountain's barrier. My son found them as they called to help…"**

"His… son?" Pyrrha stalled.

Velvet was taking it better, but still turned a shade of red.

 **Jaune paused a moment. He took a deep breath before he continued his tale, "He brought the human child back to our home. In time… they became like siblings. I treated the human like my own… I loved them like my own child… But they fell ill. An ailment that resulted in their death. I had to watch as the human… As my child slowly died…"**

Few in the audience were unaffected. Even Roman and Neo couldn't imagine the hell that would be. Only Raven, Cinder, and Mercury were cold to his plight.

 **Jaune rounded a corner and turned to make sure Ruby was still following. Once she was beside him again, he turned and continued, "My son was racked with grief, as we all were, but he took things badly. He had promised the child to take them back to the surface and see the flowers from the human village before they died. So, when they passed here in the underground, it pained him. He felt as though he failed his closest friend and sibling's final request."**

 **Being significantly taller than Ruby, Jaune had to pause a few times for her to catch up without needing to run. "My son used the human's lingering soul to pass through the barrier and take their body to their village…"**

Ozpin stalled a moment, "He… used the child's soul?"

Ironwood and his army _had_ discovered a way to transfer aura, but only through a machine. It was impossible to simply take and use the soul of another. Right?

 **Jaune's face fell slightly as he recalled the tale, "But my son was a faunas in a world of humans. They believed he killed his human friend and was attacked. He returned home broken and bloody, all of it his own. I rushed to him and called out for help. But I watched as the light left my son's eyes. He died in my arms. Racked with grief and anger, I blamed the humans for taking him from me."**

This hit close to home for Blake. She had heard stories while in the White Fang about times like that. She understood Jaune's anger, but also saw this would only end in pain.

 **"** **I wanted to have justice for my son. But the barrier would not allow me to pass. Then I discovered a way to break the magic barrier. Seven human souls could overpower the mystic force and shatter the barrier. I told this to my subjects. Their eyes filled with hope again. We could be free and see the sun and sky again. All it would take… was seven human dead."**

Blake hung her head a bit. She used to think like that. She could have this and all it would cost is human suffering. She blamed Adam for those years, but she was just as angry back then. The kind of anger born only in the young and hateful, creating ideals to justify their anger/hate.

 **"** **My wife hated what I had become. She left as soon as I issued my order, vowing to protect any human that falls into the underground. But they always left her walls. Always finding me if given enough time. Six young human children…" Jaune began to shake a bit as he spoke, his voice becoming pained, "Six souls…"**

Pyrrha placed her hands over her mouth in shock, "He's… he…"

No one wanted to believe Jaune would do something like that. It was ridiculous to even consider.

 **"** **Even now… I see the face of the human child… of my child, in your eyes." He finally stopped. Before them was a massive white barrier, unlike anything Ruby had ever seen.**

 **Suddenly, a red heart appeared in front of her a moment before resting over her chest. "I…" Fear washed over her. "No wait!" Four panels formed in front of her reading: [FIGHT], [ACT], [ITEM], and [MERCY].**

Nora tapped her chin a moment, "It's kind of like a video game…"

Yang nodded, "An RPG of some kind, but… real?"

 **Realizing what was going on, Ruby tried to reach for the panel labeled MERCY. With a burst of wind and the sound of shattering glass, she fell backward. She looked back up to find three, blood red prongs having impaled her MERCY option. The panel moved away to reveal Jaune holding a solid red spear made of magical energy. The light from his spear reflecting off of his armor and his eyes.**

Ruby jumped a little when the panel was impaled. But seeing Jaune like that… it was scary. Scarier than the psychotic versions they'd seen. This was a broken man. Someone who would do such terrible things for the needs of others. Someone who'd waded through the river of blood far too long to turn back.

 **Jaune slammed the MERCY panel across the ground, causing it to explode into pieces. Jaune looked to Ruby for a moment, his eyes filled with sadness. Tears began to form in his eyes as he spoke, "Human… It was… nice to meet you." His hands shook, and the tears fell across his cheeks as he looked down and away from Ruby, "Goodbye…"**

 **Ruby tried to reason with the King, "Wait, please! We don't have to fight! We don't have to…"**

 **Jaune's shaking only got worse as tears fell to the ground. "I don't have a choice anymore, child. I don't deserve mercy. I don't deserve to be spared… Come, child. You are the seventh soul. One way or another, my journey ends today." Jaune pointed his trident toward Ruby.**

Nora clutched onto Ren's hand in sorrow for her team leader. Ren wasn't taking this any better. They were lucky to have each other in that moment. Pyrrha was crying for the Jaune she saw. A hollow man with nothing left, it was more painful to see than any mad/villain Jaunes.

 **When he swung his weapon, Ruby duked to the side to avoid any damage. She had to get him to see reason. She ducked each attack, using the ACT panel to try to calm him. To try to get through to him. All for naught. He wasn't beyond reason, he beyond surrender. He'd come too far, sacrificed so much, that turning back would make everything for nothing. The six souls would have died for nothing. He saw himself beyond forgiveness. It was becoming clear she had no choice. When she landed after a clean hit, she clenched her teeth and her fists. She reluctantly struck the FIGHT option. A knife appeared in her hand and she stood to face the King.**

 **Jaune never looked up toward her. He couldn't. He couldn't bring himself to look her in the eye. He watched her shadow to keep track of her and her actions. He saw her draw the knife and finally stood against him.**

 **Ruby swung her knife into Jaune's chest, glancing across his armor. She dipped under another swing and hit him two more times before she had to back away. He raised an arm and a torrent of fire flew out toward her. Ruby was able to avoid the magical attack by leaning backward and sliding across the floor with the flames flying just over her nose.**

Nora tried to lighten the mood from before, "You have to admit… that was pretty cool."

 **She jumped back up and caught a glint in Jaune's eyes. A sky-blue flash appeared in his eyes for just a moment. If she was right about what that was… She stopped moving and turned toward Jaune as he swung his trident to her side.**

"What's she doing?!" Ruby couldn't fathom why she would stop like that in the middle of his attack.

 **Jaune's spear turned sky-blue as he swung. The attack flowed through Ruby's body like neither she nor the weapon were real.**

Ruby was awe struck. "How did…"

Weiss thought out loud a moment, "If the weapon is magic, it might have certain effects. Perhaps this is a feint to keep her off balance.

 **Ruby started to jump forward to get in another swing. That's when she saw the blue spear coming back toward her. By this point, she was moving too fast to stop before it hit her. The spear's side slammed into her side and she flew back about ten feet.**

Weiss figured out the effects seeing that. "Okay. The blue spear doesn't affect her when she's standing still. But if she's moving, it can hit her."

 **A glint of orange flashed in his right eye a moment. His trident turned orange and he swung down at her. Ruby saw that and jumped up through the spear, causing her no damage. She landed another small blow against him and backed away.**

Yang crossed her arms, "So, I'm guessing orange is the opposite of the blue effect."

Weiss shrugged, not truly able to be 100% certain, "Most likely."

 **Jaune unleashed more fire, this time forming a ring around her. She jumped out before it could envelop her. She rolled and slashed at Jaune again. But this got her right in front of him with his hand pointed at her face. He unleashed more flames directly upon her. She flew back and rolled on the ground. She needed to restore her HP… She tapped the ITEM button and a list appeared in front of her. She scrolled to an item labeled 'Homemade Pie' and tapped the button. A small slice of pie appeared in front of her and she took a bite.**

 **Jaune paused. It was unmistakable. His tears began to pick up. It was a scent he knew well. His mind flashed back to years before. His children on either arm, one resting on his shoulder while the other hung from his raised bicep. The scent wafted over them as Velvet walked out of a house to call them inside. She wore a long purple dress with long white sleeves, giving off the vibe of a mage.**

Velvet's blush from before turned into an overheat. She was Jaune's wife in this reality. They seemed so happy… Her blushing stopped, and she went pale. That means she abandoned him after his order for the humans' deaths… She'd lost a child…

 **Jaune fell to a knee a moment, racked with grief and pain. It lasted only a moment. He was back up soon after and swung his blade. The swing behind it didn't have the same strength. When Ruby struck him again, he felt more pain. He didn't have the resilience to fight back… After a few minutes of fire and blades, Jaune fell to a knee and failed to rise again. He wept in his sorrow and finally looked into Ruby's eyes again. "Avenge them… Finish me."**

"Jaune! No!" Pyrrha tried to shout the world to halt the course. She hoped it could change what she had seen. She wanted to make the world take back the fight. Stop the battle and ensure Jaune wouldn't get hurt. But it was all for naught.

 **Ruby backed away from Jaune. "I can't… Please. We can…"**

 **Jaune pleaded to the young girl, "Just do it! End this! Avenge your fellow humans and put an end to this tale!"**

 **"** **I won't! I can't!" Ruby wanted to stop, but without the mercy option, she was stuck in combat. Maybe it could respawn. She only needed a moment…**

 **Jaune looked away again. He shakily stood up again. His grip tightened around his weapon. He didn't have the power to truly hurt her, but he didn't need it anymore.**

Velvet felt a chill, "He wouldn't…"

 **Jaune stood and charged Ruby with spear outstretched. She ducked and jumped back, playing into his plan. He slammed his blades into the ground behind her and threw himself forward. Her blade pierced his heart as blood began to flow from his lips. Ruby's eyes went wide with shock. He smiled to the young girl and placed a hand on her head. "Thank you for being there for my people, child. Thank you for making them happy… I'm sorry it had to end like this…" Jaune's eyes went dull and his hand fell away. He was gone.**

 **The King was dead.**

 **As Ruby fell to her knees, Jaune's body hung, leaning against his spear in the ground. As she started to cry, she could swear she heard his voice on the wind, singing a lament.**

 ** _So much blood… So much pain… I have lost, my child again… Now, dear child, you shall be free. So, proclaims… the Mountain King._**

/\

 **King: I hope you all enjoyed this. There was a few people that wanted Undertale versions, though they wanted either Sans-Jaune or Undine-Jaune. I couldn't help but make Jaune as everyone's favorite goat-dad, though. The song is Man on the Internet's rendition of Bergentrückung from "Undertale: the Musical." It was the first piece of Undertale I'd ever seen/heard, so it's rather special. Hope you enjoyed it~**


	12. Stronger

**King: Okay, I used a little more direct from the source than I would prefer without saying something. No specifics for anyone that doesn't know what's happening yet. A song is played/sung in this one direct from the source. There's more than two or so lines (it's most of the song...) with a few tweaks here and there. I just couldn't leave it out. It's kind of iconic to what's happening. Anyway, I hope you enjoy as usual.**

 **Inspiration: Steven Universe**

 **/\**

"Why are so many of these sad?" Nora huffed in her chair.

Ironwood took a breath before answering her, "Because sometimes, you don't get to have the happy ending. Or you don't get to see it. Consider how many stories are out there where the hero has to sacrifice themselves to save everyone. Thanks to their efforts, the day is saved, everyone lives on happily. But the hero doesn't get to see that ending. Would they have that happy end?"

As the spirits of many of the students started to fall, Ozpin shook his head. "That's why they do it. They're willing to sacrifice themselves because they have faith in the people they leave behind. That they will reach their happy end. But not all heroes fall, James. Many survive their tales and live their happy ends."

King appeared again, "Well said, headmaster. Now, are we ready for the next round?" After everyone nodded, or affirmed in some way, King disappeared as the screen came to life again.

 **The scene opened to show a pair of black shoes running across asphalt. The screen panned up to show Ruby running through a beach-front town. As she passed by various residents, she smiled and waved as she made for home. She ran across the boardwalk until she reached the sands. As she approached, she jumped, her shoes flying up. She caught her footwear and ran with their laces tied together and slung over her shoulder. She ran barefoot across the sand and toward an elevated beach house overlooking the waves.**

Coco let out an impressed whistle. "Damn. That's a nice place."

Yang turned toward the fashionista, "Are you kidding? That place looks tiny for a house."

"Thing again. Yeah, it's smaller than most homes, but it's basically 24/7 access to the beach. Not to mention it may cut into that mountain holding it up. That place is nice. Trust me on that."

"What, you branching out from fashion into real-estate?"

"The only difference between fashion and real-estate is one is what you wear and the other is where you live."

Weiss interjected, "I… don't think that's quite right, but I see what you're going for."

 **Ruby threw open the door shouting, "I'm home~!"**

 **Someone in the kitchenette leaned around to face her, "Hey. Welcome back." Stepping back to welcome Ruby, was an older version of Ren (mid 20s-ish). He dressed fairly similarly to the Ren in the audience save for the fact that he only had one sleeve. Said sleeve being replaced by a long glove that came to an end half way up his bicep. A strange green gemstone was embedded in his upper left shoulder, the likely reason he didn't have a sleeve.**

Nora shook Ren, "Oh my gosh! You look so cool!"

 **Sitting at the bar area between the kitchen and the common area was the spitting image of Neo. Similar to Ren, Neo had a pink gemstone embedded at the base of her neck. She waved to Ruby as she entered.**

 **Ruby chuckled for a moment. Then she seemed to think about something, "Hey, Ren?"**

 **Ren kneeled next to Ruby, "Yes?"**

 **"** **Why doesn't Neo talk?"**

Neo was used to the question. It didn't really bother her. She was mute, and most people aren't. When they find out, if they keep it up, then she can kick their ass.

 **Ren was about to answer but stopped mid-inhale. "I… I'm not sure."**

 **"** **I mean, I know humans can be mute, but you guys aren't human. So…"**

Ruby gasped, "They're not human?"

Blake attempted to make sense of it, "Faunas maybe?"

Weiss shook her head, "I've never seen a faunas with gems embedded in their bodies… At least, not naturally."

 **Ren and Ruby looked toward each other a moment before turning toward Neo, who just shrugged and continued to eat her snack. Ren sighed, "Who knows…"**

 **A gem-like platform in the back of the room started to glow. A beam of light rose up from the base and shadow formed in the middle. Stepping out of the light was a… woman? It was hard to tell, honestly. It was hard to tell anything more than the most surface level things. The subtle curves denoted she, so we'll use that until we learn otherwise…**

 **She stepped out of the light and onto the hardwood floor. She was dressed in something like a silver shawl over a loose, dark grey top, the shawl making it hard to tell what kind of top. She wore tight pants in a light silver with boots that reached up her calves. Her eyes were covered by a set of visor sunglasses that covered the upper half of her face. Her silk-like, platinum-blonde hair was tied back in a pony tail that reached down her shoulders. She was a beautiful sight to behold, all 7 and a half feet.**

Coco whistled, leaning toward team RWBY, "Friend of yours?"

Yang shook her head. "Never seen her before in my life."

Ruby smiled a bit, "She's really pretty though."

Coco chuckled, "No kidding."

Nora saw the woman and was awe struck, "She's so tall!"

 **She stepped down from the platform and was quickly tackled by Ruby. Well… not really tackled. Ruby swung around the woman's neck in a hug and rested herself on the woman's shoulders like a cape. "Hey Seraph! Welcome back!"**

Yang wrapped her arm over Ruby's shoulders, "That's so cute!"

"YANG!" Ruby tried to free herself again, but her sister was much stronger than her.

 **Seraph chuckled and reached a hand up to pat the head of her living cape, "Good to be back, Ruby. What did I miss?"**

 **Everything started to shake within the home. Everyone looked around in confusion before running to the door. They looked up to the sky in time to see a large green hand in the sky, a Home World drop ship…**

"Home World?" Nora went starry eyed again, "They're aliens!"

Weiss felt her eye twitch, "But… but that doesn't… Ships don't…"

Nora frowned toward Weiss, "A-li-ens."

 **The hand/ship started to float low over the waves and opened with its finger tips on the sand. A panel opened on one finger and a trio of aliens walked down from a descending ramp. All three appeared human, save for the gems embedded in their bodies in various locations. The first was a rather somber looking Blake, with a black gem resembling onyx at the base of her neck, standing on the left. On the right was Emerald, with a gemstone embedded in her navel. Standing tall in the center was Cinder Fall, her burning orange gemstone acting as an eyepatch over her left eye.**

 **There was no mistaking it. They were gems, like Seraph, Ren, and Neo.**

"Gems?" No one knew what they were getting at with that.

King paused the screen and appeared again. "I can explain that since we caught this one late in its run, if you want."

After everyone agreed to his offer, he told them. "Okay. 'Gems' in this case refers to their alien species. Technically, the bodies you're seeing are constructs of hard-light."

"Hard-light?" Ruby tilted her head slightly, "What's that?"

"Hard-light is the theoretical system capable of using light rays to solidify into physical form. It's believed that if it could be made real, one would be able to construct anything utilizing said light."

"Cool."

"Anyway, their actual bodies are the gemstones embedded in their bodies, hence the name." Making sure everyone understood him, he disappeared again, and the screening continued.

 **Cinder glared down at the group before her. "These are the rabble you spoke of, then?"**

 **Blake tried to look away and sneak behind her, but Cinder forced her forward. "Yes… That's them…"**

 **Cinder scowled toward Emerald, "You lost to them?"**

 **Emerald seemed to shrink away a bit, "N-not necessarily. I…"**

 **Cinder turned her eyes back toward the group on the sand. "Pathetic. To lose to these rejects…" The screen showed each member of the group as she listed them off: "An overcooked quartz half the size she should be (Neo), a jade that clearly over estimates its place (Ren), this… disgrace of a display (Seraph), and… whatever the hell that thing is (Ruby)."**

"Damn. What's she got against Seraph?" Yang tapped her finger on her chair as she watched.

"What do you think she meant by 'disgrace of a display'?" Weiss crossed her arms. She wasn't sure why, but she felt a bit insulted by Cinder's words.

"Who knows? Maybe she doesn't like Seraph's cloths or something."

 **Seraph stepped forward, "I'm going to give you one chance to leave Earth before things escalate."**

 **Cinder smirked, "I don't fear the threats made by weaklings like you." Emerald handed her a strange device resembling a tuning fork with pulsing electricity.**

 **Ren cracked his neck and placed a hand on his left shoulder. He slid the hand over his gem and it began to glow.**

Ruby couldn't help but feel like something was going to happen.

 **Ren pulled his hand away and a beam of light followed it. Once it was far enough away, the light formed into a single-edge combat knife.**

Ruby was right to pay more attention. The idea of turning light into a weapon! It was so awesome! Sure, there was the lightsaber from before and that was awesome as shit (not that she'd use those exact words in front of Yang) but using light to create any weapon would be so cool~!

 **Neo followed suit by forming an umbrella from her gem and extending the canvas. Though that would be a bad way to explain it. The canvas was actually a series of folding metal strips, all sharpened to a razor edge.**

Which gave Neo an idea for something do to later, if she could figure out how to make it work.

 **Cinder just rolled her eyes. "Let's get this over with." She moved faster than any of them had expected. She directly in front of Seraph in only a second. "Let's start with you." She stabbed the Gem with her device like a knife.**

 **As Seraph cried out in pain, her body seemed to disrupt and turn to static. Within a few seconds, she popped like a balloon with a puff of smoke. Two gems started to fall from the body. One was a brilliant golden stone while the other was an ice white.**

Yang leaned forward a bit in shock. She had to remind herself that the gems were the actual body, so Seraph was fine. But something niggled at the back of her mind. _Why did Seraph have two gems when everyone else has one?_ She looked around at the others. Most didn't seem to think anything of it. The only one's other than her that picked up on it were Weiss, Neptune, and Ozpin. This made sense. Contrary to what people think, Yang is actually rather intelligent. She has to keep her pun game at max levels, so she studies up on a lot of stuff. She just hates the classroom setting.

 **Ruby's eyes went wide. "Seraph!"**

 **Ren charged forward to attack Cinder but was intercepted by Emerald. Emerald grabbed his wrist and twisted him over her shoulder. She slammed Ren into the ground and used another one of the devices to make Ren poof (for lack of a better word) as well.**

 **Neo threw her umbrella with a spin, turning it into a top of death. Cinder raised a fist and slammed the ground beneath her. A wave of sand forced the umbrella to fly upward. Emerald capitalized on this by jumping up to the weapon. She folded the metal plates and threw it like a spear. Neo simply caught the weapon and unfolded the blades again, only to be met with a disruption grenade hidden within. Neo poof-ed soon after.**

 **Ruby charged forward, but not to attack. She grabbed each of the fallen gems and tried to keep them safe. Cinder kicked her square in the jaw, forcing her to drop her charges. Cinder's gem began to glow, a clawed glove flowing into form on her right hand. "One last annoyance."**

 **Before Cinder could strike her or the gems, Ruby created a pink shield of energy. In the center was a beautiful white rose with its thorny vines swirling out from the center mass. Cinder's face turned hostile seeing that. "Summer…"**

Ruby, Yang, and Qrow froze. "No way."

 **Images flashed on the screen of a woman in a white, hooded cloak. She stood before an army of gem warriors with a pink sword pointing to the battle at hand. She had a pink gemstone in the same location as Ruby, almost as if it was her own heart. She smiled, a hopeful grin for a better future.**

Seeing Summer again… It was a bitter sweet feeling to the three. Qrow clutched his flask a little tighter seeing Summer's hopeful expression again. Yang and Ruby couldn't help but smile. Summer always taught them to be hopeful and strive forward to be the best, no matter what happens. It was amazing to see her again, but tears would still fall.

 **The screen returned to Cinder, her eye twitching seeing Ruby's shield. "Oh… Today is my lucky day after all…"**

"Um… How?" Nora didn't like the tone in Cinder's voice. Few among them did. (Surprise, surprise, the one that did was Cinder herself.)

 **Cinder punched the shield, causing it to crack. She leaned into the shield, causing Ruby to fall back. Cinder's smile could only be called psychotic. "So, this is where you've been hiding!"**

Mercury and Emerald moved back a bit seeing that. They'd seen terrible things from Cinder. But seeing that… Yikes.

 **Cinder slammed her fist against the shield, causing more cracks. "Did you really think you could hide AND use this shield?! Did you think I'd forget you SUMMER?!"**

 **"** **What are you talking about?! I'm not my mom!" Okay, that was a half lie.**

This confused all involved.

 **Ruby was technically half gem. Her mother was a ruby quartz (yes, really), but her dad was human. A child born that way taxed her mother's form. She… she gave up her physical form so Ruby could be born.**

Ruby's mind paused. Her mother… She…

 **Cinder didn't buy it, though. She reared back her fist and shattered the shield. Ruby was knocked out from the force and everything went black.**

Nora picked up something, "Hang on. Where's Jaune?"

Yang turned to her, "Hey, yeah! Where's Vomit boy? He's supposed to be in all of these, isn't he?"

"Oh yeah!" Ruby was still caught up on the being her own mother thing in this reality, but she got things back to normal. "Where'd he go?"

 **When Ruby came to, she was in a cell of some kind. The entrance was sealed by an anti-gem laser field. She groaned a bit seeing that. "Great… Now what?" She tried to find some kind of way out, but her cell was fairly stable. She sighed and leaned against the wall to the side. "Okay, Ruby. Think. How do I get out of this…" She leaned to the side a little too far and fell into the field. To her surprise, she was fine. It fell really weird, but not painful.**

 **She scrambled up and out of the field. Maybe it was because she was half human… She shook her head. Think about that later. Find the others now. She ran off through the cells, checking each to find whoever she could. She passed by one in a hurry, not recognizing the person inside. Wait… She back peddled and looked back into the cell.**

 **A young man was in the cell punching the wall on the other side. She looked to the side to find he had, somehow, punched his way through the cell wall next to him. Ruby turned back to him. He was a blonde man wearing a simple golden tunic with gold pants and black boots. He slammed his fist into the wall and recoiled in pain, tears starting to flow. "I'll find you…"**

Nora smiled, recognizing her team leader, "There he is!"

"But how did he get there?"

 **Ruby cleared her throat. "Um… are you okay?"**

 **Jaune didn't turn toward her and punched the wall again, "Who cares about me! I have to…" He froze, finally registering what had just happened. He turned toward her, a look of shock on his face. "How did you get out?"**

 **"** **Oh… um… I think it's because I'm half human. The field doesn't really hurt me." She placed her hand into the field and stepped in with her arms spread out. The laser grid was disrupted and created an opening for Jaune to get out.**

 **Jaune quickly ducked through and looked around. After a moment, he turned to Ruby, "Did you find anyone else yet?!"**

 **"** **No. I just escaped a while ago."**

 **Jaune was in a mini-panic. "Okay… She's got to be around here somewhere!"**

 **"** **Who should?"**

 **A faint song echoed through the cells. Jaune's head snapped to the side.**

Some could recognize the song. To some, it rather familiar. To one, it was life. To an heiress in the audience, who had taken up musical performance and excelled, it was clear who was the voice singing out through the prison. It was her. Weiss was confused a moment, but it was easy enough to understand. Jaune's actions made it clear he was searching for the source of that song. He was looking for her.

 **Jaune's breathing showed he was panicking, "That's Weiss! She's close!"**

 **Ruby turned toward Jaune, "Who?" Before she got an answer, he was running off through the halls, leaving her alone. "Never mind then…" Ruby moved at a slower pace, following the singing echo as best as she could without going around in circles. After a while, she turned a corner to find Blake in one of the cells. "Blake?!"**

"Why is she in the cell? I thought she was working with that chick." Yang wasn't happy about any of that, but now she was just confused. She was used to the idea of her friends possibly being villains in these, she's seen more than enough Jaunes being just that.

Blake shook her head. "I doubt it was by choice. The way she was acting, its likely I'm a captive in this in some way."

 **Blake was sitting against the back wall, hugging her knees. She looked toward Ruby in surprise. "Ruby? But… how did you get out?"**

 **She placed her arms out to allow Blake out of her cell to show her how, "Come on, Blake. It doesn't hurt, but it feels really weird."**

 **"** **Ruby… I'm not leaving…"**

 **"** **What?" Ruby stepped back in surprise, causing the grid to return to normal.**

 **"** **I'm sorry, but I just can't… They caught me once, they'll do it again. I'm not going…"**

Blake wasn't sure how to take what she was seeing. Whatever they had done to her in that reality, it must have been horrible to scar her like that.

 **Ruby wanted to say something, but the ship lurched. "** ** _All hands, process for warp commencing. T-minus 5 minutes._** **"**

 **Ruby looked up to the intercom, "Crap." She turned back to Blake with a determined look, "Blake, listen to me, you don't have to be afraid of them. You don't have to help them. I respect your decision to stay out of this, but I'm stopping this ship and saving my friends. You included…"**

 **After a moment without a response, Ruby turned and ran off down the hall. Blake sighed and leaned her head back onto the wall. She just wasn't strong enough for any of this…**

 **Ruby slid across a section of floor to find another gem behind a laser grid. Technically she found two gems. Jaune was trying to find the mechanism to get inside while the gem in the cell watched on, unable to support him. She was a beauty in white with hair like a snowdrift. Her attire reminded Ruby of a princess attending a gala, complete with dress that reached to the floor.**

Nora grinned seeing that, "There's Weiss! That's so cool!"

"Nora…" Weiss sighed, "I've appeared in other versions. What makes this any different?"

"Well, this version is an alien gemstone, for one."

Weiss paused, not expecting that kind of answer, "True… But that doesn't really mean much at this point. We've seen plenty of different forms of Jaune."

"That's not the point!"

Ren tapped Nora's shoulder to remind her they were watching something in a theater. No one ever really seemed to miss anything when they did react like that, but best not to have too much of an outburst.

 **Ruby walked over and tapped Jaune's shoulder, "Can I help?"**

 **Jaune turned to her in shock, not noticing her approach. Weiss just chuckled seeing that. Jaune nodded and stepped to the side. Ruby stretched her arms before creating a path for Weiss to escape. Weiss ducked under Ruby's arms, pausing half way through, "Thank you, Ruby." Once she was out of the way, Ruby stepped back with a smile.**

"Hang on…" Ruby was about to ask a question, but her counterpart beat her to it.

 **"** **How did you know my name?" Ruby blinked in surprise.**

 **Weiss as about to explain when a pair of arms wrapped around her and lifted her up. Jaune was smiling behind her with tears of joy, finally reunited.**

"Woah!" Yang grinned from ear to ear, "And here I thought you'd just be friends or something."

Weiss groaned a bit, her head in her hand. "Desperate enough to punch through whatever that stuff is to find me?"

Yang shrugged, "He seems like the kind of guy that would for any of us."

"But remember, this is a different world. We shouldn't hold him to the same standard."

 **Ruby smiled seeing the two. Even if her question was forgotten, it was nice to see a couple so happy. They were easily the most affectionate duo she'd ever seen. It was clear they truly loved one another.**

Pyrrha was used to the idea of alternate Jaune's having alternate love interests. She's seem him paired alongside Nora (which was a trip and a half) and Velvet already, after all. But this one scared her a little. She knew Weiss was interested in Neptune, but the idea of it was unsettling, given Jaune's feelings.

 **Jaune spun her around and kissed her cheeks, happy to have her back in his arms.**

"Aw~! That's so cute!" Yang grinned.

"Wouldn't have taken you for the romantic." Blake smirked toward her partner.

"I'm not. Doesn't mean it's not adorable."

"Fair enough."

 **Weiss giggled, "Jaune! Come on, now. Not in front of Ruby."**

"Okay, seriously! How does she know who I am if we just met in this world?!" Ruby was getting impatient for an answer.

 **And an answer she would get. Jaune started to twirl with Weiss lifted slightly. Both with wide smiles, they practically seemed to glow. Hang on a sec. They are glowing! Both started to glow and turned into silhouettes of light.**

This caught everyone off guard. Ruby's impatience gave way to confusion, "What's going on?"

 **They lost form, leaving only their gems visible. Jaune's was a brilliant golden gem while Weiss's was a chilling ice-white. Their colors seemed to blend together into a beautiful silver. The glowing bodies started to morph together into an orb of light. The orb started to shrink before bursting like a bubble. Inside was not the two gems from before, but a single being formed from the two. A beautiful, platinum blonde woman with familiar attire. She looked like an angel as the light from the orb fell around her. She landed on the ground before the young Ruby with grace and poise. "Hello, Ruby. What did I miss?"**

Everyone went into a silent shock. Not only was Seraph standing before them again, but it was revealed that she wasn't one gem, she was two gems in a single form. Seraph was a fusion of Jaune and Weiss. To some, it started to make sense. That's why she was named Seraph, she was the snow angel…

 **Ruby's eyes had stars in them. "Seraph?! You're a Fusion?!"**

 **Seraph chuckled, "We were going to tell you on your birthday. For now, we have to get this thing out of the sky and back to Earth. Ruby, I need you to find the others and have Ren land the ship."**

 **The stars disappeared, and Ruby's eyes returned to normal, "What are you going to do?"**

 **Seraph smirked and tousled Ruby's hair, "I have some unfinished business with a certain someone."**

 **Ruby smiled back to Seraph, "Kick her butt into next week!"**

 **"** **That's the idea."**

 **As Ruby ran off, Seraph turned down the hallway. She started to wall the hall toward the main entry. This bitch Cinder came to her planet. Attacked her family! Separated her! This was personal.**

Yang slammed her fists together, "Yes! Kick her ass, Seraph!"

 **Seraph reared back a fist and broke something that looked important. A small alarm went off, causing Cinder to march into the room with a glare, "How did you both get out?"**

 **Seraph glared back. Her sky-blue eyes both burning with fury and cold with anger. "Doesn't matter. All that matters is we're together. And we want a rematch."**

 **"** **Why bother? It'll end the same way."**

 **A faint tune started to play, slowly picking up volume as they went.**

 **"** **I've seen what your made of."**

 **Seraph chuckled a bit. "No… you haven't."**

 **Then Seraph started to sing.**

"Hang on." Yang crossed her arms. "Why is she singing?"

Neptune leaned slightly toward her, "It's likely non-diegetic." Seeing a few confused looks, even from some adults, he explained, "It's the idea that the characters are unaware its happening. We see them sing, but, to them, it might not actually be happening."

"Huh…"

 **"** ** _This is Seraph, back together. And I'm never gonna lose to the likes of you. Because I'm so much better. And every part of me is saying go get her._** **"**

 **The gemstone embedded into her hands started to glow. Two swords beginning to form. When the light faded, she was holding a single-edged dueling sword toward Cinder. Cinder formed her glove at the same time and pulled out the device from before.**

"That's bad." Ruby was a little scared, after seeing what that thing did to Seraph and the others before.

 **"** ** _The two of us ain't gonna follow your rules. So, come at us without any of your fancy tools. Let's go just me and you._** **"**

 **Seraph placed a hand over her forehead and simulated bringing down a visor, forming her sunglasses from before.**

 **"** ** _Let's go, just one on two!_** **"**

 **Cinder tried to charge Seraph, only to met with a blade slicing through her device. Now that she had her sword and knew what she was up against, she was more than ready for Cinder's attack.**

 **"** ** _Go ahead and hit me if you're able! Can't you see my relationship is stable? I can tell you hate the way we intermingle, but I think you're just mad that you're single._** **"**

Coco whistled, "Damn! This Seraph chick is something else."

"Two somethings…" Weiss added.

 **Cinder growled and tried to punch at Seraph, but she moved like a chilling wind. She was grace on her feet, like a pure snowflake falling from the skies. She slashed at Cinder after one particular dodge and made a nasty cut into her arm. Granted the arm healed immediately, but the energy it takes to do that was limited.**

 **"** ** _You're not about to stop what we've made together. We will stay like this forever! If you break us apart we'll just come newer, and we'll always be twice the gem that you are!_** **"**

Nora chuckled, "Literally."

 **"** ** _I am made oh-oh-oh-of lo-oh-oh-oh-ove. Oh-oh-oh-oh-ove!_** **"**

 **Each time Cinder tried to attack, Seraph dodged, even if barely. Counterattacks followed soon after, but Cinder was starting to counter back. Cinder pushed Seraph back into a wall, cracking the surface. But she just stood back up.**

 **"** ** _This is who we are… This is who_** **I** ** _am. And if you think you can stop me, then you'd better think again! Cause I am a feeling, and I will never end. And I won't let you hurt my planet! And I won't let you hurt my friends!_** **"**

"Yeah!" Ruby, Yang, and Nora shared the sentiment sung by Seraph.

 **"** ** _So go ahead and hit me if you're able! Can't you see my relationship is stable? I know you think I'm not something you're afraid of, cause you think you've seen what I'm made of! Well, I am more than the two of them. Everything they care about is what I am."_**

 **The camera focused on Seraph's right hand, glowing a faint gold.**

 **"** ** _I am their courage!_** **"**

 **Then to her left hand, glowing white.**

 **"** ** _I'm their ambition!_** **"**

 **The camera pulled back to show her full body, glowing silver.**

 **"** ** _I am a conversation!_** **"**

 **"** ** _I am made oh-oh-oh-oh-of lo-oh-oh-oh-oh-ove! And it's stronger than you!_** **"**

 **As she sang the song's ending, Seraph created a glyph of energy around them. She moved like a streak of silver death. She sliced through Cinder's form in one direction before she suddenly struck from another side. This continued for about 20 strikes in two seconds.**

 **When the onslaught, and song, was over, Cinder was run through with Searph's sword and subsequently poofed. The fusion stood there a moment and kneeled down with an outstretched hand. A pink bubble formed around the fallen gemstone as she smiled. Seraph stood as Ruby came in over the intercom, "** ** _This ship is under new management! Next stop, Earth!_** **"**

 **Seraph smiled to herself. "We'll never be apart…" How can she ever truly be lost? She was made of love.**

The screen blacked out, leaving the audience to their wrap up thoughts before the next reality played. Everyone felt better about this one. No psycho versions of Jaune, no over the top violence, nothing too crazy, awesome action, even the song was enjoyable. Everyone found something to enjoy.


	13. Maximum Power!

**King: Lucky number 13, baby! Let's have some fun~! You see, I saw a trailer recently. A fun time and I just had to write this. I had my fun, and I hope you do, too~**

 **When Jaune? Now Jaune~**

 **Inspiration: DBZ Abridged Movie: Broly**

 **/\**

"That last one was so fun." Yang leaned back in her chair. "It's nice to have a happy ending for once."

Coco was sitting with her finger curled and resting on her chin in the stereotypical thinking position, "I need to see if I can remake that style from before. It looked pretty impressive…"

King appeared a moment, seeming to twitch a little. "Oh, sweet merciful life. Why?"

Ozpin raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong?"

"I just got the next one. It's… an interesting one, to say the least."

"Is it another psycho Jaune?" Ruby's eyes narrowed.

"I'm… not sure who to answer that. He's not psychotic, but definitely doesn't have a handle on some things…"

Yang groaned, but spoke, "It's like you said, these things are random. Just play it."

"Alright. Don't say I didn't warn you."

"I have a bad feeling about this…"

 **The scene showed a far-off galaxy in the void of space. "** ** _The south galaxy…_** **"**

"Ooh! Pretty!" Nora was wide eyed. None of them had ever seen a galactic from before.

 **The lights of the stars started to darken. Entire solar systems disappearing. "** ** _…has been destroyed._** **"**

Everyone (okay, most) felt sad for the fictional galaxy. What could have caused that?

 **"** ** _HOLY SHIT!_** **"**

This made a few in the audience start to laugh. The timing was too perfect and their focus on the screen had them in the best situation for the outburst. The best part was that it was Ironwood doing the shouting! Even Glynda couldn't help a chuckle.

 **The scene charged to show Ozpin standing on a small planet with his arms behind his back. He was dressed in a black robe with red sleeves. "Okay, first, calm down."**

"Who's he talking to?" Ruby asked.

 **"** ** _I was in the bathroom for five minutes! And now it's gone! How?! WHO?!_** **"**

"Oh."

 **"** **Could've been Salem."**

 **"** ** _Oh! You know that mother-'s still asleep!_** **"**

 **"** **South Kai…"**

"South Kai? What's that mean?"

Ren spoke up, "It's the idea of the four kings, or kais, of the four cardinal directions."

"Oh. Neat."

 **"** ** _I bet it was my ex, man. She told me she'd hurt me in a way I'd never see coming. Why East Kai? WHY?!_** **"**

 **"** **South Kai! We are going to figure this out."**

 **"** ** _I thought she mean like she'd steal my Blu-ray player, man…_** **"**

 **"** **South Kai…" Ozpin took a breath. "Okay, listen… I've got a guy…"**

"I bet it'll be Jaune." Yang smirked.

 **The scene changed to Mercury walking into an alien palace of some kind, "You call this a palace?! You think this is worthy of your new king?!"**

Emerald groaned, "You cannot be serious…"

 **Mercury walked alongside a blonde man. Though it was clearly not Jaune, given his brown eyes. This was Montagne, Jaune's father, listening as Mercury ranted "First off, I demand more towers. Second, I demand more towels. And third, I demand more trowels. The brickwork on this place is a shit show." Mercury paused and looked up to a tall blonde man. The man looked away a bit. "And who's this little puke?"**

"Hang on. That's Jaune!" Nora leaned over the chair in front of her, and the Ruby sitting in it, pointing to the screen.

Jaune's form caused an overheat in the minds of two in the audience. This Jaune was a tall, muscular man. He was rather handsome as well. But what cause a little bit of drool was the fact that he was shirtless, showing off his physique.

Yang chuckled seeing Pyrrha and Velvet's reactions, holding back a full laughter fit.

 **"** **I'm a foot and a half taller than you, but whatever…"**

Yang laughed at the passive-aggressive tone he had. It was a jarring juxtaposition between his body and his tone.

 **"** **What was that, brat?!"**

 **"** **I said I can't hear you from down there."**

 **"** **Speak up boy, I can't hear you from up there!"**

Mercury let out a single laugh. "Nice turn around."

 **Montagne moved between them, "That is my son, Jaune. Forgive him, he's a very… passive boy."**

 **"** **Whatever…"**

 **As Mercury moved further into the castle, Montagne's eye twitched. He spoke low enough to not be heard, "Insufferable brat…"**

Emerald slammed her fist onto her chair, "HA!"

 **The camera moved back to show Emerald and Scarlet leaning to look into the castle.**

Sun smiled, "Oh hey! It's Scarlet! I was wondering if he might show up."

 **Scarlet and Emerald backed away and looked back over the planet before them. Scarlet was the first to speak, "So… this is crazy, right?"**

 **"** **Clearly." Emerald folded her arms and leaned against the wall. "There's something wrong with this place…"**

 **The screen swapped again to show Ozpin sitting at an outdoor table. "Hang on, take this where? Sun? Hello?"**

"Huh…" Yang lost her bet. Thankfully, no one else was involved.

 **A well-dressed Sun suddenly appeared on the table with a pop. Ozpin fell back exaggeratedly swinging his arms, "Supreme Kai Almighty!" He was suddenly back to normal, "What's with that monkey suit you're wearing?"**

Yang chuckled a little.

 **Sun jumped off the table and his suit fell behind him. When he landed, he was wearing an orange gi with a purple belt and boots. "So, who do I have to beat up?"**

 **"** **That's what I'm sending you to find out. Normally, I'd avoid meddling with the affairs of other galaxies, but I owe South Kai a favor. You're going to find out who destroyed the South Galaxy."**

 **"** **Goy it! I'll go look for clues!"**

 **Ozpin paused a moment, "Wait, look where…"**

 **Sun disappeared a moment before reappearing just as fast. "Okay… nothing in the South Galaxy…"**

 **Ozpin pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sun… Go to New Branwen…"**

 **Sun gasped, "There's** ** _another_** **Branwen?! Maybe he's stronger than Mercury!" Sun excitedly smiled and popped away again, leaving Ozpin alone.**

 **"** **That is my star pupil… I don't know why I bother…"**

"Hold on a sec." Neptune tapped his chair, "He addressed the 'New Branwen' and compared it to that Mercury guy."

Mercury rolled his eyes, "I'm right here…"

"Not you, the one on the screen. If I had to guess, that Mercury is Mercury Branwen."

 **Sun suddenly appeared on the planet from before just in time for Scarlet to punch him square in the jaw. "Ow! And I just bit the inside of my cheek earlier…"**

 **Scarlet jumped a bit. "Sun?! When did you get here? Also, sorry."**

 **"** **No worries… I'm looking for the new Branwen. I followed Mercury's energy here…"**

 **Emerald smiled a bit, "Actually… New Branwen is the planet."**

 **"** **Now you tell me!"**

Yang, Ruby, Sun, Neptune, and Nora started to laugh. Weiss and Blake let a smirk slip now and then as well.

 **The group jumped off in flight back toward the castle grounds.**

"They can fly?!" Ruby jumped up in her seat, "That's so cool!"

 **Landing in front of a large space ship, they watched as Mercury stormed forward. Montagne ran around him to stop him, "Wait my liege." Jaune was walking close behind the two.**

 **"** **I'm not you liege! This place is a dump, even for a shit hole."**

 **"** **Please! Just wait for… two, three more hours!"**

 **Now in view, the audience could see the massive blue sphere in the sky.**

"What's up with that?" Sun asked.

Neptune shrugged. "Can't tell from here…"

 **Mercury saw Sun standing in the way and stopped.**

 **"** **Hey, Merc!"**

 **Montagne squinted toward Sun, "Is that… Couldn't be…"**

 **Mercury sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "The hell are you doing here?"**

 **"** **I'm looking for someone who blew up a galaxy." Sun smiled toward Montagne. "You know anyone that could do that?"**

 **Montagne was starting to lose his cool, "Who would destroy South Galaxy?"**

Weiss was the first to catch that, "How does he know which galaxy was destroyed?"

 **Jaune picked up things from there, "Probably someone with a really high power level."**

 **Sun smiled. "That's a good point. You've got a good point. What's your name?"**

 **"** **Jaune."**

 **"** **Good point, Jaune!"**

 **Jaune smiled. He rarely heard praises in any form, so it was a nice feeling to be told he was helping.**

"That's kind of sad…" Nora lamented for her leader.

 **Emerald picked that up, "How did you know which galaxy?"**

 **Mercury was getting progressively angrier. "Who gives a shit how he knows?! It doesn't matter because we're leaving!"**

 **Scarlet folded his arms and scowled, "Maybe after you explain why you decided to enslave the inhabitants of this planet." Scarlet gestured toward alien creatures, all starting to approach.**

 **Montagne growled a bit.**

 **Mercury turned toward the man and glared, "Montagne. Is this true?"**

 **The man hung his head a bit, "My liege… yes. It's true."**

 **"** **My god… You're the shit stain of a Saiyan I thought you were!"**

 **"** **Thank you, my king!"**

 **Scarlet facepalmed, "Oh god damn it Mercury…"**

Yang wasn't sure why, but she liked the word Saiyan. It sounded so cool to her.

 **Scarlet tried to reason, "Mercury! What this man's done! It's inhuman!"**

 **"** **Yes, but it's not in-Saiyan."**

A few went into a short laughing fit. Yang groaned a little because they liked that pun, but usually groan with her puns.

 **One of the creatures spoke up, "We actually much enjoy the slavery."**

No one was really expecting that.

 **"** **Being dominated by a stronger, strapping race fulfills us completely~"**

Yang covered Ruby's ears hearing that. All for naught though. She shared a room with Blake and her book collection. She was more than well aware of the implication.

 **"** **I just don't know why he'd make us build his kingdom on a dying planet."**

 **Mercury turned his focus back to Montagne. "Explain shit stain."**

 **Montagne groaned, "Whatever. I'll leave the boot licking to the Shamoshians." He took a moment before continuing, "So, you've finally figured out my plan, Mercury Branwen!"**

 **Mercury raised a brow, "Okay… Am I being punked? Because I don't do jokes."**

 **"** **The only joke here is you, you insufferable little brat!"**

 **Scarlet stepped forward, "Why would you do all of this?!"**

 **"** **Because that ass, Branwen, left us both to die!"**

Yang turned to glare toward her mother.

 **Mercury crossed his arms, "Sure sounds like me, but I don't recall."**

 **"** **Not you, you blue blooded prick! Your mother! Queen Raven."**

Yang turned back in surprise, "Seriously?"

 **Then Montagne started to recount his tale. "Mere days after my son's birth, your mother was threatened by his immense power level. A whopping 10,000! I confronted her about this."**

 **The flashback began, showing a younger Montagne run into a throne room. "This is insane! Cinder is forcing us to pay rent under boot heel, and you're just going to kill a Saiyan baby with a power level of ten thousand?!" A pair of guards grabbed him from either side. "He would be of great use to Branwen!"**

 **Raven stepped down from her throne. "My son, the planet, or me?"**

 **"** **Yes!"**

Yang laughed at that.

 **Raven fired a blast of energy from her hand and into Montagne's chest.**

Everyone was surprised to see that. But they'll get used to it soon enough.

 **Montagne continued as the flashback ended, "Thankfully, she was as half assed at killing us as she was at raising you."**

Yang jumped up in her chair, "Shots fired, bitch!" She was more than happy to anger Raven at this point.

 **"** **We escaped the destruction of our home world and lived to plot our revenge."**

 **Sun interjected, "Hold up. Does this have anything to do with South Galaxy? Cause that's kind of why I'm here."**

 **"** **As a matter of fact, it does. During our plot to acquire a suitable place for Branwen's death, I trained my son to react to a single word. Merely mentioning it shall send Jaune into an unstoppable blood rage! I lost control of the situation and he wiped out the galaxy in its entirety!"**

"No way…" Nothing about what was said was okay. First, Jaune's dad trained him to be a berserker for his own plans. Then, it turns out Jaune was the one that killed an entire galaxy.

Ironwood's eye was twitching out of a level of fear, "Could… could he really do that?"

 **Mercury growled, "Who gives a shit about South Galaxies or the lack thereof. So, grab your friends, grab your shit, and go home Helios!"**

"What?" Sun was confused. "Pretty sure that's not my name."

 **Montagne felt a shiver run up his spine. "Please do not say that again."**

 **Jaune was shaking, his hands clenched into fists.**

"Then… that was…" Yang raised a brow.

 **Sun chuckled a little, "Come on…"**

 **"** **I said shut it Helios!"**

 **Jaune's fists clenched tighter.**

Yang chuckled nervously, "Oh boy…"

 **Montagne moved forward a bit, "Please! Stop saying that name!"**

 **Emerald looked toward Jaune and saw his state. "Mercury! Just call him Sun!"**

 **"** **And disrespect** ** _my_** **heritage?! I will address him with the name given to him by the glorious Saiyan race! Helios! Helios!"**

 **Jaune shouted out, "HELIOS!"**

 **Mercury didn't seem to catch the fact that the passive Jaune just shouted out in pure rage. "See? He's slow and he gets it."**

 **Montagne stepped back. "I suggest we run, now."**

Ruby thought for a moment. "That can't be good."

 **Jaune screamed as the camera focused on his face. His eyes turned solid green as his face seemed to crack. Now showing a side view, is showed as Jaune lifted into the air slightly and his body was cracking, green glowing coming from within. His body seemed to erupt and was surrounded by a green sphere of energy. The camera pulled miles away to see a pulse of green flowed outward, coating the world in a green tint. Another pulse drained the color from the world. One last pulse put everything back to normal.**

Everyone was in awe seeing that. Just how powerful was this guy?!

 **The camera returned to the scene to show Jaune's new form. If Montagne was a mountain, then Jaune was a continent. He was a hulking mass of muscle and anger, surrounded by lime green energy. His blonde hair extended and pointed outward, having tinted with the same green color flowing around him. The pupils of his eyes had disappeared. The music in the background made it sound like he was some kind of hellish god.**

Awe turned to fear. This Jaune could only be a monster.

 **Mercury shook. "Wha… what is he?"**

 **Montagne stepped back. "He… is the Legendary Super Saiyan."**

Okay, Yang had to admit that Super Saiyan sounded even better!

 **Mercury was still in shock, "Aw! That's so cool!"**

This got a few laughs from the audience.

 **Sun tilted his head a bit, "But why is it kind of… green?"**

 **"** **That's what makes it 'Legendary.'"**

 **Mercury hadn't moved, "Oh! That's so cool!"**

 **Jaune turned toward Sun. "So… Helios is a name…" His passive tone had fallen away. Now, there was only threat.**

 **Sun chuckled nervously. His Saiyan name, Helios, was about to get him in trouble. Sun had a look of determination, though. That was perfectly fine in his eyes. He smirked, and his body was surrounded by golden energy as his hair stood on end.**

 **Emerald and Scarlet ran up next to him. They clenched their cores and released their power, both causing their hair to turn golden blonde.**

"Can they all do that?!" Yang was wide eyed. In a way, it reminded her of her semblance.

 **The three charged toward him, all intent on knocking him out while they had the chance. Jaune delivered a powerful kick to Scarlet, punched Emerald in the gut, and swung an uppercut into Sun's jaw. The sheer force caused the ground beneath his to rise up in shards of stone. A large mass of concrete lifted him up as Sun flew backward.**

"Damn! That's power!" Yang now wished for the day when she could do that.

Sun was a little annoyed. "Oh, come on! Why start by going all out?"

 **The Sun on screen shared that sentiment. "Hey, Jaune. I don't mean to tell you how to be the Legendary Super Saiyan, but you're not supposed to go all out. You're supposed to start small and then work up."**

"Thank you!"

 **Jaune turned to Sun. "I** ** _am_** **starting small."**

Sun froze hearing that.

 **"** **Oh… Good for you… Holy crap…"**

 **Jaune created a bright green orb in his hand. He launched it toward the group, who ducked out of the way. The orb kept flying until it hit a nearby planet, causing it to explode.**

Ironwood shook. The sheer raw power… The unholy terror… _And this is starting small?!_

 **Sun looked toward the destroyed planet a moment. "Okay…" Sun raised his fists. "Time to get serious, guys."**

 **Jaune was suddenly in front of Sun and slammed his arm into Sun's chest, sending him flying into the nearby city ruins. Jaune flew after him, forcing Emerald and Scarlet to follow.**

 **They saw Emerald flying through the city. "He's got to be around here somewhere…"**

 **Jaune burst through a building like it was nothing.**

 **Emerald turned just in time to see Jaune's approach.** ** _I should apologize to mom if I get home…_**

Emerald felt a little bitter. She never knew her mother; either parent, really… Perhaps, she could have lived a life off the streets and not needing to steal to survive.

 **Jaune grasped Emerald by her face, taking her by the skull, and tossed her along the nearby building. As she went, the building tore apart until she reached the end. She kept flying and slammed directly into another building. She slumped downward and got caught on a set of steel bars, holding her up.**

Emerald flinched when that happened. The sheer impact was painful by proxy. She should swear she'd need a chiropractor later…

 **Scarlet tried to run toward her, "Hang on, Em! I'm…"**

 **Jaune slammed into the ground of him and bitch-slapped Scarlet away.**

Que a bit of laughter from some involved.

 **Sun fired a blast of energy toward Jaune. "Hey! Big guy!" He placed his hands in position with wrists adjacent and hands like claws. "Ka! Me!"**

 **Jaune's hand reached to him from the camera angle and wrapped his hand around Sun's skull. Jaune smirked. "You were sayin'?"**

 **"** **I** ** _am_** **Saiyan." Sun chuckled a little.**

Yang started to laugh a bit. It was the most obvious joke, but it still worked to her.

 **Jaune punched Sun clean in the gut and sent him flying in a spin into another building. Jaune started to laugh as he went off in his rage.**

 **Back by the ship, Montagne and Mercury were watching the fight in the distance. Mercury was still shaking a bit, "How?! How did he accomplish that?! How many pushups did he do?! How many sit ups?! HOW MUCH JUICE DID HE DRINK?!"**

 **Montagne smiled and shook his head, "This is not the result of paltry training! This… is destiny! You see, Prince Mercury… You're not dealing with the average Saiyan warrior anymore."**

 **Scenes played out in his mind of every time he said that to Cinder during their fight on Namek.** ** _So that's what it sounds like on the other end… but…_** **He looked up in time to see Jaune level a city block by using Sun like a sledgehammer. "Oh…"**

 **Jaune tossed Sun into the building holding Emerald. As the building collapsed, the two fell to the ground level, Sun landing first and Emerald landing across his gut. Emerald didn't move. It was hard to move at all at this point. "Sun…"**

 **He was just as tired, so he couldn't really do much either. "Yeah, Em?"**

 **"** **Holy fuck, he's strong."**

"I'm surprised they're still in one piece." Weiss was actually impressed to see they could still talk. She had to ask, "How durable are they?"

 **Jaune laughed as he created another green orb of energy. He launched the orb toward the two with his haunting laugh echoing through the city. A small blast of blue energy flew into the side of the green ball of death, causing it to burst early. When the smoke cleared, Neptune was kneeling over the two, giving them a Senzu bean to heal them. He was dressed in a red gi-like style accented with a white shoulder piece with a cape. He stood and looked toward Jaune.**

 **"** **You! Blue man… You're new…" Jaune's mind was deteriorating as the energy fueled him, anger and power overwriting what he could understand and how he could speak. "Come and fight!"**

 **Neptune glared, "Give me a minute." He took Emerald and Sun to the side as the beans started to take effect.**

 **Jaune's linguistic abilities broke as his mind turned to mush. "Jaune does not like to wait!"**

The group from Beacon couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of Jaune speaking like that. It reminded a few of them of a comic book character notorious for angry outbursts.

 **Neptune knelt next to Sun, "Sun, can we beat this guy?"**

 **Sun was starting to get his second wind, "I don't know. I'll probably pull somethin' out my butt."**

Yang shrugged, "Makes sense. Action shows like this tend to do that a lot…"

 **Jaune floated onto a spire nearby, "And it will be Jaune's fist!"**

Yang froze with an open grin on her face, her eyes wide in surprise.

 **Emerald stood back up, "Probably…"**

 **Sun, Scarlet, Emerald, and Neptune floated up around Jaune. Neptune addressed Jaune directly, "Let's see how you fair when it's four on one you monster!"**

 **Jaune smirked, "Jaune is not a monster… Jaune… is the devil himself."**

 **They could hear Mercury in the distance, "OH MY GOD, HE'S SO GOD DAMNED COOL!"**

Yang laughed, "I have to admit, he's not wrong."

"Really?" Blake raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, 'cool' doesn't mean he's a good dude. This Jaune clearly has issues."

 **Sun and Neptune charged forward dramatically, only for their fighting to be paired with the sounds of a slap fight. It was rather ridiculous given it they payed attention, Jaune was barely moving to block or dodge each of the attacks between the two. This, naturally, got a few laughs. After a while, Jaune had enough and grabbed each by their collars and slamming them together. Emerald and Scarlet flew nearby, their hands placed together above their heads. They launched a pair of gold energy blasts into Jaune, but he shrugged them off and stormed toward them. He clothes-lined the both of them and charged past to Neptune lying on the ground. One kick and an energy ball later, Neptune was flying off toward the cliffside.**

 **Neptune landed next to Mercury. He looked up and groaned. Neptune stood, "What… THE FUCK are you doing up here?!"**

 **Mercury collapsed to his knees. "He's… he's just too cool!"**

 **"** **Okay, Mercury," Neptune grabbed Mercury's hair and forced him to lean upward again, "While you're up here, having this crisis, we're getting our asses handed to us down there!"**

 **"** **He's not a normal Saiyan! He's not supposed to be the Legend! I am! But he's too cool for me to get pissed enough about it! Nothing makes sense anymore!"**

 **Neptune shook his head, releasing Mercury to fall to the ground below. "Bye, Mercury…"**

 **The camera showed Jaune again as he slammed Sun into the concrete. Mercury landed nearby and stood up, watching the scene. Jaune growled. "Pathetic! Jaune heard Helios was supposed to be the strongest! Helios killed Cinder! But now Jaune is strongest. And now, you die!"**

 **"** **Excuse you…" Mercury finally found his spine again.**

 **"** **Excuse, Jaune?"**

 **"** **You're forgetting about your king!"**

 **Jaune chuckled. "What is a king to a god?"**

Ruby chuckled, "Okay, that was a nice come back."

 **Mercury's pride and anger boiled, "And what is a god, to a non-believer!" He shouted out as he unleashed his Super Saiyan form, complete with golden hair and aura.**

Yang smiled, "So, that's what that was!"

Emerald didn't want to admit it, but this Mercury did have a good moment, even if he was a prick.

 **Suddenly, Jaune had grabbed Mercury by the jaw and flew off with him toward an upright chunk of rubble. He slammed the prince into the stone and created a crater nearly 30 feet wide. Jaune smirked, "Do you believe now?"**

 **Mercury was pretty sure his spine was chipped, "uh huh…" Once he was released, Mercury's golden hair turned back to its silver form as he fell.**

Emerald went into a cathartic laughing fit. It was truly a wonderful sight to see Mercury getting his ass kicked.

 **Jaune took a breath, "Now… Helios…" His mind overflowed with the power rising in his body. "Helios…" His mind drifted. "HELIOS!" He was gone.**

 **In the distance, Montagne, watched on. "He has devolved into saying only a single word…" He turned to a round pod and sat in the structure.** ** _Time to hit the old cosmic trail…_**

Yang wanted nothing more than to reach into that universe and punch him for that. Abandoning his child… Then again, he was a terrible father long before that for training his son to be a monster.

 **Jaune's face appeared, reflected on the glass of the pod. "Oh! Hi son…"**

 **"** **Helios."**

 **"** **No, i-it's your father. I was just prepping this pod for our escape."**

 **"** **Helios." Jaune placed his hands on either side of the pods door.**

 **"** **True… It's a pod meant for one person, but…"**

 **"** **Helios!" Jaune cracked the glass as his fingers dug into the metal surface.**

 **As the pod was lifted off the ground, Montagne tried to reason with his son, "Jaune! Put this pod down this instance. Show your daddy the love he has shown you!"**

This pissed off Yang. Hearing him try to appeal to familial emotion after what he did…

 **Jaune smiled, "Hug." The pod started to collapse inward, crushing Montagne within.**

While many recoiled at seeing that, Yang felt conflicted. On one hand, that was a terrible way to go. On the other… she couldn't help but feel he deserved it some way.

 **Jaune tossed the flattened pod off to the horizon. "Helios…"**

 **Mercury groaned, "Getting real tired of hearing him shout that…"**

 **Sun shakily stood back up, "Okay… I'll cut to the chase. All of you, give me your energy. I'll end this is one punch, man." Scarlet and Emerald complied quickly, just wanting this craziness to end. Energy flowed through the air and into Sun. "Now, Mercury, I know you're stubborn but…"**

 **Mercury was standing and sending his energy toward Sun, "Fuck it! You have it, just go."**

 **"** **Thanks buddy!"**

 **"** **No." Mercury collapsed.**

This got a couple of chuckles.

 **Jaune charged through a mass of stone, "HELIOS!"**

 **Sun ducked under a punch, energy surrounding his fist. "Hey! Jaune! Say my name!"**

 **Upon impact, Jaune could feel something was wrong. His mind was not the only thing breaking. His body could only handle so much. His body was at a bursting point, and four people's worth of energy smacking him in the gut the size of his fist would leave an impact on his energy balance. Green power shot out from his chest. The red barrel was shot. Jaune flew back, his energy flow finally releasing its pressure. Jaune body seemed to crack, green energy glowing from within, until he finally burst.**

 **Sun grinned and fell back. "Well… that happened…"**

After everything was said and done, Ruby nodded in a personal understanding, "You know… I know he was technically a 'psycho-Jaune,' he was pretty cool."

Blake was looking up to the screen, "Didn't have much in the way of motivation, though."

Yang groaned, "Blame his dad for that one… I agree with Ruby. He was pretty cool. Legendary, even."


	14. FILTH!

**King: A nice short chapter for fun-sies. As per usual, hope you all like it.**

 **Inspiration: n/a**

 **/\**

When the screen faded and King reappeared, Pyrrha decided to take a chance and ask, "Um… So, who is Montagne? In our world."

King floated. "Ulterior motives much?" He laughed a bit seeing Pyrrha's blush. After a bit, he explained, "Montesquieu Arc, eldest of two and father to Jaune Arc. Commonly referred to as la Montagne. So much so, that Montagne has become his preference over his actual name. He lives up to it being a mountain of a man, utterly immovable in battle, nurturing to a fault…"

Yang lost the tension in her body, knowing Jaune didn't have to go through what the Jaune on screen had.

"But, enough about people you could meet, let's get back to the screen~!"

Glynda raised an eyebrow, "You certainly seem chipper."

"I have my reasons. Now, shall we?"

 **The screen seemed to glow as the Emerald Forest appeared before them again, the main difference being the nighttime setting.**

"Okay." Ruby smiled a little. "It's another Possible, then?"

"Seems it." Blake nodded.

 **The screen moved up to show a large, ornate castle in the distance. It's sloping jade colored roof matched well with its bright white walls. It was the seat of power to the surrounding area and home to the local warlord.**

"Or not…" Blake was surprised to hear that.

 **Many uniformed soldiers walked along with lanterns held high. They marched on through the trees, unaware of a pair of eyes looking down upon them.**

Roman chuckled, "Ominous."

 **A shadow seemed to move through the trees. The very branches gave no indication of its movements.**

Blake marveled seeing that. Even she wasn't that stealthy. She wished she could do something like that. But something in the back of her mind made her pause. Why did this seem familiar?

 **The shadow moved along the trees and eventually stopped at the edge of the forest, just before the castle grounds. With the shadow now still, they could barely make out a human form. A form fitting set of chain armor and a robe blended into the night sky. He stood overlooking the castle's walls. His face was obscured by a midnight blue mask and hood. The only thing they could see were his bright blue eyes.**

Ruby gasped so deep her friends feared for her need to breath, "JAUNE'S A NINJA!"

Most of the group had to admit it was cool, but one in particular was more than that. One in the group who grew up with an old childhood dream of becoming a ninja. Blake looked on in amazement. She'd never seen a real ninja's garb before. It was as amazing as she imagined… wait. She narrowed her eyes and looked closer at Jaune. He seemed familiar. Not because he was Jaune, but the attire. Blake thought for a moment. Green and white castle, feudal setting, ninja with blue eyes… why did this sound familiar?

 **Jaune jumped from the tree line and onto the walls. One short run later, he ducked down into a watchtower behind a guard. Jaune ducked behind a barrel used to store arrows for the guard. He took out a small rag and dripped a liquid onto it. In one fell swoop, he placed the rag over the guard's mouth and nose. The guard passed out rather quickly. Jaune dragged him over to a nearby chair and propped him up as though he'd just fallen asleep.**

Roman nodded, "Smart. When he wakes up, he'll think it was all just a dream."

Ironwood's eye twitched, "He'll be blamed for falling asleep on the job…"

 **Jaune looked out over the castle's keep. Thanks to extensive intelligence networks, he knew this place better than its own residents. Jaune watched a series of guards walk through the courtyard and jumped down when the coast was clear. Using set of claws over his hands, he slowly descended to prevent bringing attention to himself. He made his way to the far wall and up through an open window.**

Okay, Blake _knew_ she'd seen this before. No… not 'seen.' Her eyes went wide. "No fucking way…" She kept her voice low to avoid anyone hearing her as she pulled a travel version of one of her books out of her pocket.

Yang looked to Blake, surprised by her actions, "Really, Blake? You're going to read now…" A small book was suddenly trust in front of her face. "What are you…?!"

Blake glared to Yang, "Read. Out loud."

This got everyone to turn toward them. Yang groaned. She knew about Blake's taste in… literature. She tried to lower the book out of her eyes, "Blake, I'm not going to…"

"Read it!"

"Jeez! Alright, fine."

Blake pointed to the left page, "Third paragraph down."

Yang sighed and started to read, "Taka moved in silence. His footsteps leaving no trace. He turned through each hall like a wraith. He paused, a patrol was due soon. He jumped up onto the rafters and hung himself out of site into the shadows. When they walked passed, they were none the wiser. Taka couldn't afford to get caught, after all."

Blake shut the book and pointed toward the screen. Everyone was in shock.

 **Jaune was hanging up in the rafters as a light source retreated in the background. Everything Yang had had just read had happened on the screen.**

Yang's eye twitched seeing that. "No…"

Blake nodded, "Yep," she made sure to end the word with a pop.

Ruby was too busy watching Jaune move in shadows like an awesome ninja to notice why Yang tried to cover her eyes.

Blake sighed and shook her head, "Calm down Yang…"

"How can I calm down?! Ruby shouldn't see smut like that!"

This illicited a few looks from the adults in the room.

Blake shook her head and sighed, "Yang… One, it's not smut. Two, if you're worried about the more… intimate moments… they don't appear until the second book. This takes place in the first."

Yang groaned but removed her hands from Ruby's sightline. "It better be…"

 **Jaune moved through the keep and toward the central throne room. Once he reached the central room, he entered through the door while ensuring no one was around. Once he was certain he was alone, he got to work. He pulled out a small canister and hid some small caltrops in front of the door.**

Ruby tilted her head in confusion, "Why would he do that?"

Blake, who read these books for a good while now, knew why. "Because boots don't exist in this world. When you enter a home, you don't wear shoes, either." The second part being a familiar part of Blake's life given her mother's house rules.

 **Jaune moved quickly. He couldn't be certain how long he had. Jaune drew a knife and started to cut into the floor. He had to keep it discrete but still effective.**

Yang leaned toward Blake, "What's he doing?"

Blake had to think back and remember, given the plan's explanation was the chapter before. "He's deliberately weakening the floor. The hope is to make it seem like the warlord's cursed somehow at worst. Best case scenario would be an injury to prevent a coming war."

 **Jaune finished his job and stood back up. "I appreciate you letting me finish." He turned toward the far wall. "But that does leave us at a bit of an impasse."**

 **A shadow in the background started to move forward. Hiding in the shades was a young woman in similar attire to Jaune. The only thing they could discern about her was her amber eyes behind a white cat mask. The mask itself was fairly plain, the kind you could get at any festival on the continent.**

Blake thought back to the story, _Okay… that's Yumiko. But which of us in that role? Amber eyes could be…_

 **She got an answer when the Yumiko-placeholder spoke, "I suppose it does…"**

Ruby smiled. "It's Blake! That's pretty cool. Appropriate, too. She's all ninja-like!" Ruby punctuated this by jumping up and doing her own version of martial arts.

Blake, however, wasn't quite as peppy about it. She knew the story. Taka and Yumiko were the main romantic pairing of the books. And this was chapter 19 of the first book, Yumiko's betrayal of the warlord for her love.

 **Blake drew a knife from her lower back and held it toward him. "I know your face. If you manage to escape, I can simply report you to Lady Kahn."**

 **Jaune knew Sienna Kahn by her reputation.**

Blake couldn't help but feel Sienna was appropriate for the warlord character.

 **Sienna Kahn was a ruthless dictator that never cared for the shinobi arts. She begrudgingly utilized a ninja here and there, but she made it clear it was only out of necessity. But a shinobi sticks to the mission, whether their employer likes them or not.**

 **Jaune placed his hand on a sheathed blade at the base of his back. "So, where do we go from here, then? I'm not about to compromise my clan by dying here, after all."**

 **Blake chuckled a bit and tossed her knife up.**

 **Jaune dropped his stance, watching her rather than the knife. He wasn't about to be distracted so easily.**

Weiss grinned, "At least this Jaune is a smart fighter. An improvement to the last one."

Blake smirked, "Wait for it…"

 **Said knife cut through a hidden wire and a section of floor flew up as a rope tightened. Jaune was caught by his leg and forced up toward the ceiling.**

This got a chuckle from Ruby as Weiss was just impressed. She'd never seen a ninja in action before. Then again… that may have been the point? You know, if they were real.

 **Jaune drew his blade and cut the rope at the apex of his rise. Now on the ceiling, he jumped across a few beams, fully expecting Blake to throw a blade to try to knock him down. He found a weak panel and grabbed the edge. He swung himself over and through the panel and rolled onto the roof. He spun around, planning about how to deal with Blake.**

 **She jumped through the panel and knocked it back into place. She stood opposite Jaune and smiled beneath her mask. She was certain Jaune had a plan set up on the roof. She was caught unprepared for Jaune's charge, however.**

 **Jaune kicked out her legs and spun himself over her. He straddled her waist and held the blade of his short sword against her neck. He used his other hand to rip away her mask and reveal her face. After a moment, he stood back up. "Now I know your face as well. I don't want your blood on my conscious, so I'm offering an out. I'll know if they start to hunt me down. So, I'll make sure you go down with me." He started to slow in his speech. They'd met before.**

 **He was shocked to see her face. "The girl from the pier…"**

 **Blake smiled. "Hello again…"**

Pyrrha was starting to catch on given Blake's books were more of the romantic. It was clear that Jaune and Blake were the main couple in this particular story. Thankfully, she'd gotten used to the idea that this was a different world. Still a little bitter seeing it though.

 **Jaune clenched his hand on his blade's hilt. "Why are you…" He shook his head, "No… That's not the right thing to ask. It's pretty obvious." His hand relaxed, but never left its position.**

 **"** **You'd be surprised." She held her mask up and turned it around. Inside was an interweaving symbol of a briar wrapping around a golden arch.**

Velvet was getting used to the otherworldly thing. But she had to admit, the symbol was rather… cute? Not cute in form, but more for what it represented. She started to wonder if she could make something similar with her own symbol.

 **Jaune was caught off guard. "You… You kept…"**

 **"** **I did."**

 **Jaune started to shake. He'd met with Blake a few times in the past. They'd never shared their names, always avoiding the topic if they could. Such is the life of shinobi.**

Ruby looked over to Blake, "Why is their name so important?"

Blake took a moment to remember the description from the books, "A ninja isn't supposed to have a public identity. There's supposed to be no trace of the ninja for any records. They're a shadow meant to act for the will of others as needed."

 **Blake smiled in the moonlight, "My name is Blake."**

 **Jaune had a talent for catching lies. It made him an asset to the clan. The fact that this wasn't a lie, that she had revealed her real name… His hand fell from his blade.**

Yang smiled a little, "I'm guessing that's an important moment in the book?"

Blake nodded. "People usually say it's where the story really begins."

 **Jaune wanted answers. He wanted to know so much in that moment, both about her and whether their time together was genuine in any way. He would have to wait, though, as a wooden alarms and horns rang out over the castle. He and Blake were caught off guard to see a mass of torches approaching the castle. It was the banners of Adam Taurus.**

Blake recognized the scene. And felt Adam as the third party, bloodthirsty attacker was a little on the nose.

 **Blake grabbed Jaune's shoulder, "We need to leave…"**

 **Jaune was pulled from his shock and jumped to the side, hand returning to his blade. Could he trust her? After a moment he relaxed. "Fine."**

 **They both disappeared into the night. Blake was sent by Adam to assassinate Sienna Kahn. Jaune sent to sabotage and prevent war. Neither truly completed their mission.**

"Assassinate?!" Ruby jumped up in shock. "Why would she do that?!"

Blake sighed. "A ninja is supposed to work as a jack-of-all-trades. Sabotage, spying, even assassination. Whichever is needed in the moment. The first chapter of book one details Taka, or Jaune is this case, going about a spy mission to prepare for an assassin to come later."

Yang whistled, "I might have to read this book then."

Blake smirked, "Even though it's…" she tapped her chin, "What did you call it again? Smut?"

Yang groaned, fully recognizing what she'd said.

 **Blake and Jaune stopped a few kilometers away from the castle. The nearest town was still a ways off. For now, they'd have to wait. Jaune sighed. "Well… that's a wash…"**

 **Blake chuckled a little, "Two missions down the hole. At least we have that in common."**

 **"** **By that logic, we'll have a lot more in common once the war starts."**

Ozpin sighed. He hated the idea that a war could have been averted, only to fail.

 **Blake gathered a few pieces of tinder and pulled a matchbox out of a pouch placed at the blade end of her sheath. "True. Better foundation than we had for a relationship."**

 **Jaune looked to her surprise but relaxed after a moment, remembering their promise on the pier. "I guess…"**

 **When Blake had the fire set, she sat down and warmed her hands. She smiled up to him and patted the ground next to her. "Lien for your thoughts?"**

 **Jaune walked over and sat next to her. "Careful about the offer. My clan needs the money…"**

 **Blake snickered before tossing him a single Lien coin.**

Yang chuckled. "I have to admit. That was kind of funny."

Blake clarified, "Yumiko is notorious for moments like that, using people's words against them as a joke."

"I like her already."

 **Jaune rolled his eyes. "Alright. Guess that's fair." Jaune brought his knees up and rested his arms atop them. His chin, still masked, resting on his crossed arms, "I'm a little surprised to find out you're also a shinobi."**

 **"** **Imagine my surprise when I found out."**

 **"** **I think I just said that…" Jaune smirked beneath his mask. He glanced toward her and let out a breath. "Okay…" He placed a hand over the part of his mask coving the lower half of his face. He puled it away and ran the hand back to reveal the rest of his head. He smiled to Blake, "By the way, my name is Jaune."**

 **Blake smiled back, "Nice to meet you…"**

 **The screen pulled away, showing their hands now rested together, fingers interlaced as the fire roared before them. The screen ended the viewing with that scene.**

Ruby giggled, "That was so cute! Too bad the rest of the books didn't keep that tone."

Yang's eyes twitched. "What…?"

"Blake propped up your bunk with her books, they're all over the place and I get bored."

Yang's head slowly turned toward Blake, who had jumped back two rows to avoid the wrath of the hot-headed blonde.

But this was a temporary fix. They'd have words later.


	15. The Baron

**King: For context, Jaune will have an accent in this reminiscent of a Louisiana/Haitian Creole speaker. Neo Orden is a play on New Orleans, just without a good second part. Have fun as per usual.**

 **Inspiration: n/a**

 **/\**

Blake wanted nothing more than for the next world to start. She hoped Yang would be able to forget the whole, leaving her books around for Ruby to find and read. It wasn't her fault! She had to put them somewhere! It's not her fault Ruby got curious enough to read them. She didn't even seem to care!

King knew her plight and decided to start the next round sooner rather than later.

 **The screen came to life to show Whitely standing opposite his father in the office. Jacque took in a breath. "Your sister plans to go to Beacon to become a huntress. She will be away for the next four years. She remains the heiress, however."**

 **The screen faded to white before showing Whitely standing over a balcony in his room. Whitely grimaced. When Winter left, she had to give away her right to the company. One would think the life of a huntress would be as time taxing as a military commander. "So why is she still the heiress…" He closed his eyes and twitched a bit. After a moment, e calmed. "Fine then… She wants to be a huntress, that's fine."**

Weiss and Winter could tell there was nothing good about what he was saying.

 **Whitely grinned. "After all… it's a dangerous job…"**

Yang caught his implication. "He wouldn't."

Winter sighed, "He would."

"The hell?!"

 **His grin widened as the screen faded to a scene of Weiss during initiation.**

Sun crossed his arms and tilted his head, "So, another initiation one?"

Neptune nervously chuckled, "Apparently, they're initiation was crazy…"

Nora jumped up a bit, "It was awesome!"

 **Weiss had a crosshair on her as Whitely continued to speak, "Anything can happen." A loud bang and a blank screen followed.**

Weiss knew Whitely was a… well, an ass. But to have her killed?! All for some stupid company?!

Yang couldn't believe the very idea. Sure, her mother abandoned her, but she never tried to kill her! She at least had her father!

 **A clicking of heels grabbed everyone's attention. Weiss was walking around in a dark forest. "What in the world? What happened?"**

 **She could hear something in the distance. She moved toward the sound at a lagging pace. For some reason, she couldn't run. She could barely walk. In the darkness of the forest, she saw a light coming from the nearby sounds.**

Ruby almost started to cry, "Don't do it, Weiss! Don't go into the light!"

Weiss groaned, Ruby had wrapped her arms around Weiss for support. Despite her frame, she was strong. Stronger than Weiss, at least. "Ruby! Let go! I can't breathe!"

"Oops…" Ruby let go and nervously smiled, silently asking for an apology.

 **Weiss kept moving. She was drawn to the sound and light. She had to know what was beyond the forest. When she moved the leaves and walked out, she couldn't help but pause. It was a graveyard, a party, and a world unlike any she'd seen. People were clinking glasses and dancing about in the gravesite.**

Yang grinned. "So… It's a g-rave?" She was met with silent groans.

 **Weiss walked forward and looked around cautiously. She didn't know there was a graveyard in the Emerald Forest. Or why anyone would hold a party out here. She felt wrong… But she couldn't tell what she was feeling.**

 **One of the partiers noticed her and held a cup upward, "We got a new one!"**

 **Everyone cheered and held a glass up in a toast.**

Weiss wasn't sure how to take that. Why would they say that? What in the world was going on?!

 **Weiss recoiled a bit, not sure what was going on. She took a step back and into someone behind her.**

Yang raised a brow, "Who's that then?"

Velvet thought for a moment, "I have a guess…"

Yang caught her implications and remembered the point of the screen, "Good point."

 **"** **Well now…" He spoke with a bit of an accent most couldn't place.**

Ruby gasped, "Oh my gosh! Yang, he talks like Louis!"

Weiss turned to the youngest huntress, "Louis?"

Yang grinned, "A fisherman from the island of Neo Orden, not far from Patch. It used to be a cultural/shipping hub where different kingdoms would come together before airships. Eventually, they blended together. Anyway, Louis is a really nice guy that would visit Patch every so often. He's a family friend."

 **Weiss turned around to find Jaune standing behind her. This Jaune was dressed in a purple, pinstripe suit. He had a cane with a skull at the top with a snake wrapping around the entire form. A purple top hat on his head was accented by feathers and… a bone.**

"A bone?" Ruby questioned.

 **In fact, he had a necklace of bones as well. And his opened shirt revealed black skeletal tattoos along his body.**

"Okay…" Velvet thought he looked good, but the bones and tattoos were running a theme she wasn't sure about. She looked over to her partner to find Coco deep in thought. "Coco?"

Coco was jarred back out of her mind, "Huh?"

"You okay?"

"Oh! Yeah. Just… This Jaune reminds me of something… Someone?"

"What's that?"

"My grandmother was from the island Yang talked about, and she told me about a man called 'the Baron.' She never told me much about him, just that he was a man of the dead and buried…"

 **Jaune smirked and placed his cane behind his back, reaching out with his other hand. "A pleasure."**

 **Weiss cautiously reached out and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you?"**

 **Jaune's face sunk a little, "You're a little young to be here, ain't 'cha?"**

 **"** **Pardon?"**

Yang crossed her arms. "We were 17 at the time, so I guess that makes sense…"

Weiss rolled her eyes.

Blake saw a way out of her personal predicament. Moving back to her original seat. "Didn't stop you from trashing a night club." She kept her voice low to prevent Professor Goodwitch from hearing her.

Yang groaned a little, "Fine… You get a pass for the books…"

 **Jaune grabbed a glass from on a gravestone, "A glass to your health?"**

 **Everyone in the background started to laugh.**

 **Weiss was confused as he drank the glass. He held his cane back up to poke her center mass. She looked down to find her dress bloodied and torn by a bullet hole.**

"Holy shit!" Weiss jumped up in shock. Hearing Weiss curse was like hearing Nora curse, unheard of. Granted, Weiss not cursing was because of her upbringing. Meanwhile, Nora was because she just didn't bother.

 **Weiss started to freak out seeing that. Jaune placed the bottom of his cane on her shoulder, "Calm down, little lady. Ain't no need to lose your head!" He swung the cane away and knocked one of the patron's head off a moment. As he chuckled, he put the head back and the patron just kept drinking.**

Everyone was in shock at the headless man just going about his day. All except Coco. Coco was in shock because she was looking at her grandmother's story. This Jaune was the Baron, lord of the dead.

 **Weiss was freaking out. "No no no no no no no! I can't be dead! I was… I was supposed to be a huntress!"**

 **"** **And it would'a got ya killed. Huntsmen and huntresses tend to live a short life."**

 **None of that helped to Weiss. "But… I had to try to help turn the company around… I wasn't supposed to die!"**

 **"** **No. You weren't." Jaune took a sip from his glass again. "But that hole in your chest says otherwise. And it's very persuasive."**

 **"** **No! I can't… I just…" She started to cry, her situation flooding over her.**

 **Jaune seemed uncaring.**

"Damn…" Yang took in his stance. He genuinely didn't care for Weiss's plight. "That's harsh…"

Coco shook her head. "That's not it…"

"What?"

 **Jaune suddenly grinned. "Tell you what, why don't we make a deal?"**

 **Weiss looked back up to him. "What?"**

 **"** **A deal. Allow me to introduce myself. The name's Baron Jaune. Lord of the party beyond the grave. And we're gonn' have a grand time one way or the other."**

Coco pointed to the screen, "That. My grandmother always said the Baron takes the dead and shows them a party to last eternity.

Yang whistled. "Well then…"

" **But you can still go back. If that's what you really want. Personally, I prefer the party here, but I won't stop you. But, it'll cost you." Jaune snapped his fingers and a patron brought him an ornate coffin. "But first, a drink!"**

 **Everyone toasted again as Jaune held out a shot glass toward Weiss. She shook a bit. Could she really go back? She took the glass and looked down to the liquid.**

Weiss would never drink something like that. Winter knew this. But… if a lord of death said it would let her live? She didn't know how Weiss would take that…

Weiss, however, knew her answer. She clenched her fists. She didn't really have a choice. She needed to right the wrongs of her father, and her brother in this world.

 **Jaune grinned toward Weiss, "Is a little drink really a problem?" He poked her bullet hole to remind her of her situation. "What have you got to lose?"**

 **Weiss took the drink and drank it quickly. Her vision started to blur. "What…" She blacked out seeing Jaune's smile.**

Yang frowned. "That can't be good…"

 **Weiss woke up looking up into the Forest around her. She shot up and patted her chest, searching for the bullet wound. Finding no sign of blood or a hole, she sighed in relief.**

 **"** **Feeling better?"**

 **Weiss shot up and found Jaune standing in front of her.**

 **"** **What… You're…"**

 **Jaune removed his hat and bowed slightly. "Not a dream,** **Reine des Glaces."**

"Rei, what now?" Ruby asked.

Coco, who remembered her grandmother's speaking style, recognized the phrase. "It means Ice Queen."

Weiss groaned, "Why does everyone call me that?!"

 **Jaune tapped his cane and the snake seemed to shake. "Now, why don' we have a little talk."**

 **Weiss started to step back. "What are…"**

 **He raised his cane and placed the skull end on her shoulder. Now, she could see that the snake wasn't ornamental.**

Ruby started to shiver, "Ew, ew, ew!"

 **The snake looked up to Weiss and hissed. It slithered over her shoulders before returning its cane. Jaune smiled, "Aw… Samedi likes you~ Then again, that could be the effects of your resurrection."**

 **"** **What?"**

 **"** **To come back, I had to make an alteration here and there. For one, your aura was drained, and I had to replace it. Without any of your own, I had to transplant it."**

 **"** **You what?!"**

Weiss watched on in shock. "He can do that?!"

Coco shrugged. "Grandma only told me the basics about the Baron. This is new to me."

 **Jaune moved his cane back to a normal position. "I didn't have much of a choice to bring back the dead. Also, for your costs to be resurrected." Jaune swung his cane around and held it behind his back with both hands. Samedi looked toward Weiss from the cane. "You are going to be my champion."**

 **"** **Your…"**

"… champion?" Both Weiss's spoke in unison.

 **Jaune grinned, "Yep!" He swung his cane back in front of him and held and hand out toward the woods, "I want to branch out. I want life to be as big a party as I host in death!" His outstretched hand moved to point to her, "And you're going to kickstart that. Live yo' life and spread the joy. It's all I ask for. Think you can handle that?"**

 **Weiss nodded. It was, in a way, already her goal. She wanted to help people and make things right for what her father had turned the family name into.**

Weiss smiled. It was how she hoped to live. To be the best she could be.

 **Jaune smiled and handed her a small flask. "You'll need to take a swig every day for my aura to settle into your body. It'll take time, but you'll get used to it. In time, it'll settle. Then you can cut the drink and do your own thing. Shouldn't take more than a few weeks."**

 **Weiss took the flask and raised a brow. "What's in it?"**

 **"** **Fire. The best kind~"**

Qrow laughed at that. "I like this version, already."

Winter groaned, "You would…"

 **"** **As little as a sip to as much as a gulp. Either way, one a day. And there's no need to refill. It's my personal style with an infinite flow."**

Qrow whistled in awe. "Where can I get one of those?"

"Don't you think you've had enough?"

"If I had that, I wouldn't have to worry about that or my coin."

Winter wanted to say something against that, but she couldn't. She had no ability to argue against is logic, only the fact that he drinks. Hers was not the place to fault him for that. She couldn't condone it, but she couldn't stop him either.

 **Weiss hesitantly held the flask. "And… I only need to take one sip a day?"**

 **"** **Until your body settles. You just need the taste on your tongue once a day. Good luck out there, kid." Jaune snapped his fingers and the ornate coffin from before appeared from the ground. "If you need me," he held out a card toward her, "Just call." With card and flask passed on, he leaned back into the coffin and it fell away, disappearing into the ground.**

 **The card didn't have a number. Rather it showed a glyph: a circle of swooping lines with a skull in the center. The Arc symbol etched into the skull, wrapping around the eyes. Putting the card away, Weiss looked at the flask and sighed. She used a clip on the bottle to place it on her dress and went off to the north.**

Velvet was a little sad, "Is that all we get of Jaune?"

Coco grinned toward her partner, "Oh? Disappointed, huh?"

Velvet was silent, but her blush spoke volumes.

 **From there, Weiss's initiation played out normally: meet Ruby, giant Nevermore, fall, meet the rest of the team at the ruins. The only difference being Pyrrha never found a partner. She was allowed to form a team with Nora and Ren as team LVR (lavender). They had to stretch given the team was three people.**

 **Over the coming weeks, Weiss was getting used to classes and her resurrected form. The drink she had to take each day was starting to go down easier. Weeks passed, and she felt more comfortable at Beacon and with her team.**

"It's so weird reliving this stuff from the outside." Ruby smiled.

Yang chuckled for a moment, "No kidding."

Blake, however, was caught up on something, "Save for that drinking…"

 **That's not to say it was all the same. Weiss was becoming more outgoing. She went from Ice Queen to ray of Sunshine. Everything about her seemed to change in subtle ways. Biases faded, superiority of a name forgotten, she didn't even care for being an heiress anymore. That's not to say she didn't plan to take over, but it wasn't what drove her. Her friends would notice over time. She started to join Yang on trips to the clubs in Vale, she smiled more often, everything seemed to be coming up Weiss.**

 **On this particular day, Weiss was walking through the locker room to reach her combat gear. She had to prepare herself for a round in the Combat arena for class. Her opponent was that smug prick that is Mercury Black."**

Emerald laughed toward Mercury again. She was loving these versions at his expense!

 **Weiss reached her locker and found a note taped to the steel. She removed the paper and unfolded to read it:**

 **[Weiss, Your new body should have settled by now. As such, I'd like to give you a gift. A little something from the Baron's best. May your drinks be fiery and the party never stop. Enjoy~ -J]**

 **[P.S. To collect the gift, just place the paper back on the locker and inject a bit of aura.]**

 **Weiss took in a breath and placed the note on the metal door. A faint purple glow surrounded her and flowed into the paper. The aura filtered through paper and into the locker. When the process ended, she took the paper away and opened the locker. Inside was a white corset with a matching tail-coat. Leggings and boots were added to accent the form. She took out the coat and turned it over. Her symbol was smaller and placed between her shoulder blades.**

Coco was surprised. "Woah… High end coat with velveteen inlay. That's incredible stuff to find… expensive too. Then again… Jaune _is_ the Baron in this."

 **Weiss wasn't sure why, but she felt drawn to the clothing. She smiled and put on the new garb. When she exited the lockers and made her way to the ring, her team was surprised to see the new look.**

 **Mercury scoffed across from her in the ring. "What? Going through a rebellious phase now that you're at Beacon?"**

 **Weiss rolled her eyes. She readied her weapon and spun the chamber to the fire dust. "Why don't you quit yapping and start fighting."**

Yang grinned, "Damn! Look at Weiss-cream go! She's almost unrecognizable!"

 **Mercury smirked, "Oh don't worry…" His boots' cartridges spun a bit and snapped. He readied his stance and got ready to fight.**

 **When Glynda signaled for the fight to begin, Mercury ran forward and kicked with a powerful shotgun blast. Every shot ended up fired out of his left boot.**

Emerald leaned a bit toward Cinder, "What's he doing?"

Mercury shook his head. "You could always ask me…"

"Fine…" She turned to Mercury, scoffing at the idea he could know, even if it was him. "What is he doing?"

Mercury rolled his eyes. "If I had to guess, he set a lethal charge in his right boot. He's whittling down her aura just enough to keep up appearances until he needs to fire that shot."

The others had heard him and looked up to the screen in fear.

 **Sure enough, Mercury knocked Weiss's aura down to the low yellow range. He reared back his right leg and shot a heavy, dust-enhanced slug into Weiss's chest. The power behind it would rip through her body and sent her flying across the ring.**

Ruby jumped up in shock. "NO!"

 **Glynda immediately stepped forward to stop the fight but froze in the moment.**

Glynda couldn't believe she'd ever freeze up when a student was in danger. "What are you doing! Move!"

 **Weiss slammed her sword into the ground.**

The rest of team RWBY cheered that Weiss was okay. The others, however, were shocked to see Weiss get back up.

 **Weiss stood back up as an ethereal snake coiled around her body. It spit out the slug and hissed at Mercury. Weiss smiled and pet the snake on its head, "Hello again, Samedi." Weiss glared toward a horrified Mercury. "Now, where were we?"**

"Woah!" Ruby shook Weiss a bit, "You can control Jaune's snake thing!"

Weiss watched on, surprised given that she hadn't even begun to master the ability to summon things through her glyphs.

 **Mercury took a step back and into a glyph formed behind him. Weiss took a step forward, seeming to glow a faint purple. The purple aura flowed into her coat and revealed a black skull pattern hidden away, her own symbol seeming to be etched into the forehead.**

 **The screen cut away to show Jaune sitting on a throne in the graveyard. He raised a glass of rum and smiled, "To the champion! The life of a new party! I look forward to seein' what you become."**

 **He smirked to himself as he held a pin in his other hand. With a quick throw, he impaled a doll of Mercury. Emerald and Cinder dolls were hanging to either side. "One down…"**

Mercury recoiled when the pin hit his doll. He actually felt the impact! He looked up toward the Jaune on screen with a bit of fear in his eyes.

Emerald was about to call him out on it, when she and Cinder felt the same force. They looked up to see Jaune had skewered the other two dolls and turned his eyes toward them.

The screen cut out and King reappeared. "Okay… note to self, Voodoo god magic on screen affects viewers… Good to know."

 **/\**

 **King: I just wanted to say thank you to everybody that's read this so far. I'm not done, but by next chapter we'll hit, no joke, 100,000 views! That's awesome! Just getting a thank you out of the way and get myself ready for it~**


	16. You Think you Know Someone

**King: Two things real quick. First, people have been asking where the inspiration for Baron Jaune came from in the last chapter. Unfortunately, there isn't a 'go here and check this out' show or fic. The Baron was a play on the Voodoo god/spirit Baron Samedi. So there's that.**

 **Second, and more important, 100,000+ views! No better way to celebrate than with something special. Gorillageek has been asking for this one and its time. Hope you all enjoy~!**

 **Inspiration: Red Vs Blue**

 **/\**

King floated among the group, offering any refills or snacks. Once everyone was set he flickered a moment. "Oh! Oh god!" He burst out into laughter.

Ruby wasn't sure how to take that. "Um… should we be concerned?"

"No! No… I just…" He was struggling to speak through his laughter. "Oh god… This is going to be amazing!" His disappeared and the screen started to glow.

Ruby leaned toward her sister. "Yang… I'm scared."

"We're all scared, Ruby…"

King popped in again for a moment, "You should be…"

 **The first thing they saw was a giant, futuristic tower. They saw Penny repairing a radio on a balcony of some kind.**

"Penny~!" Ruby was happy to see her friend on the screen. But she was also concerned given King's tone earlier.

 **Penny set the radio and smiled. "Okay! Radio's finished~"**

 **They watched as Nora leaned out from the side and ran over. "Awesome! I need to make a call!"**

 **Penny stepped to the side and Nora started to tinker with the radio.**

 **The camera started to rise upward. After a moment, the skyline changed and fell back onto a complex of some kind. It moved inside to show Jaune walking down a hall. He was dressed in black armor with golden trim.**

Pyrrha blushed seeing Jaune. He was older, more rugged, but still very handsome. Everything about him seemed amazing.

 **"** **Hey!" A man down the hall called out to Jaune. "Arc! You've got a call!"**

 **Jaune turned toward the man in confusion, "A call? Who even knows I'm here?"**

 **"** **Came in on your personal channel. Routed here." As Jaune walked up toward him, he reminded him, "5 minutes…"**

 **"** **What?" After a second, Jaune nodded, "Right… Got it."**

 **Jaune stood in front of the radio, "This is Agen…" He exhaled. "This is Jaune… Go ahead."**

 **"** ** _Jaune! It's good to hear you again!_** **"**

 **"** **Nora?! What are you… why are you… Are you guys all okay?!"**

"So, we've met in this one, at least." Nora grinned.

 **"** ** _Yeah! It's been awesome! We got new bases! Well, I mean… they were the old bases we visited while you were here, but still!_** **"**

 **"** **They… gave you the bases?"**

 **"** ** _They're so cool! What about you?! Did you get a metal?!_** **"**

 **Jaune's eye twitched a little. "I have a lot more metal in life, yes…" The camera refocused to show the wording on the wall behind him, [UNSC Maximum Security Prison].**

"Jaune's in jail?!" Ruby couldn't believe what she'd heard. "Why would he be in jail?!"

Yang tried to diffuse the situation a bit, "The metal line was kind of funny though…"

Weiss raised a brow, though, "If he's in jail, why would they let him keep his armor?"

Winter thought for a moment, a small realization making its way to her face. "A lockdown…"

"What?"

"A lockdown. It looks like his armor is more advanced and likely uses some form of electrical system to allow for movement. There's likely a failsafe in the armor to keep a rouge agent from moving."

Weiss nodded, "That makes sense."

 **Nora hadn't caught his double meaning, "** ** _That's awesome!_** **"**

 **The man from before appeared around the corner. "Five minutes are up!" He shut down the radio and left Jaune staring at the electronic system.**

 **Jaune glared at the device and turned to the man, "Take me to the Warden…"**

 **"** **What? Why would I…?"**

 **"** **Because I know where to find what he's looking for."**

Roman smirked, "He's selling you all out."

"No way!" Nora jumped to her leader's defense, "Jaune would never do that!"

"Guess we'll see soon enough."

 **Jaune was brought before a screen that showed a shadowy man on the other side, "Jaune… You think you have something I want?"**

 **"** **No. I know where to find something you need. The Epsilon AI. You never found it, did you?"**

"Epsilon?" Weiss crossed her arms in thought a moment. "Wasn't that the AI Jaune from the first one?"

"Hey, yeah!" Ruby looked between Weiss and the screen. "I guess this is a possible of the first reality."

"Makes sense…"

 **Jaune continued, "But I know where to look…"**

 **Time passed as the camera returned to the tower. It showed Ren overlooking a mechanical body. "How does Nora keep doing this…" Ren started to try to move the broken bot, but it was dense and difficult to move.**

 **A low growl sounded through the hall.**

Velvet shrunk in her chair, her ears drooping in fear. It was the growl of a hunter, a predator. It was a primal fear for many… Difference was, Velvet didn't have the self-confidence of the others in the room.

 **A figure in a full suit of futuristic brown armor walked into the light. The body denoted a female beneath the plating and form-fitting suit. A helmet covered the figure's face with a golden faceplate visor. This was once a creature called the Meta.**

"Meta?" Yang looked in disbelief, "That's a dumb name."

 **Controlled by her AI unit, Sigma, she became a force of destruction. Gathering power all for one purpose, to help the AI in the suit become truly human. To achieve Metastability. But the simulation soldiers of Beacon Canyon destroyed the AI with the help of Agent Arc. Now she was broken with nothing to hold her together. Now, she was a shell of the woman once known as Velvet.**

cannot comprehend. Attempting reboot. "I'm that thing?!"

Coco chuckled a bit, "Why are you growling?"

"Why would I know that?!"

 **Velvet took a step forward from the shadows. She reached behind her and pulled a strange weapon from her back.**

Ruby went strarry eyed, "Woah! What is that?! A rifle? Knife? Knifle?!"

Nora wasn't quite so impressed, "What's she planning to do to Ren?!"

 **Velvet loomed over Ren, her armor giving her a bit of height over him. Ren turned toward her as she approached. He, unlike the others, had met Velvet before. Ren had no reason to fear her or her weapon. He was still cautious though… "Um… Hi? Are you the new Blue team member? Nora could use the help keeping things under control."**

 **Velvet growled.**

 **"** **Woman of few words, then?"**

"I don't like where this is going." Ren frowned. He could tell this Velvet wasn't exactly friendly.

 **A motorcycle could be heard outside. Ren's ears perked. He slid a foot back, keeping an eye on Velvet. She reared her weapon back as Ren dodged to the side. She hit the robot on the ground hard enough to implant it into the wall.**

Coco recoiled on impacted, "Holy crap! How strong it Velvet in this?!"

 **The sound of the motorcycle ended, and footsteps replaced it. "Hey Ren!" Weiss walked into the base's hallway. "Have you seen Ruby's tool box? I think Nora borrowed it for…" She saw the form of Velvet in the hall and a flood of panic flowed through her. "Oh fuck!" Her feet scraped against the floor as she turned around and ran away. Ren used this to follow after her, leaving Velvet alone in the hall.**

 **She growled and reloaded her weapon, slowly walking toward the door.**

Ruby was fixating on Velvet's weapon. "It's a grenade launcher?! That's so cool!"

Yang grinned. She might not be as big a weapon nut as Ruby, but she could appreciate the ginsu gun show.

 **Weiss and Ren ran off from the base and hopped on the ATV. Weiss fiddled with the ignition for a moment before burning rubber on the dirt and practically flew toward the opposing base. Weiss nearly crashed into the base as Penny watched on.**

 **Penny smiled toward Weiss and Ren. "Hello friends. Welcome back!"**

Glynda raised an eyebrow, "She almost acts robotic…"

Ironwood, Winter, and Ruby felt a shiver go up their spines. The two military members looked toward the odd one of the trio in suspicion.

 **Weiss fell off the bike, trying to get up too quickly. "Penny! We need to get a message to the others, now!"**

 **Penny blinked, tilting her head slightly, "Is something wrong?"**

 **"** **Just the galaxy's MOST DANGEROUS MUTE!"**

Neo frowned and crossed her arms. She felt personally attacked at not filling this roll. In fact, she hasn't been in any of these so far…

 **Ren wasn't sure what was going on but could tell it must be pretty bad.**

 **The group got hold of simple weapons nearby, mostly rifles. Weiss looked around in fear. "Watch your motion trackers! She can turn invisible!"**

Velvet was shocked, "I can do that?! No way!" She was starting to get excited about the idea, even if the others seemed to be afraid.

Coco couldn't help but smile at her partner's enthusiasm.

 **Weiss was breathing heavily in fear. "We're going to need bigger guns! Something… Anything!"**

 **Penny walked into the base without saying a word.**

 **A shimmering on the upper deck denoted Velvet's presence, unseen by those below. She readied her weapon and set to fire, but another thought came to her first. She jumped down and reformed to a visible armor. She slammed her blade into the cycle to keep them from escaping so easily.**

Yang jumped seeing the vehicle explode. She couldn't even begin to imagine that happening to her Bumblebee.

 **Weiss and Ren fell over and spun around. As Weiss pointed her gun, Velvet sliced the rifle in half, barely missing Weiss's fingers. Weiss fell back as Velvet hung her weapon over Weiss, ready to impale her through the gut. A small round of mini-rockets slammed into her and sent her flying back. Penny was standing in the doorway of the base with a personal missile pod system in her hands.**

Ruby was amazed seeing Penny with a weapon that crazy. That was designed for a mounted turret, not a human carrier. It had to weight a ton! Granted, Penny was a robot, but still…

 **Velvet growled and her armor shimmered before she disappeared again. She planned to rip them all apart, but the missiles had stopped Velvet long enough for them to escape. If she wanted the Epsilon AI, she'd have to give chase.**

"So, Velvet wants that AI, too?" Weiss tapped her finger on the chair in thought. "Why would she need it?"

Ruby shrugged, "Maybe she works for that Warden guy Jaune was talking to."

 **Weiss, Ren, and Penny ran in a formation. When they stopped, hidden by a rock formation, Ren turned to Weiss, "Okay… So, who was that?"**

 **Weiss took a breath to calm her nerves. "That's the Meta! She's a crazy nut job that we helped stop with Jaune…"**

 **"** **Okay. I think Nora told me about that one. She was the one after the other Freelancer AI, right?"**

 **"** **That's her…"**

Velvet was a little concerned to hear she was apparently crazy in this world. She wanted to know what happened to her.

 **Penny looked around them, watching the canyon around them, "So, why is she here?"**

 **Ren paused a moment, remembering the robotic body. "Nora… She kept the AI."**

 **Weiss spun around to Ren, "She did what?! She was supposed to hand that back over to the military! Not keep it!"**

 **Penny tapped Weiss's shoulder. "If I may, the Meta arrived here somehow, right?"**

 **Weiss paused in thought. She nodded slowly for a second. "Yeah… She did. She must have a vehicle parked somewhere around here!"**

Winter shook her head. "Good luck finding it…"

Ruby turned around to face Weiss's sister, "What do you mean?"

Qrow, oddly, was the one to answer, "If she's got invisibility, its likely she's got the same tech for her car."

Winter was surprised but nodded. "Yes… Quite."

 **The group tried to search for the car, only to have Weiss hit her knee across the hidden metal plate.**

Everyone recoiled a little. That was never fun…

 **As Weiss fell, grasping her knee, she looked up to the flickering cloak. "Found it…" Weiss stood back up and winced.**

Yang chuckled a little. She couldn't help it. It was a little funny.

 **Penny tapped the car and it flickered back to sight. She looked over the vehicle. "She seems to have removed the starter. We won't be able to start the vehicle."**

Ironwood was impressed with the, clearly, military-grade vehicle. The sleek form with a sloped form allowed for bullets to bounce off more often and keep the driver and passenger safe. The giant minigun on the back looked positively incredible. He wasn't a fan of the lack of doors and the nonexistent armor to keep the gunner safe...

Ruby tilted her head, looking over the vehicle. "It… kind of looks like a big cat."

Yang turned toward her sister, "What? Like a puma?"

Ruby snapped her fingers, "That's it!"

Emerald and Mercury looked toward each other, hearing a familiar conversation playing out nearby.

 **Velvet appeared in the background, moving toward them. Penny looked toward the oncoming threat. "And we may need to find a way to move soon."**

 **Weiss looked up to the gun. "Okay! This thing always has ammo to spare!" She jumped up to the gun and starts to spin the barrels. She started to fire from the chain-gun, but the gun refused to turn.**

 **Penny picked up a rifle from the passenger side of the jeep. "You won't be strong enough to turn the gun without power from the vehicle."**

Winter folded her arms, "That seems like a design flaw…"

Ironwood shook his head, "I can see the point. If the vehicle can't start, it means your enemy can't use it against you if you disable it after using it."

 **Weiss jumped back down and found another rifle. "This is bad! This is really bad!"**

 **Ren noticed something in the distance. "Who's that guy?"**

 **Everyone spun around to find Jaune running up from the side, "Stop right there!"**

Ruby cheered, "Military Jaune comes to save the day!"

Everyone from Beacon couldn't help but smile in relief. The kid seemed to really be a hero like in the books.

 **Jaune slowed and stood next to Velvet. "Stand down… I'll take it from here."**

Ruby felt a sting in her heart, "w-what?" No one was sure how to take what he was doing.

 **Jaune turned to Weiss, Ren, and Penny. "Where's the Epsilon AI?"**

 **Weiss wanted to take a step back, but her back was on the vehicle. "Jaune?! What are you doing?! That's the Meta! You're supposed to hate each other!"**

Velvet felt a slight sting in her heart that she and Jaune were enemies. But it faded seeing him not attacking her. Were they really enemies?

 **Jaune shook his head, "Times change. Missions change. Now… last chance, the AI, where is it?"**

 **Ren leaned toward Weiss, "He was your friend?"**

 **Weiss was shaking, "I mean… I thought so."**

 **Jaune sighed and drew a heavy magnum pistol from his side.**

 **Penny tried to step forward, "Jaune, was it? I think we can…" She was cut off by a loud bang. Penny sparked a bit and fell forward.**

"Penny! NO!" Ruby was going through a few emotions. Pain, anger, sorrow… So much. Her friend was shot in this world and Jaune was the killer.

Glynda jumped in shock seeing Penny get shot. She was a little surprised that she _was_ a robot, but she seemed perfectly sentient. So, it was a jarring moment all the same seeing her die.

 **Ren watched on in shock. "Penny! What the hell?! You're supposed to be our friend and you shot her?!" Another shot rang out over the canyon.**

Nora placed her hands over her mouth, "No… He didn't… He wouldn't!"

 **Ren looked down to see a bleeding hole in his chest. He turned toward Weiss as the light faded from his eyes. Weiss jumped forward, trying to do something to help Ren. Weiss shouted out as she did, "REN!" Tears started to fall as she addressed Jaune, "Why would you do that?! Jaune! How could you?!"**

Ruby was crying, "Why would he do that?! WHY?!"

 **Jaune's name echoed in his mind, remembering the time just before he left the prison.**

 **"** **Agent Arc?"**

 **The screen changed back to the prison. Jaune shook a bit and looked back to the shadowy figure on the screen. "Sorry, what were you saying?"**

 **"** **I was saying… What makes you think these… simulation troopers will just hand the AI over to you when you ask them?"**

 **Jaune started to chuckle. "For as long as I can remember…" As he listed off each transgression, the viewers saw what had happened, the hell he lived. "I've been lied to and used…" They saw Ironwood shrouded by darkness with various other Agents beneath him like a chess board. "…stabbed in the back…" They saw Emerald shoot Jaune in his back to facilitate her escape. "…and left for dead by the people I trusted!" The last scene was Velvet looming over an unconscious Jaune, her blade glowing. "People I called my friends…" Jaune took a breath. "And now I have a way out all that."**

No one wanted to believe what they'd seen. Some didn't care, but seeing him in that moment… It was a scary sight. A desperate man with a way out. A man willing to burn the world to ashes to be free of it all…

 **Jaune clenched his fist for a moment, a silent laughter resonating at an absurd question. "What** ** _in the hell_** **makes you think I'm going to ask for it?"**


	17. Insanity

**King: Before we get started, a quick word. I'm going to be taking a week off from the fic. It's not burn out or lack of ideas, something's come up in life and this needs to be lowered a bit on the priority scale. If you're reading this after say... August 8th or 9th, you can ignore it and read on. Don't expect any chapters until then, however.**

 **Inspiration: Far Cry 3**

 **/\**

Everyone was more or less on board to just move on from the last world, so King spared them the time to let it stew any longer. This proved to be a double-edged sword.

 **The screen returned to life with a tropical scene. The sun beamed down on the world as a group of seagulls flew by.**

Nora grinned in her usual way, "Beach episode!"

Weiss looked at her like Nora had a second head, "A what?"

Ren sighed. "Nora noticed a pattern with some of the programs she frequents, this one in particular being the beach-centric episode."

Nora giggled, "It's a fanservice thing. You know: swimsuits, fun in the sun, the usual stuff you think of with the beach~"

Pyrrha and Velvet blushed at the implications. Would they get to see Jaune in a swimsuit?

 **A group of glasses rose in from below the camera in a toast. The camera moved down to show a group of Atlas students and one from the military personnel all celebrating. Weiss stood with a glass and smile on her face as her sister proudly wrapped an arm around Weiss's shoulders. Holding the camera was one Whitely Schnee.**

Qrow whistled in surprise, "Never thought I'd see that day… The Ice Queen isn't so cold in this one?"

Winter's eye twitched. She wanted to smack him. But he was too far away from her to do so without standing. However, what really got her was that Whitely seemed to not be so antagonistic toward her and Weiss.

 **Winter raised a glass again, "To Weiss! For being accepted into the huntress training program!" Everyone cheers around the two. Smiles spread over everyone's faces. It** ** _was_** **a celebration, after all.**

 **The screen seemed to quickly fade into more scenes. A montage of everything they did on their vacation/celebration: shopping, drinking, a party or two, and skydiving.**

Yang smiled, "Damn! Weiss needs to invite me to that when we graduate~!"

Weiss folded her arms and rolled her eyes.

 **Weiss jumped from the plane with her parachute and pal white sky suit. As her parachute burst open, she called out to the sister not far from her, "This is crazy!"**

Weiss sighed, "I agree completely…"

 **The screen seemed to flicker and distort. A message temporarily appearing on the screen, [Did I ever tell you the definition of insanity?]. It didn't last more than half a second. A pause symbol appeared on the screen.**

Yang looked up to the screen, annoyed, "Seriously?! It was getting good!"

 **The image pulled back to reveal itself to have been a scroll.**

Yang blinked, "Um… never mind?"

 **A hand held the scroll toward the audience. The hand moved as a voice spoke, "You think you're crazy, huh?"**

Nora smiled, "There's Jaune!"

Weiss, however, was concerned. "Why is he holding the scroll like that? And… talking like that?"

 **The screen showed Jaune's arm as he swung the scroll like a leaf in the wind, "Jumping out of airplanes… Flying, like birds." The scroll pulled away to show a Jaune very unlike any they'd seen. He seemed standard enough, but his attire and borderline buzzcut hair made it clear something was up. He dressed in a blue tank top and black cargo pants. A belt across his torso held something over his right thigh. A pair of dirty combat boots accenting the whole form. And tying it all together? A heavy caliber pistol holstered on his leg.**

 **Jaune turned the scroll to look at it. "Fuck, that** ** _is_** **crazy…"**

This got a few reactions of chuckles and shocks. Jaune never cursed. Or if he did, they never heard it. It was kind of interesting to hear from his lips.

Weiss, however, was going cold. She saw what few seemed to notice.

 **In front of Jaune was a bamboo cage, and Jaune was addressing someone in the cage. Someone from the video.**

This got everyone to pause. Ruby shook a little, "Oh no…"

 **Jaune chuckled, "I like this scroll. This is a nice fuckin' scroll." Jaune stood up and pulled a pair of cards from his back pocket. "So! Let's see… What've we got here? We've got…" He pointed with one finger while still holding the card, "Winter."**

 **The screen moved slightly to show Winter Schnee bound to the cage and gagged with a cloth. A nasty bruise had formed over her right eye.**

Winter was shocked to see herself having been captured. The bruise denoted either she fought back, or they didn't give her the chance.

Weiss was not ready to see that. And she wasn't ready for what was about to happen.

 **Jaune made a whistling sound and pointed toward the second captive with his arm arced over his head, "And Weiss."**

 **The screen showed Weiss in a similar boat to her sister. Neither were ready for Jaune's attack to say the least. They were there for a vacation, not to get abducted by pirates!**

Nora's face temporarily froze in an exaggerated grin. Ren sighed as she jumped up, a false black beard and black tricorn suddenly on her head, "PIRATES!"

 **Jaune looked back over the ID cards, "From Atlas! Huh?" He started to turn away from the cage, "Well, I hope your mom and dad really, really love you. Cause you two look very expensive. And that's good, 'cause I like expensive things."**

Weiss went into a fit, "He's ransoming us?!"

Nora's shouting reminded her of Jaune's situation in this reality, "He's a pirate!"

Weiss groaned and placed her head in her hands.

Winter couldn't help but ask, "Where's Whitely?" Both Schnee sisters looked back up toward the screen in shock. He was nowhere to be seen… What could've happened?

 **Winter tried to say something from under her gag, causing Jaune to turn back toward them. "Hmm? I'm sorry. Did you say something?"**

 **Winter's 'speech' picked up volume.**

 **"** **What did you say?"**

 **Winter tried again to speak in defiance.**

 **Jaune knelt down at eye level with Winter and suddenly went into a fit of yelling, "Do you** ** _want_** **me to slice you open, like I did your friend?!"**

This got everyone, including the villainous groups, to jump a little. Jaune had been speaking perfectly calm and he suddenly went into a fit in the blink of an eye.

Yang chuckled nervously, "Okay… This Jaune has anger issues…"

 **"** **SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Jaune started to calm a little again. "I'm the one with the fucking dick here!"**

Yang tried to cover Ruby's ears when that happened. Nora and Roman both went into a fit of laughter from either side of the room.

 **Winter defiantly tried to speak again.**

 **"** **HEY!" Jaune was getting anger again. "Look at me. Look me in the fucking eye." When Winter failed to turn her head toward him, he jumped up and placed his head between some of the bamboo bars, "Hey! YOU FUCK! Look me in the eye!"**

Roman never stopped laughing, "This guy is the best kind of villain!"

Emerald looked to Roman, confused, "Seriously? He's hardly mastermind material. He's a violent nut case."

"But he's funny. Therefore, the best kind."

 **After a moment of silence and Winter looking up toward Jaune with a glare, he continued, "You're my bitch."**

Winter sputtered, choking on nothing. "The fuck did he just call me?!"

Weiss looked over toward her sister in shock, "Winter!"

Qrow just started to laugh at it all.

 **"** **I rule this fucking kingdom. Shut the fuck up, or you die." Jaune glanced over toward Weiss. He moved to the other side of the cage and knelt next to her as he spoke. "What's wrong Weiss? Why aren't you laughing like you were up there? Is this not fun anymore? Have I failed to entertain you?!"**

Roman chuckled again, "Fast talking and snarky! I love this guy!"

 **"** **You see… up there? You thought you had a chance! Way up there in the fucking sky, you thought you had it all! That you had your hands on the realm of gods!" Jaune dug his hand into the dirt/sand combo beneath them, picking some up. "But down here?" He started to let the sand fall. "Down here…" He paused until all of the sand had fallen. "You hit the ground."**

 **Jaune smiled. "It's okay! I'm gonna chill. It's all good, cause you," he pointed to Weiss, "Moi," a geture toward himself, "and your tough-guy sister are going to have fun while we wait for the money to…"**

 **"** **Jaune!" A figure in the background called out to Jaune, "Stop antagonizing the hostages!" The voice was familiar to the observers. "I need you to take care of the rejects!"**

They couldn't see him, but the voice was too recognizable. Roman smirked, "And there's your mastermind. Yours truly!"

 **Jaune stood back up and smiled, "Guess we'll have to get back to this later. Catch you around Ice Queen."**

Weiss's eye twitched, "I swear to God…!"

 **Jaune made a move toward one of his soldiers. When he flinched, Jaune laughed, "Gets you every time."**

 **They all watched as Winter started to pull her restraints to loosen them enough to free herself. She removed her gag and moved toward Weiss to free her. "Stay quiet. We can get out of this."**

 **Weiss was freaking out. She's never trained to fight people! She'd sparred, but not without a weapon!**

 **Winter looked over toward the guard, who still had his back turned. She thought a moment and nodded. "Call the guard over."**

 **"** **What?"**

"What?!" Weiss looked at her sister like she was insane.

 **Winter got back into position, as thought she never escaped. "Just do it."**

 **Weiss took a breath and looked toward the guard. "Hey! Hey guard!"**

 **The guard turned around, not expecting to hear someone speak. "How the fuck did you…"**

 **He was cut off when Winter lunged up and grabbed him by his collar. She slammed his head into the cage several times, blood starting to pool from his broken, trauma riddled face.**

Each impact made the students jump a bit. It was brutal, to put it mildly.

 **The Weiss on screen shared the sentiment. "Oh my god… He's… He's dead…"**

 **Winter grabbed the keys form the corpse. "That's what they teach you in the army." She picked up a knife from the man's belt as they moved.**

Winter looked up to the screen a little saddened. True, she could kill a man easily thanks to her military training, but she never wanted to. She joined the Atlas military to help and defend the citizens…

 **They all watched on as Winter led Weiss through the bushes. They snuck passed several pirates and toward a hut. When a sleeping guard started to wake, Winter moved like the wind and silently killed the man to protect her sister. As they kept moving the two entered a nearby hut. Winter took a breath and looked over to a table. "Weiss, grab a map and the radio. We can use those to stay ahead of them."**

Ironwood shook his head. "Who would leave something that important just out like that?"

Nora jumped up again, "PIRATES!"

 **Once Weiss picked up the map and radio, they left the hut slowly and in the shadows. They moved low and under a small bridge. Baggage was strewn about and people were forced to walk along the bridge. After a few moments of silent movement, the two dropped down and toward the tree line.**

 **Weiss turned toward her sister, "Winter… We need to find Whitely and the others."**

 **"** **I know, Weiss. Check the map, it might have something to work with." Winter saw the pain in Weiss's eyes. She moved closer and placed her hands on Weiss's shoulders. "Hey. We're going to find them and get out of here."**

 **A loud gunshot followed.**

Weiss gasped with her hands over her mouth.

 **Weiss's world was ringing. She looked on as her sister fell to the ground, a bullet hole in her neck. Weiss charged forward to try to stop the bleeding. Hoping that could somehow help. But it was all for naught. Her throat was torn apart from the inside. Winter died soon after.**

Winter shivered a bit. Seeing herself die would be a very jarring experience. Seeing her die like that… with Weiss crying over her trying desperately to help her? That just hurt.

 **The ringing started to fade out, revealing Jaune had been both the shooter and ranting since Winter fell. "…TO DISRESPECT ME WITH YOUR DIMWIT SISTER?! YOU WANT TO FUCK WITH ME?! EH?! YOU WANT TO FUCK WITH ME!" His tone swapped again to his calmer, but still threatening version. "I like that. No! I respect that! I'm gonna give you 30 seconds. If the jungle doesn't eat you alive, then I will! Go!"**

Ruby groaned, "I don't like this Jaune…"

Nora had given up the pirate schtick when Jaune shot Weiss's sister, "No kidding…"

 **Weiss was frozen in fear. She couldn't move if she tried. Her own sister just died in front of her! How was she supposed to fight back now?!**

 **Jaune glared down at Weiss, "What?! ARE YOU FUCKING DEAF?! I SAID GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE YOU CHICKEN FUCK!" He waved his arms as if to will her to move, "Run, Forrest! RUN!"**

 **Weiss scrambled backward on the ground before flipping herself around to escape. She couldn't fight him. She did the only think she could. Run. Run off into the jungle. Jaune's goons would give chase, but the desperate Schnee would escape that day. She'd live on to fight back.**

Mercury sighed and shook his head, "He should have killed her then. Now she'll just come back for revenge."

Roman turned his head toward Cinder's lacky, "You clearly don't get it."

When he made it clear he didn't, it was Cinder who enlightened him. "Why waste resources when the world can handle it for you? The older sister was the threat, not the middle child."

Ozpin took a mental note of how Cinder and her group acted, looked, and spoke. He had a feeling he'd have to deal with them in the future…


	18. Eye of the Tempest

**King: I'm back~ Show of hands, who missed me? No one? Every one?! I have no idea! I can't see any of you! So... have a chapter! A whole... 2 to 3 days early. I can't stop writing if I try apparently...**

 **Inspiration: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Movie**

 **/\**

King reappeared to a group of sullen faces. "Okay… maybe I should turn the filter back on…"

Ruby looked up toward the ball of magic, "Please do…"

King disappeared and fiddled with the screen. "Umm… Remember that filter I said I had…"

Pyrrha looked up toward the sphere, "What happened?"

"Yeah… Um… It kind of… broke."

Mercury scoffed, "Aren't you supposed to be a god here? Just will it fixed."

King flew into Mercury's face, speaking through telepathy only to Mercury, "You really want to try to tell me how to do my job? Keep being snarky peg-leg. See what happens!" This got Mercury to shut up long enough that King regained himself before addressing everyone. "Okay… the filter is broken and can't be fixed given the effects of multidimensional visual systems… Point is, this stuff is complicated and will take time to fix. I'll just play the next one and we'll go from there…"

 **The screen started to form again. It was dark. Darker than the night… A sudden flash of lightning gave form to the world in a moment. They saw a young blonde man standing on some kind of outcropping, standing in profile to the screen. He wore a long, dark purple coat. His boots were a dark steel and his deep sapphire eyes gazed off into the future. Everything about the man exuded power and confidence. Even the might of nature could not bend his will.**

Yang let out an impressed whistle, "Damn! How many versions of Vomit Boy are good looking? Seriously? It's got to be the majority of these at this point."

Pyrrha and Velvet couldn't help but feel a little smug with a sense of 'I-told-you-so.'

 **They heard someone walking up behind him. The camera angled to show the area just over his left shoulder. Mercury Black had walked up behind him, "We're approaching Beacon. Our decent is in 10."**

 **Jaune didn't move from his position.**

 **"** **Um… So, are you going to just stand there or…" A crackling aura surrounded Jaune a moment, spooking Mercury. "Right! You do you! I'll get everyone ready!" Mercury ran off and away from Jaune.**

Mercury grumbled in his seat, "As if I'd ever be afraid of that twig…"

 **The camera pulled away, never showing Jaune from the front. It moved off to show he was standing on the observation zone atop a massive military zeppelin. The dark purple zeppelin as accented by a blood red mask design. Another bolt of lightning pulled them out of the scene and into a new realm with a clear blue sky. A massive colosseum floated along in the sky with food vendors about the plaza. This was the Vytal Festival.**

Ruby started to shake her partner and sister in excitement, "That's so cool!"

Yang was used to Ruby's excitement. Weiss still had trouble, "Ruby! Cease that please!"

"Oh! Sorry Weiss. It's just… it's so cool!"

"Clearly…"

Yang chuckled as Weiss's reaction.

 **Glynda watched on from the office at the top of the tallest tower of the castle atop the hill. It was her best effort to make sure things went off smoothly. Granted, she couldn't take all the credit. Raven and Amber helped immensely.**

Raven looked up toward the screen in disbelief. Cinder looked up in shock. No one was sure why she acted like that save for Emerald or Mercury. Amber, the Fall Maiden… This could be a problem if things go south.

 **The sound of footsteps made her turn to see Raven dressed in light armor with a deep red moon theme. Next to her was Amber, dressed in more formal clothing than her counterpart.**

Ruby tilted her head slightly, "Who's that?"

Ozpin took in a breath, "A friend of mine…"

"Oh. Okay." She didn't think anything of what Ozpin had said.

 **Raven crossed her arms and placed her weight to her right side. She smirked as she spoke, "You wouldn't believe what your student just asked us."**

 **Glynda sighed with a smile, "Try me." Glynda was dressed in a flowing white dress with golden accenting. Her hair seemed to glow slightly.**

 **"** **She asked if we could use our magic to help with the closing ceremony." Amber laughed a little.**

 **Glynda rolled her eyes, "I could believe that. Ruby's always been the overachieving type."**

Qrow just nodded his head in understanding. "Sounds about right."

Weiss looked toward the seasoned huntsman like he'd said the sky was pink and grass was yellow in earnest, "You can't be serious."

"Think about it. If she puts her mind into things, the little squirt could do damn near anything."

Ruby grinned, "Yeah!"

"Too bad she only ever puts all that toward sweets and guns."

"Hey!"

 **The camera flowed down the tower toward Ruby, walking along on ground level. "Man… Okay… Just need to rethink the plan. Just need to go over the idea with the others… "Maybe Yang has a solution for the lighting…" She sighed. "No… best to ask Weiss. That's more her field… But what about…"**

Weiss did actually recognize this version of Ruby. It was how she acted with her weapon, talking to herself about how to best optimize its abilities. She didn't have a choice but to admit that Ruby could be quite determined in other fields if she put herself into it.

 **She was caught off guard when she heard the boom of thunder in the sky. Ruby's eye twitched and she sped off toward the plaza square. A pair of bright red auric wings spread out from her back and she took off into the sky. They seemed as if they were angelic in form with rose petals in the place of feathers.**

"Woah! Now I have that wings!" Ruby was over the moon to see that. She was fast, but she always wanted to fly.

Yang wasn't so happy to see that. This was the same kind of ability _she_ had in the world where she abandoned Jaune, despite being his sister in that reality. She calmed a bit by putting some pieces together. This wasn't the same world. She wasn't the princess that gave up on her brother. That gave her some room to breathe, at least.

 **Ruby flew off toward her group of friends, landing with a thud. "Still not used to that…" She quickly brushed herself off and looked up toward the darkening cloud, "Yang… I swear, if you…"**

 **"** **If I what?"**

 **Ruby spun around in surprise toward her sister. She was dressed in attire similar to what the viewers were used to, but had shorter hair, a clean inch shorter than Ruby's.**

Yang had a mini heart attack. The idea of her hair being that short felt like a personal attack. It was simply inconceivable!

 **"** **You alright Ruby?"**

 **Ruby took a breath to calm her nerves. "Yang… You remember I was put in charge of the closing event, and I asked for clear skies."**

 **Yang grinned, "Yep! Taken care of!" She flexed and tapped her muscle.**

 **Ruby pointed up toward the cloud, which had gotten larger, "Then what is that?!"**

 **Yang was surprised to see the cloud, "Oh! I can take care of that!" A pair of auric wings extended from her back. Yang's wings, however, were more streamlined and less detailed than Ruby's.**

Yang clutched her chair a little harder. _Was this the same world as before, just sooner? Later? I don't know…_

 **Yang was about to take off when a white glyph grabbed her leg and forced her back down to the ground. "Ow…"**

 **Weiss walked up from behind her. To call Weiss elegant would be a disservice in that moment. She was the very definition of regality, to the point where her face was void of the familiar scar over her eye. Which was pretty funny, given the circumstances. She looked more like a princess than Ruby ever could.**

Weiss felt her eye twitch a little. The very notion of Ruby being a princess was laughable. But something about it all was more than a little iffy to her for some reason.

 **Weiss stepped over to help Yang back up, "Sorry about that. But I thought it best to stop you on the ground. That's not a cloud…"**

 **Ruby looked back up toward the cloud. Sure enough, it wasn't a condensation of water. This was a mass of smoke and fire. A pair of glowing eye-like designs seemed to rise out from the smog.**

"Oh… that's not good…" Sun nervously chuckled.

 **A puff of smoke from the zeppelin was followed by a large hook embedding into the ground not far from their conversation site. The hook and chain started to pull the blimp down toward the ground. The slow decent allowed Glynda, Raven, and Amber to fly down from the tower with their auric wings.**

Glynda couldn't help but feel amazed by the aura sprouting out from her back. They flowed out like the wind but seemed to hold a form like that a river, forever in motion.

 **The zeppelin lowered a large ramp to the ground. After a second, Mercury started to walk down the metal ramp carrying a large device. The clang accompanying each of his artificial steps seemed to echo out over the area. Once he reached the bottom of the ramp, he dropped the device, allowing it to open into a speaker system.**

Emerald rubbed her temples in annoyance, "God damn it…"

 **Mercury cleared his throat and tapped the microphone. "Good Aurics of Beacon! We come to you all under the banner of the fearsome! The mighty…" A banner unfolded from the side of the zeppelin, showing a portrait of Salem looking down upon them all, "The Storm Queen!"**

"Aurics?" Ruby blinked, "What's that?"

All she got was shrugs from those around her.

 **Mercury continued, "And now! To deliver the evil, evil message…"**

Ozpin couldn't help but chuckle, "At least she's self-aware in this one…"

 **"** **Put your hands together for Commander Jaune Arc!"**

Blake raised an eyebrow, "So, Jaune works for the bad guy in this one?"

Nora deflated slightly, "Aw man…"

 **Jaune walked up to the top of the ramp. Now fully visible, they could see his right eye was covered by a patch, a nasty scar jutting out from either end told them all they needed to know there.**

Yang winced seeing that, "Shit… that looks like it was pretty bad."

 **Glynda stepped forward, "So… Jaune was it? What exactly do you want with us?"**

 **Jaune feigned an exaggerated gratitude, "Oh I'm so glad you asked," His tone dropped into a deathly serious form, "How about we start with your complete and total surrender."**

 **Ruby walked up next to the other princesses meekly, still not used to being on the same pedestal. "Um… Hi. I'm sure if we can all sit down and talk we can get through this without anything crazy."**

Ozpin nodded, "A mark of a good leader is at least attempting to diffuse a situation without violence. Excellent work, Miss Rose."

 **Jaune saw Ruby's approach, "Oh good, your all in one place…" Jaune started to walk down the ramp as he spoke, "Listen up ladies! I need your magic. Hand it over quietly, and no one has to get hurt."**

 **Raven scoffed at his ultimatum. "Ridiculous. Unless you haven't noticed, there's only one of you." She snapped her fingers and a large mass of guards moved in from the crowd, led by James Ironwood.**

 **A crackling energy surrounded Jaune for a moment, "I'm more than enough… But I've come very much prepared." More blimps started to leave the cloud of smoke created before. They were purposefully hidden away within the smog.**

Ironwood hated to say it, but it was a good strategy. Keep focus on the lead ship and lull the enemy to not be ready for the main force following behind, hidden by your own smoke.

 **Each air ship dropped a series of troops in black and white armor, reminiscent of the creatures of Grimm. As they lined up alongside Jaune he smirked, "Sic 'em." At the command, the soldiers charged the Auric gaurds with weapons drawn. Jaune grabbed a small item from his belt and tossed it in the air. An orb no more the size of a marble grew into form about the size of his head. As the orb fell, he kicked the sphere off toward the stunned princesses. It was no more than two seconds.**

 **The orb slammed into Amber and sent her flying backward. A sickly green smoke surrounded her body. Her skin tightened, and her voice seemed to die in her throat as she screamed out. When the smoke cleared she was a crystalline statue, her expression frozen in fear and pain.**

"Oh my gods!" Ruby scrambled in her seat.

The idea of petrification was horrible to many of the viewing audience. The only solace being the possibility that it was a suspended animation rather than straight up death. It was the little hope they had after seeing that.

 **Raven, now fully aware of her situation, drew her sword to defend herself. Another orb flew her way and she sliced it in half. Unfortunately, that simply released the smoke around her anyway. Raven petrified with her blade in hand and a look of confused anger across her face.**

 **Jaune tossed another orb toward Ruby. The world seemed to slow as Glynda reached toward her and dragged her away. The older monarch tossed her protégé to the side and took the brunt of the orb's effects. Ruby rolled across the ground and looked up in shock. Her teacher, the woman that trained her both in magic and to rule, was frozen in dark crystals.**

Glynda clenched her hand into her seat. She knew if she was in that situation, she'd have done the same the same thing. Her students, whether they believed it or not, were like her own children. She'd do everything in her power to keep them safe.

 **Ruby snapped her head toward Jaune, seeing him ready another orb. She scrambled off to a waiting Yang and Weiss. The trio ran off, barely avoiding the attack. Jaune motioned toward Mercury to give chase. Mercury and a few of Jaune's soldiers ran off after Ruby while Jaune saw to the frozen princesses. He needed all four for his plan to work. His soldiers could handle one little run away. For now, he had to move a few statues.**

 **The next thing they saw was a massive throne room with the three frozen princesses arranged. Jaune walked by and checked his reflection in the crystalline form of Raven. "All this power… and they waste it on a party…"**

Raven groaned. "Just you wait boy… When I'm free again, I'll slice you in half!"

Yang couldn't help but smile, "Yeah… keep telling yourself that…" She spoke low enough that Raven didn't hear, but her friends could pick up her voice.

 **Jaune turned as a pair of his soldiers approached a bowl set up between them with a glowing bottle. The bottle was giving off a sound similar to a scroll's ringtone. Jaune just looked between the two, "Well? Answer it!"**

Weiss had to take a moment to just let all of that sink in. "The hell?"

Yang and Ruby were laughing in their seats. It was just that ridiculous.

 **The guard holding the potion poured it into the bowl and stepped away. A bright blue fire shot up from the cauldron complete with mystic lightning effect.**

"Here it is…" Ozpin's tone got Yang and Ruby to stop laughing.

Roman nodded, "The Big Bad… This ought to be good."

 **"** ** _Where am I supposed to be looking?_** **" The Salem on screen was way off. She was too high to the left and not even close to understanding the spell, "** ** _I never understood this stupid spell… Arc!_** **"**

This got Ruby and Yang to crack up again. Ozpin couldn't hold it back either. Seeing her like that was hilarious to headmaster.

 **Jaune, to his credit, was very patient. "Over here, your majesty."**

 **"** ** _Where?_** **"**

 **"** **Here. To the right."**

 **"** ** _My right?_** **" Salem finally looked into the fire/screen. "** ** _Oh. There you are._** **"**

Nora had joined the laugh fest at this point. The big villain wasn't exactly very intimidating.

 **"** ** _Alright, Arc… I'm going through a big rebrand. 'The Storm Queen' is tracking as well… intensely intimidating. You know what I need to back it up? A STORM!_** **" She seemed to jump through the spell as she let out her outburst. "** ** _That'd be great!_** **"**

This got the laughter to halt again.

 **"** ** _You told me you give me the power to control the very elements, and I'm stuck with… what is this? A twig. A blah…_** **"**

 **Jaune stepped forward, "That's the Staff of Sarconis, your majesty. It will allow you to channel and control the power of the four rulers of this land. Soon, you have the power of a hundred armies. Give me three days, and I'll have everything ready for your arrival."**

Few in the audience believed such a thing was possible. But from what they'd seen from Yang and Jaune in the other possible version of this reality, they figured four of the same type of auras could equal a hundred armies.

 **Salem's tone fell to a serious visage, "** ** _Remember Arc. I'm the only one that can make you whole again. Make this twig work, and you'll have your reward. Fail me… and your hands won't be the only thing that's broken._** **"**

Ruby shrunk away a bit.

Velvet went so far as to hide behind Coco for that moment.

 **Jaune clenched his fists. "It won't be a problem…"**

 **Salem suddenly backed away again and smiled. "** ** _Great! I'll be the biggest, baddest b-_** **" The fire started to distort, and her voice cracked away and faded with the flame.**

 **Mercury was standing behind the spell's effect, "Sorry. Bad spell service…"**

Weiss glared toward Yang, "Not a word Xiao Long."

Yang froze before she could let out a pun.

 **"…** **want me call her back?"**

 **Jaune stepped around the cauldron, "Did you capture the princess?"**

 **"** **Yeah… um… see, here's the thing… She kind of, maybe, sort of… got away. A little."**

 **Jaune's eye twitched a little hearing that.**

As did Cinder's. Was this Mercury completely incompetent?!

 **Jaune took a short breath, "Did you at least send a squad after them?"**

 **"** **I'm not allowed to give the guys orders after that one time with the…"**

 **He was cut off when Jaune grabbed him by the throat and pinned him against the wall. Now they could all see his hands, broken and scarred beyond repair. As his aura flowed though his wrists, it sparked at each scar like a broken wire. Jaune's calm voice falling away in rage, "That little brat is not going to get between me and getting my magic back!" Jaune tossed Mercury to the ground, "Prepare my ship!"**

 **Mercury scrambled and ran off to prepare for flight.**

 **Jaune took in a very deep breath to calm himself back down, "Please… How far could one little girl get on her own?"**

 **As it turned out, not only was she not alone, but they covered a lot of ground. Jaune found himself searching a port town beyond the Badlands.**

Ruby wasn't sure why, but she couldn't quite root for either side. Something about this Jaune just didn't seem like a bad guy. _I mean… he is the bad guy in this, but I don't he's a_ bad _guy… Does that make sense?_

 **Jaune walked into the main bazaar. "Attention! A group of Aurics made their way through here. Tell us where they are…"**

 **Mercury popped in from the side, "Or something real bad is going to happen."**

 **A large man with blue hair loomed over the both of them, clearly a larger version of Neptune, "I don't know what scam you and your friends are pulling with that chick Belladonna… But I'm not falling for it again."**

 **Jaune raised an eyebrow, "Friends?" He said it as if the concept was completely foreign to him.**

Ruby frowned. This simply just didn't work for Jaune. Mr. 'strangers are just friends you haven't met yet.' It didn't suit him as far as she was concerned.

Blake caught her name from the Neptune stand in. "Why would he single me out from that?"

 **Neptune stepped forward, "But it stops now!"**

 **Jaune ducked a punch and kicked Neptune's legs out from under him. In one fluid motion, he lifted Neptune off the ground by his leg and slammed him into the dirt.**

 **Mercury laughed, "Ha! Blue boy just got dropped!"**

Neptune groaned, "Really?! I didn't last five seconds?"

 **This wasn't too surprising. Neptune wasn't an Auric. Meanwhile, Jaune had such magical abilities. Jaune placed his boot on Neptune's back and leaned in next to him. His hand was placed to the side, sparks flying out from his scars. "Now… about this Belladonna…"**

Weiss's eyes narrowed. "Okay… I think I get the idea of the Aurics now."

Ruby turned to the heiress, "What's that?"

"Certain people in this seem to have an aura. It's likely a reference to the group that live in the region we see. They all have some form of magical ability, channeled through said aura."

"So, why doesn't Jaune have his, then?"

"He has it… but it can't quite work. Think of it like a circuit. Jaune has the power source, but the wire was cut at his hands. That creates the sparking effect. He can't really use the power the same way as others."

Ruby frowned. "That stinks…"

 **Jaune learned about Blake Belladonna, the city's resident sweet talker and con artist.**

Blake just blinked in surprise. "Not what I was expecting."

 **He made his way to the faunas's home. Only to have the princess escape by the skin of her teeth. Jaune had Blake dragged before him, fully prepared to interrogate her. "Now… where, are they going?" He let his power spark as a threat.**

 **Blake just raised her hands. "Hey! Hey… No need for violence. They're headed…" She paused in thought, but it was difficult to tell what about. "They're headed east. To Skull Island."**

 **Jaune raised an eyebrow, not quite sure if he could believe her.**

 **"** **So… I'll just be on my way and…" the guards that brought her there crossed their spears, causing Blake to cry out like a cat.**

Yang tapped her chin, "I wonder if…"

Blake stopped her in her tracks, "Don't even think about it."

 **"** **When I get the princess…" He smirked, "Until then, your fate is… up in the air." Jaune turned around and walked up the ramp. The guards behind Blake making it clear she was supposed to follow him onto the ship.**

Yang chuckled, "I get it…"

 **The process of traveling was the most tedious part of the search. Tedious enough that Blake tried to entertain herself by asking questions. "So… why do you need that princess so much anyway? She break your heart or something?"**

 **Jaune said nothing to her. He saw no reason to care.**

 **Blake just rolled her eyes, "Fine. Be like that." Blake wanted to just ignore him. Just stay in silence. But boredom was too strong. "Look… I'm just trying to get why you're after that girl. She seemed harmless, happy to a fault."**

Yang placed an arm around her sister's shoulders. "Sounds about right~!"

Ruby stopped bothering to try to free herself from her sister's power.

 **Jaune never turned toward her, "Doesn't matter. I made my choice…" A shockwave shook the air ship and a loud boom pulled his sight away.**

 **"** **Aw! Check that out!" Mercury was at the wheel and pointing toward the northern side. He was pointing to a bright golden fire in the sky. It was the most powerful and beautiful thing they had ever seen. "That's so cool!"**

 **Jaune grinned, "Yeah… Of them to alert us. Funny though…" He glanced toward Blake out of the side of his eyes, "They don't seem to be heading for Skull Island."**

 **Blake chuckled nervously, "Really? Well… that's a bit…"**

 **Jaune stormed over to the wheel and tossed Mercury from it, causing the ship to spin around. The ship the princess and her friends hopped was a former pirate ship turned Storm Queen shipping crew. The pirates Ren, Nora, Sun, and Captain Nikos were forced under the Storm Queen's heel. All looked very stereotypically pirate. Even though they were supposed be in uniform while on the job.**

Nora was suddenly in the pirate beard from before, "PIRATES!"

She even made Ren wear an eyepatch as he groaned a little at it all.

 **Jaune stepped onto the ship, glaring daggers toward the Captain, "Where is the princess?"**

 **Pyrrha raised an eyebrow, "Princess?" She picked up her ship's manifest form. "Princess… princess… Nope. All we've got is Storm Queen goods and cargo."**

 **Sun and Neptune held up merchandise, a pennant and a bobble head, branded with Salem's visage.**

This got a few chuckles, especially the bobble head of Salem. But the situation was still too tense to crack up.

 **Jaune cracked his fingers on one hand in front of them, sparks crackling out from his scars. "You realize, that if you** ** _were_** **holding them and didn't inform me… The Storm Queen would be quite upset with you…" The words were benign, the meaning far from. When the Storm Queen was 'upset' she destroyed everything in her path.**

 **A loud metallic sound snapped underneath them. Jaune glared toward Mercury, who moved toward the lower deck in a scramble. After a while, he returned with a parchment. "They're not there. I found this though."**

 **Jaune took the paper and revealed a map with a location circled, "Seems they're headed to Mistral…" He wrapped the paper up again and handed it to one of his soldiers. "Now…" He turned to the pirates and the con artist. "About your betrayals…" The sparks from his hands erupted like lightning, ripping the ship apart and sending it toward the ground level.**

"Oh man…" Nora took her fake beard off, "That's just harsh…"

Cinder, however, mentally applauded the young man. Best to cull the herd of those not willing to fall in line.

 **Jaune returned to his ship and let the pirate's disgrace of a zeppelin sink into the sea below. "Mercury… Make for the northern territories."**

 **Mercury scratched his neck, "Um… See, we need to make a repair to the wheel and turbines. Your… outburst shocked the system and it all… kind of… melted?"**

 **Jaune took a deep breath. "Then fix it and get us moving."**

 **"** **Okay. But the guys have been working non-stop for a while and…"**

 **"** **NOW!"**

 **Mercury scrambled down the lower deck to get the soldiers working.**

 **Jaune simply didn't have the patience when his target was within his grasp three times in the past days and just escaped each time. He needed the princess to slow down for just a moment. He just needed her to trip…**

 **In the end, she tripped at the finish line.**

"You can't be serious!" Ruby was a little mad. She hated the idea of having tripped. Given her superhuman speed, she had to train herself not to so as to prevent face planting the ground at 100 miles per hour. Granted, it wasn't a literal phrase in this case, but it was the principle. She also didn't like the idea that she somehow broke down at the end of the run.

 **Ruby was in a suspended cage. She formed her auric wings and let some of her magic flow into her hands. She tried to punch the cage. The shockwave flowed up her arm and down her spine. She pulled her hand away and winced, "Ow…"**

 **"** **Pathetic." Jaune walked down a set of stairs to the side of the cage and was walking up to her.**

 **Ruby was on edge as he approached. "Why are you doing this? Why do need to do this?!"**

 **"** **I don't expect you to understand my motivations. But if you really want to know… I've made a choice. A choice to get my life back from a past that broke me."**

 **Ruby glanced down at the scars on his hands. "What happened?"**

 **Jaune slammed his fist into the cage, causing it to rock and making Ruby fall to a sitting position. The anger settled, and he was back to himself, "Doesn't matter…" He turned and started to leave.**

Ruby frowned. "I'm thinking it does…"

Weiss nodded. "That much is clear."

 **Ruby stood back up. "You'll forgive me if I don't believe that. Whatever it is, it must have been terrible. I… have magical abilities. I could heal your scars!" This got Jaune to stop. "I could…"**

 **Jaune spun around and grabbed the cage, spinning it fast enough to make Ruby far too dizzy to stand. Jaune glared down at her, "You can't do anything! You think I haven't tried to fix them on my own?! You think you can just fix them?! That I would be here if I had the choice?!" Jaune caught his words and shook himself back to calm. "You can't heal scars. My magic was robbed from me when I was a child. Every time I try to use my natural powers as a Mystic-type Auric, my magic flares and sparks before I can give it form. Now… I have a way to fix it. To get my powers back… I made my choice. That's why you're in that cage, and I'm not." He turned and walked off. They would land at Beacon again soon. He had to prepare for Salem's arrival.**

Weiss couldn't help but brush a hand against her own scar. The line about scars not healing got to her a little. She didn't care about her own scar enough for it to get to her on its own. But seeing this Jaune's scars… She wasn't sure why, but it got to her.

 **Jaune led Ruby, who was still caged and placed onto a cart, through the streets of Beacon. Once they reached the throne room, Ruby couldn't help but shed a tear or two seeing her teacher and friends frozen like that again. She had tried to find help, only to be brought back by force and empty handed.**

 **Jaune had her cage placed in position and glared down toward her. "Now… Soon everyone will see exactly what I can do."**

 **"** **Really?" A voice called out from the inner section of the room. Salem stepped through the door, showing off her armored dress. "What exactly** ** _can_** **you do?"**

 **Mercury, who followed behind Jaune on Salem's orders, cowered before the unholy queen of power, "Your bidding! Oh, glorious one!"**

Emerald rolled her eyes, "Nice cover…"

 **"** **Bidding's good. I like bidding…" Salem passed by Ruby's cage and raised a brow. "And what is this supposed to be?"**

 **Ruby stood defiantly, "I am Ruby Rose! A Princess of Beacon!"**

 **Salem chuckled, "Right, of course…" Salem leaned toward Jaune, speaking through her teeth, "Why is this one still moving?!"**

 **Jaune looked toward Ruby. "She attempted to escape. But she won't be a problem anymore."**

Something about what he said didn't sit with Pyrrha. She knew Jaune. Granted, not necessarily this Jaune, but it was something in how and what he said. Even the Jaune she knew would take a big risk if he didn't have to. If he had the power to freeze her like the others, and she was as powerful as them, why wouldn't he?

 **Salem sighed and rolled her eyes, "Fine. Whatever. Now, to business. You need to get this twig to work now."**

 **Jaune gestured toward the center of the arranged princesses, which was outfitted with a small pedestal. "Simply place it on the pedestal and it will drain the power of the princesses and you can harness their magic at your will."**

 **Salem smiled, "Good. Let's get this going!" She slammed the staff into the pedestal. The auras of the princesses started to glow and drain out of them and into the staff. When Jaune saw Ruby's struggle to hold onto her magic, he turned away.**

The gears in Pyrrha's mind turned and clicked into place. She suddenly had a giant grin.

Nora leaned toward her friend, "Pyrrha? You okay?"

"Fine. Why?"

"It's just… Jaune's basically responsible for hurting Ruby in this one. But… you're smiling?"

"Am I?"

 **Salem took the staff from the center as it glowed with power. "Glorious! A surge of power shot out and sent Ruby flying from her cage and through a wall. Salem stepped through the hole in the wall, grinning toward the staff. "No that's what I'm talking about! Now, how about this?!" She moved the staff, expecting Ruby to be sent flying. However, it was suddenly night. She swung the staff the other way and it was day. She gasped, "No way! I can move the sun?!" She had both Glynda and Raven's powers sealing the staff, allowing her to control the Sun and Moon, respectively.**

Yang nodded hearing about that. So, in this version, her mother was the nightmare sister to Professor Goodwitch. She felt her heart calm a bit, happy to know she wouldn't have to see her abandoning her family again.

Ozpin was trying, and failing, to hold his laughter. Salem was acting like a child with a new toy. The very image was hilarious to the man that had lived many lifetimes trying to stop her ambition of human destruction.

 **"** **What else can it do?"**

 **Jaune ran up behind her, "Your majesty? My magic…"**

 **"** **Yeah. Yeah. Give me a minute." Salem proceeded to use the staff like a toy for her amusement.**

Ozpin had fallen out of his seat and proceeded to engage in a fit of laughter.

 **Jaune just watched on. A part of him knew what was coming. But he had no other choice. He had to hold onto what hope he had. Time passed as Salem started to calm. Though, not in the same way one would think. She created a storm. Finally, a real storm to her name. A wild tornado of destruction. She laughed out at the sight.**

 **Jaune tried to get her back to the deal, "Yes! Your majesty! It's all very amazing! But about my magic! Use the power to heal my scars and I will gladly wield that power for your…"**

 **Salem turned to Jaune as he was speaking. "Yeah… no." She slammed the staff into his gut and forced him to collapse.**

Cinder smiled. This was the Salem she knew. Emerald and Mercury, however, couldn't help but feel to be in Jaune's shoes here. How long until they were cast aside?

 **Jaune looked up toward her, "I don't understand… I upheld the bargain! I gave you the power!"**

 **"** **Yes. And I used you like a pawn to get it. You are nothing. But you could be. If I could heal those scars, you'd easily be a threat to me. But no one can heal scars like that. Your wounds have always been too deep. I just gave you enough hope to get you to do what I need of you."**

 **Jaune's very soul seemed to shatter a little. It was his only hope… The only chance he had left to fix his magical abilities. His whole body shook. His eyes fueled with pure rage. He tried to rise up and unleash his lightning of magic toward her for betraying him like that, only to be met with a bolt of magic into his chest.**

Nora's mental gears clicked here. "Oh! I got it now!"

Pyrrha simply smiled.

This got Ruby to look at them like they had two heads, "What are you talking about?"

 **Ruby grabbed a piece of rubble and threw it at Salem. As she turned, Jaune's magic flared and slammed a bolt into the Queen's back. The shockwave sent him flying into the railing. The storm around him threatening to take him off into the sky. He clutched onto the rail for dear life. Unlike the Winged auras, Jaune couldn't fly. So, if he flew off, it wouldn't end favorably.**

 **The rail broke and the world seemed to slow. A hand reached out and grabbed him. Ruby had caught him before he flew off. This caught him off guard. "Why… Why would you help me?"**

 **Ruby grinned a bit, "That's kind of my thing. As far as I'm concerned, strangers are just friends you haven't met yet, and I help my friends every time!"**

The gears of thought now clicked for all involved. This Jaune may not have been a good guy at the start, but that didn't mean he was a bad person. He was used and given hope that was a lie.

 **Ruby pulled him back to the ground. She looked over defiantly toward Salem. The Queen was standing again with rage painted across her face. "I will fucking murder you!" She pointed the staff toward them, only to be met with a flying fist.**

 **Yang and Weiss had flowed through the storm to try to help Ruby. They had help from the pirates and from Blake to get back to Beacon to save her.**

Yang grinned, "Go us!"

Weiss couldn't help but smile either.

 **Salem had lost the staff in the hit. The staff was tossed onto a pile of rubble. But the winds were picking up and threatening to take the staff away in the cyclone. Everyone rushed to grab to the staff. A scarred hand grabbed the staff first and slammed it into the ground, knocking everyone else back. Salem looked up to find her underling with the staff pointed at her throat.**

 **The Storm Queen chuckled nervously, "Hey now, Jaune. There's still a way to do things. A way to heal those scars. I may have used you, but that doesn't mean I don't know it. I can still fix you!"**

 **Jaune's hand tightened on the staff. "You can't heal scars…" A bright flash of light erupted from the tower and Salem was pushed off into the wind. Jaune tossed a spare orb into the storm. He meant the orb for Ruby, but this seemed poetic now. Salem fell to the ground as her body crystallized. On impact, she shattered into pieces.**

Yang went wide eyed seeing that. "Woah… That's insane."

 **Jaune turned toward Ruby and her friends, Blake and the pirates had run into the throne room and were ready for a fight as well. Jaune simply placed the staff on the pedestal and the magic flowed back out toward the princesses.**

 **This shocked everyone on screen.**

The people not on screen celebrated. This Jaune was a good guy after all!

 **Ruby smiled, seeing Jaune's actions. "Thank you."**

 **Jaune sighed and started to walk away.**

 **"** **You don't have to leave, you know." Glynda, now freed from the crystals…**

Earning a sigh of relief from those concerned for the princesses' safety.

 **…** **walked up toward Jaune. "We may have been frozen, but we were very much aware. A lie to fill you with hope… By no means are you to be let off without a punishment of some form, but at least we can give you a second chance."**

 **Jaune looked downward. "Maybe in time. But right now, I need to think. I'll accept punishment if it will give me time away from everything."**

 **Glynda nodded. "I can have that arranged."**

 **Before Jaune was led away, Ruby ran up in front of him. "I just want to say thank you. For making things right."**

 **Jaune couldn't look her in the eyes. Not yet. "It's like you said, right? Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet…"**


	19. VRMMORPG Abrigded

**King: Kicked another one out during the break. Felt it best to stagger them out though... Don't want to overwhelm you guys~ Though... you may all just be whelmed... As long as you're not underwhelmed, I'll call it a win~ Now, Enjoy this Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Rage Producing Gobbledygook. Next chapter, go!**

 **Inspiration: Sword Art Online Abridged**

 **/\**

Without King to pop in and give them a heads up, the screen just filed into the next round.

 **They saw the interior to a massive, almost alien dungeon of some kind. A large mass of people in various types of armor were huddled in front of a large stone door. Torches flank either side of the massive slab. The man standing in front of the door was dressed in brilliant golden armor. He cut an impressive figure with his sleek shield with a dual-bladed sword sheathed inside the center.**

Nora's head tilted, "Is that Jaune?"

Weiss shook her head, "I don't think so. He's not blonde for one."

"Nothing says he has to always be blonde."

"He's been in every other version we've seen."

 **The man, Commander Leon, stood before his soldiers. "Alright! Now, through a large number of grueling hours of torture, combat, and Pictionary, strangely enough, I was able to secure…"**

Nora crossed her arms and smirked, "He sure sounds like Jaune."

"But his name is Leon…"

Sun leaned forward, "Maybe that's his middle name?"

 **A voice called out from inside the door, "** ** _KILL THEM! KILL THE INTRUDERS!_** **"**

 **Leon seemed to freeze in place, his pupils shrinking.**

 **"** ** _No one crosses the King of Ashes!_** **"**

 **Leon shook a moment and spun his gaze to his side, "oh my God, Mercury! What did you do?!"**

This got Mercury to raise an eyebrow. Hopefully, this would be a better portrayal than every other time.

Emerald was hoping it was just as bad.

 **The screen snapped to Mercury, dressed in a long dark grey coat. "What makes you think I had something to do with that?!"**

 **The camera moved back to Leon's glare as the voice rang out again, "** ** _BRING ME THE HEAD OF MERCURY!_** **"**

 **Another, less imposing voice could be heard, "** ** _Sir! They don't leave a head! They just shatter!"_**

 ** _"_** ** _THEN BRING ME THE SHARDS!_** **"**

 **Mercury chuckled, "I'm sure he could be talking about anybody…"**

Emerald sighed in false disappointment, fully expecting something like that from him, "You would be the one to fuck up something like that…"

Mercury groaned, "You're one to talk you little…"

Cinder pinched the bridge of her nose, "Will you two stop…"

 **Leon sighed, "Alright! Eyes up people, we're going in hot!" He pushed the door in and allowed all the soldiers to charge into the room. It was a giant platform with a staircase on the other side leading up to a door. Other than that, it was empty.**

 **Some of the soldiers looked around, "Where is he?"**

 **"** **Maybe he's hiding or something."**

 **The camera moved to show one of the soldiers, his eyes slightly pink. There was every possibility he wasn't all there right now… "Wait… maybe this is one of those… metamorphosis things the Commander was talking about."**

 **Leon just groaned at the sheer stupidity of the soldiers he commanded. How they all survived this long was anyone's guess.**

Cinder sighed. She could feel his pain. Working with incompetent underlings always angers her. There are more than a few days when she wonders if it's worth it.

 **"** **Like… maybe the real boss, was the demons within ourselves…"**

 **"** **Oh! Like my crippling abandonment issues with my father!"**

Yang just stopped. The tone was too out of place in that moment. It just didn't work with what was being said. Kind of funny though.

 **The camera showed Adam from above, looking up toward something. Fear plastered on his face, "I don't know… Is your dad a giant fucking centipede made of ribcages and hatred?!"**

 **"** **No… why?"**

 **"** **Oh… So that's probably not him then!"**

 **The darkness above them started to give way, revealing a massive skeletal creature clinging to the ceiling. Its body was long and covered in many pointed legs. Its arms were formed with giant scythe blades. Its skull was easily three times the size of any of them as it stared down at them with four glowing eyes.**

 **"** **Sweet shade of Eradicus! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"**

Neptune jumped in his chair, clinging to the backing, "Holy shit!"

Velvet passed out sitting up.

Even Cinder shook seeing that monster. She'd seen Grimm of all kinds, but never one that twisted. She wasn't even sure it was a Grimm at all.

 **A series of green bars filled up next to the creature's head and revealed a name, [The Skull Reaper].**

Mercury rolled his eyes, "It's a video game…"

"That's… less intimidating." Neptune settled back into his seat.

Velvet blinked and seemed to be back to normal.

 **Two of the soldiers up front started to run off as the creature fell to the ground. With one massive swipe, the beast sent them both flying with red, digital marks across their bodies.**

 **Emerald ran out from the crowd. Her attire was a similar gold to Leon's, save for being a dueling coat. "I've got…" As the two reached her, they shattered into sparkling blue shards. "…you…" She looked like she'd seen two people really die.**

Mercury couldn't help but laugh. "What's wrong Emerald?"

Emerald just groaned, seeing her counterpart acting so ridiculously.

 **For all intents and purposes, she had.**

This got them all to look up to the screen, not sure what to think.

 **As the two men shattered, the headsets back in the real world that allowed them to play the game, and keeping them trapped in the game, overheated and scrambled the players' minds with radiation. Both young men would die that night from mass brain damage.**

Mercury's smiling at Emerald fell off. "That's fucked up…"

 **The creature roared at them as Leon held firm. "Calm down! It's not as bad as it seems."**

 **"** **But sir… those were our tanks!"**

 **"** **Okay… So, maybe it's in the ballpark. But steady yourselves! And together we have nothing to fear. Together… we've already…!"**

 **The creature convulsed and glitched, breaking apart.**

 **"** **Won?"**

Yang couldn't help but laugh at that.

 **One of the soldiers' voice rose up from the crowd, "Oh my God… you were right sir! We did it!"**

Now Yang just laughed at how dumb the soldiers were. A few others started to chuckle as well.

 **"** **Three cheers for Commander Leon! Hip! Hip! Hooray! Hip! Hip! Hooray! HIP! HIP! Hoo…"**

 **"** **Ugh…" The solders were suddenly on the ground groaning.**

Another round of chuckles, but nothing too loud.

 **They saw Mercury and Emerald sitting on the ground, back to back. Mercury's eye twitched a little, "Leave it to SAO to not only have a boss that glitches out and dies on its own… but doesn't even flag the GODDAMN EXIT TO OPEN!"**

 **A large man sighed in the background. He was muscular, but that's all they could really tell. His head was obscured by a white mask. "After two years… it's not even a monster that does us in. But a game breaking glitch… Can't even starve to death…"**

Blake recognized the man's voice as a prominent lieutenant in the White Fang. Couldn't remember his name to save her life, though.

 **Adam sat up off the ground, "That'd be a mercy…"**

 **Leon tried to keep everyone's spirts up, "Hey… come on guys! Sure… we might be stuck here for a while, but I mean, at least we're playing an awesome game!"**

 **"** **Awesome? You're kidding right?"**

 **Leon turned toward the soldier talking. "Huh?"**

 **"** **Come on sir, do you really think any of us would still be playing this if we didn't have a gun to our heads? You've got to admit, sir, this game is kind of a hot mess…"**

 **"** **A hot mess? Really? That's a little harsh, don't you think?"**

 **"** **Well what you call a game where players can kidnap NPCs, the crafting system is literally seizure inducing, and our teleport crystals, our only lifeline, do nothing!"**

 **Adam winced. "Yeah… nothing if you're lucky… Sheesh…" A memory came to his mind of a man twisted by glitching. His very body unnaturally forced through itself and the world. His eyes and mouth pulled away from the rest of his being as he cried out,** ** _kill… me…_**

Velvet was out again.

Yang nearly threw up seeing that.

Ruby actually did vomit…

 **Leon tried to spin it back around, "Okay… So, maybe it has a few 'minor' bugs…"**

Ruby looked up to the man in disbelief, "That's fucking 'minor'?!"

Yang and Qrow wanted to be mad. They wanted to reprimand Ruby not to use words like that. But they had to admit, her choice of words was very much appropriate.

 **"** **But this is ground breaking technology, we're talking about! Real life virtual reality! Where's your sense of wonder?!"**

 **Mercury sighed, "Hey. I'm with you, old man. I love this game, despite its… shortcomings… but let's be real here. Even if it weren't trying to kill us, this game is a gordian knot of terrible design. Face it… the main reason we all played it at all was that it was the only game when, surprise, Tron suddenly became real."**

 **Leon's eye twitched, "Oh! So** ** _now_** **you've seen Tron!"**

 **"** **Of course I've seen…"** ** _Wait… Now?_**

 **Flashbacks flowed through Mercury's mind of various interactions with Commander Leon. Various quotes:** ** _Go ahead… Make my day._** **…** ** _Gentlemen! You can't fight here! This is the war room!_** **…** ** _I used to fuck guys like you in prison. …_** **Suddenly, the Commander fell away to reveal a giant figure in white robes with golden trim, the man that trapped them in the game, "** ** _How many of you have seen Tron?_** **"**

Ruby puffed her cheeks in anger, "Why would anyone do that?!"

Mercury wanted to know that as well. What did his counterpart just figure out?

 **Mercury slowly rose to his feet, speaking to himself, "God… I hope I'm right about this…"**

 **Emerald turned toward him, "Hmm? Right about what?"**

 **Mercury went from zero to sixty in a second and his sword point stopped at his commander's neck.**

 **"** **Mercury! What the hell are… you…"**

 **A purple hexagon stood between Mercury and Leon, the latter of whom was freaking out a little. As the sword fell to the side, it expanded and read [Immortal Object]. Emerald recognized it as the administration system protection. Something no player in the game should have. "Commander… what the hell it that?"**

Mercury's eyes narrowed. "The plot thickens."

 **Leon looked around, "Oh my goodness! This random glitch saved me from this… assassin's blade! Quickly! Subdue him before he strikes again!" His acting skills were the opposite of believable.**

 **"** **Commander… What. The fuck. Is that?"**

 **"** **So… that's not gonna fly, huh? Oh well, can't blame a guy for trying."**

 **Mercury smiled, "Do you want to tell them, or should I?"**

 **Leon rolled his eyes, "Oh no! By all means. Wouldn't want to step on your moment!"**

 **Emerald turned toward Mercury, "What the fuck are you two talking about?"**

 **"** **Well, it turns out the good commander has been hiding something from us. Something so sinister! It would shock you to your very core. For you see! The Commander Leon is really…" Mercury pointed an accusatory finger toward the commander, "Jaune Arc!"**

Nora grinned and copied the action on screen toward Weiss, "I told you!"

 **Mercury's accusation was met with silence. Too stunned perhaps?**

 **"** **Wat?"**

 **Or not…**

 **Mercury deflated, "What?! Jaune Arc! Creator of the Nerve Gear! The game's designer!"**

 **"** **Wat?"**

 **"** **The reason we're all stuck in this death trap of a game for two years!"**

 **"** **Wat?"**

A few chuckles followed that. A particularly jovial one from Emerald, seeing Mercury's moment get destroyed.

 **Leon/Jaune pinched the bridge of his nose. "Hang on… I got this." A screen popped up behind him, showing a scene from a movie where a man's head explodes like a watermelon.**

This had a lesser effect on everyone given its over the top nature.

 **This got all around to gasp. One even went so far as to actually say, "Audible gasp!"**

Yang clutched her stomach in laughter. This was just too funny.

 **Jaune sighed. "So glad I kept that tabbed…" He turned back toward Mercury, "So, Mercury, tell me. What gave me away? Or did you just plan to keep stabbing everyone until one of them failed to die?"**

 **"** **It was elementary, Jaune. You see, you're the only person I've ever met in this whole game that makes as many movie references as I do!"**

Mercury groaned. He was a fucking nerd in this one…

Emerald laughed at his misery.

 **Jaune sighed. "Yeah… I guess that would… Wait!" He suddenly perked up again, "You get my references?!"**

 **"** **Um… yeah. I just…"**

 **"** **There can be only one!"**

 **"** **Oh! Uh… Highlander!"**

 **"** **Who are you going to believe? Me or your own eyes?!"**

 **"** **Duck Soup! Marx Brothers! 1933!"**

 **"** **Dry land is not a myth! I HAVE SEEN IT!"**

 **"** **Oh? Getting tricky huh? While that is attributed to the 1995 film Waterworld, it is never actually spoken in the movie."**

Mercury resigned to his fate. This was easily the worst of them all so far…

 **"** **Hot damn. You're the real deal!" Jaune started to laugh.**

 **"** **What's so funny?"**

 **"** **It's just… Of course,** ** _you'd_** **be the one to figure it out. Strange as it is to say, I've always felt a sort of kinship with you. You, too, know what it's like to grow up a genius in a world that just can't keep up."**

Both Emeralds spoke in unison, **"Oh… I don't like where this is going."**

Mercury, however, was recovering a bit. At least he had that much…

 **Mercury smiled, "Ah… I'm glad someone finally understands my pain. Got to say though, it's a bit surprising coming from you."**

 **Jaune's smirk never fell. "Oh! Don't get me wrong, that** ** _winning_** **personality of yours and your general refusal to go along with my plans have been… let's call it…" He fell to a whisper, "Spiritually taxing."**

Emerald smiled a little, "I agree wholeheartedly…"

Mercury glared daggered at her but didn't move for fear of Cinder's wrath.

 **"** **but that doesn't mean I don't respect the hell out of you as a player. Though, I have to admit, I never got why you didn't try to form your own guild. I figured, with your skill and intellect, you should have been leading armies! Clearing floor after floor with ease as the great savior of Eincrad."**

 **Emerald still couldn't fathom what she was hearing. Mercury's ego was big enough as it is. "Could you maybe just… Stab me. Right in the gut. Really get it in there, because it honestly sounds less painful than this conversation."**

Emerald sighed. "I agree…"

 **Jaune continued, "But hey! If you were going to just let a prime opportunity like that fall by the wayside, I figured I might as well have some fun and give it a shot myself. And let me tell you… that was easily the worst mistake of my entire life." He chuckled a bit, "Well… second."**

 **One of the soldiers in a golden armor and robes of his guild leapt into the air with his sword drawn, "Die! Arc!" Jaune made a quick gesture on a holographic screen and the man collapsed to the ground. His health bar had a small lightning bolt next to it, denoting paralysis.**

 **Jaune sighed down toward the man, "You see?! This right here has been a perfect little microcosm of the last two years. This… fucking mastermind, not two minutes ago, saw you try the** ** _exact same thing_** **to no effect. But, by some herculean leap in logic that we mere mortals could never hope to understand, he totally figured it would work out if he did it!"**

They could practically feel the frustration from the screen. If that man really was a representation of his last two years, they could almost understand his outburst. Not so much the trapping them in a game and killing them off part.

Cinder actually felt bad for him. Even her underlings weren't that bad.

 **"** **Now I trust that the rest of you have enough pattern recognition not to follow in this man's footsteps… No! Wait! That's goldfish! I'm thinking of goldfish! Better play it safe." Another gesture and everyone else was grounded and unable to move. Save for Mercury who was spared the effects. "Alright… Is everybody comfortable?"**

 **One of the soldiers called up, "I fell at a weird angle and now my foot is behind my ear. And I don't think it's supposed to do that…"**

 **"** **Fantastic."**

 **"** **What the hell Commander?" Emerald called out, being held up by Mercury, "Why you paralyze me too? I'm not going to try anything!"**

 **Jaune turned toward her, "Really Emerald? You expect me to believe that? Even like that I'm not convinced you wouldn't try to set me on fire with your mind." A pause. "You're trying to do it right now, aren't you?"**

 **"** **Stare…"**

Cue laughter from the audience.

 **"** **Alright! Now that I have your ears, as well as your spines, allow me to indulge myself for a moment, and tell you all what every content creator has wanted to say to his audience. Ahem… FUCK! ALL YALL!"**

 **"** **Oh yeah… you can tell this'll be constructive."**

Nora doubled over in laughter. Even Ren cracked a smile at that. Velvet was back to herself and chuckled a little.

 **"** **Do you have any idea what it's been like trying to lead you people?! You ignore all of my strategies, you** ** _adamantly_** **refuse to work together, and then you blame** ** _me_** **for all of your problems!"**

 **One of the solders interrupted him. "Well, to be fair, sir, you are responsible for at least a few of 'em"**

 **"** **Ah… Yes. I hear your argument, and… counter point…" He made a gesture and the man screamed. They could hear the shatter effect in the background. "Your dead. Ha!"**

Cinder cracked a smile at that. She might have to remember that.

 **Jaune sighed, "I tried you know. Lord knows I tried. But there's just no helping you people. It's like you crave death. But not just any death! No! You fuckers have a pool going for who can die in the dumbest, most avoidable way possible! And you just keep one-upping each other! DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE DIED SCREAMING LEROY JENKINS?!"**

Yang looked up at the screen in sheer surprise. "No… No fucking way! Nobody's that stupid!"

"Who's that?" Ozpin looked over toward the students.

Sun sighed. "A guy from a video that charged into a boss raid in a game shouting his own name. He got everyone in the party killed because he didn't listen to anyone."

 **"** **MORE THAN ZERO! Which, as far as I'm concerned, is grounds to eradicate the species!"**

 **"** **At least they had the balls to be here without some stupid cheat code!"**

 **"** **See! This is what I'm talking about! Which one of you idiots missed what I did to the last…" He now recognized the voice and turned, slamming his shield's point in the ground. "Well there's a shock. Mercury? Are you actually defending these people?"**

 **"** **Oh, don't get me wrong, nobody's saying their potential doesn't top out at assistant manager at Kinkos. I mean… just look at Tyrian."**

 **A man shouted out from the back, "Why am I always the example?!"**

This got a few chuckles from the group. Cinder in particular had to hold herself from an outburst.

 **"** **But that doesn't change the fact that they** ** _chose_** **to be here, even though it could've gotten them killed! Which is just a few magnitudes more than I can say about you…"**

 **"** **Oh? And prey tell, what can you say about me? No wait! I don't care." He turned away to address all the soldiers. "At any rate! It seems it's time once again to bid you sparkling gems of humanity adieu. But don't worry. For I am a just and benevolent god. I'll be sure to fix the door and let you all out. I mean… eventually. I might watch a movie first. Aw… but which one to choose… That's going to be a day onto itself. Tell you what, I'll get to it when I get to it, how's that sound?"**

 **Mercury smirked, "Well… I can't vouch for everyone, but to me it sounds like, 'wah! Mommy! The other kids were picking on me because my game sucks and my face it stupid!'"**

 **"** **Oh my God! What do you want from me?!"**

 **"** **I… would like a rematch."**

 **"** **Could you not have just said that and not that other bullshit?!"**

 **"** **Oh… Jaune. You're such a master of pattern recognition, I thought you'd realize, that's just not my style."**

A few people in the audience had to admit, it was a good line to bounce his own words about pattern recognition back at him.

 **Jaune sighed, "You know what? Fine. Stabbing you in the chest sounds fucking therapeutic right about now. What are your terms?"**

 **"** **A fight to the death. Right here, right now. No bullshit cheats. And when I beat you, you let everyone go free and shut down this dumpster fire of a game."**

 **"** **Really? You want to end this thirty floors early? Seems a little sudden and anticlimactic."**

Everyone in the seats couldn't help but feel like, if this was a series of some kind, they'd agree.

 **"** **What's wrong McFly? Chicken?"**

 **"** **Oh! Yes! Back to the Future! That's what I'm going to watch after I kill you! Let's do this thing."**

 **Emerald used what power she had in her neck to face toward Jaune again, "That's a movie thing? Doesn't sound like a very good one."**

 **"** **YOU SHUT YOUR WHORE MOUTH WOMAN! I CAN END YOU WITH A THOUGHT!"**

Mercury fell out of his seat in a fit. His laughter echoing out over the room.

 **"** **Yikes…"**

 **"** **No kidding." Mercury sweat dropped, "Word to the wise, don't mess with Zemeckis."**

 **"** **Oh! Don't even get me started on you!"**

 **Mercury sighed. "We can deal with this later. Right now… I have something to take care of. I'm going to get us out of here…" He set her on the ground and walked toward Jaune.**

 **"** **Oh yeah! Don't bother facing me toward the fight or anything! Whatever… that's fine."**

Nora laughed a little, "They sound like an old married couple."

 **Mercury drew a second sword from his back and wielded both in tandem. "Oh! And Arc! If I lose, I want you make sure Emerald can't kill herself out of grief." The smirk on his face made his joke clear.**

 **"** **You think I'd kill myself over you! Oh! Go suck a dick!"**

 **"** **I believe that's your job now, honey!" Mercury sighed. "I'm going to be hearing about that one later."**

Emerald and Mercury were silent. Neither wanted to believe what they'd heard. Both denied hearing the word 'honey' come out of Mercury's mouth.

 **Jaune chuckled, "Later? That's oddly optimistic of you, given how this turned out last time. I won't judge you if you want to back out now. Well… I might judge you a little…"**

 **Mercury dropped into a fighting stance,** ** _Oh… don't you worry about me… This won't be anything like last time._** **He charged forward, his sword bouncing of Jaune's shield. A follow up attack knocked some of Jaune's health away as he attempted to block again. The two became a flurry of sparks and blood-like digital effects. Neither gave an inch as they fought.**

Yang watched on in amazement, "Okay… this is a pretty cool fight."

Nora grinned, "No kidding!"

Mercury was recognizing the pattern. This was the part of the story where he kicked Jaune's ass by the skin of his teeth. He smiled, waiting for the big moment.

 **Crack! One of Mercury's swords broke on impact with Jaune's shield. "W-what?"**

Eyes went wide as the world rang from the impact.

 **"** **Well… It's been fun, Mercury. But it looks like this is end of the line. Or, to put it in the vernacular of your people, GAME! OVER!" Jaune swung a glowing sword down toward Mercury, who was too stunned to move.**

 **A burst of red effects flew out as a voice screamed in pain. Mercury watched on as Emerald jumped in the way of Jaune's attack. He moved quickly to catch her, abandoning his broken sword, "Emerald!"**

Emerald was racking her brain, trying to figure out why she'd do that, the answer long denied in her mind.

 **Emerald smiled weakly up toward him as he held her, "Guess its my turn to make you cry… Go on… cry. Cry your little… bitch… tears…" She had to get one more in before she shattered apart and her rapier fell to the ground.**

 **Mercury tried to catch the shards. A part of him hoping he could somehow save her.**

 **Jaune just blinked. "How did she get out of the paralysis? Huh… Going to have to make a note of that when I get back! Power of love may cause paralysis to fail! It's the darnedest thing, that never came up in beta testing."**

Emerald sprang up from her seat, "No! Absolutely not!"

Mercury was laughing his ass off again.

 **Jaune sighed, "You're going to make me say it, aren't you? Fine! I'm sorry I killed your wife!"**

"His what?!" Emerald wanted nothing more than to strangle Mercury, Cinder being the only thing to hold her back.

 **Mercury growled, "You bastard…" He picked up Emerald's blade with a shaking hand.**

 **Jaune smirked, "That's more like it. Come on! Let's do this! Let's finish this thing off right!" Jaune's smiled fell as Mercury stood and swung weakly. He didn't have the strength to fight anymore. "You are just determined to ruin this form me, aren't you?" Jaune knocked Mercury's sword out of his hand. "I bet this isn't exactly the way you'd thought this would end, but, your fate was sealed the moment you challenged me. I'm the god of this world. It couldn't have ended any other way." Jaune impaled Mercury on his sword and watched as he started to fade.**

 **Mercury clenched his teeth, "No…" He mustered up enough strength for one last big move. "I defy your reality! And substitute my own!" Mercury used Emerald's sword to run Jaune through. Both would fall.**

Qrow looked up at the screen, "Hmm… poetic…"

 **Jaune just chuckled, "Nice! Dungeon Master!"**

 **"** **What? No. Mythbusters. The hell is Dungeon Master."**

 **"** **Oh… I was so happy for a second there…"**

 **Both shattered into a bright blue light.**

Ruby frowned. "That was a sad ending…"

 **An eye opened in first person. The camera pulled away after a moment to show Mercury standing atop a shining cloud. "Am… Am I in heaven?" A countdown appeared in front of him. "Nope… Heaven wouldn't have a loading screen. This is definitely the other place…"**

 **"** **Mercury?"**

 **Mercury turned to find Emerald standing nearby.**

 **"** **What are you doing here?"**

 **"** **Oh! Um… You remember how you sacrificed yourself for me to live on and kill the bad guy? I can safely save I did one of those things."**

 **Emerald started to cry. "You idiot!"**

 **The two ran into one another in an embrace.**

"Aw!" Nora smiled. "That's so cute!"

"No it fucking isn't!" Emerald was on a tirade. "It's bullshit!"

This got a few laughs on its own.

 **When they separated, they looked around. Mercury asked, "So… where are we?"**

 **"** **I'm not too sure… But I've got a few guesses." She pointed down toward a massive flying castle. The game world known as Eincrad, their life the past two years, was falling apart. "Oh hey! You can see our house from here!"**

 **The camera showed a luxury cabin by a lake falling into a broken world.**

 **"** **Well that's disappointing."**

 **"** **Yeah… tell me about it." The screen pulled away to show Jaune nearby. This Jaune actually looked like the blonde they knew, complete with golden, scraggly hair. The main difference being this version wore a lab coat and a pair of glasses. "Hey…"**

Coco leaned her own glasses down and whistled. She had to admit, he could pull off the scientist look rather well.

 **Mercury was surprised to find the game's creator standing there, "Jaune? Is that you? What's going on down there?"**

 **"** **I'm keeping up my end of the bargain. As we speak, SAO will be wiped from the servers and all remaining players will be logged out of the game."**

 **"** **But… not in that order, right?"**

 **After a pause from Jaune, he replied, "I'll have to get back to you on that."**

 **Emerald interjected, "As someone you recently murdered, this feels weird to ask, but… are you doing okay?"**

 **Mercury nodded, "Yeah. You look like someone just killed your dog in front of you and is wearing it as a festive hat."**

Ruby and Yang were appalled, "What kind of example is that?!"

 **Jaune sarcastically scoffed, "What? I'm fine. What do I have to feel down about? I'm just standing here watching my hopes and dreams crumble into the uncaring void, thinking about how my business is ruined, and… in all likelihood, I'm now the most wanted man on the face of the Earth!"**

 **"** **Well… I mean… everyone wants to feel wanted, right?"**

 **Jaune took a breath. "I'm going to miss our chats Mercury. I mean that sincerely. I don't know what that says about me. In any case, I suppose congratulations are in order. It wasn't exactly an outright victory, but at this point I just want this to be over! Consider my plan thoroughly foiled!"**

 **"** **I've… been meaning to ask about that. That was the one thing I could never figure out. Why** ** _did_** **you do all of this?"**

Mercury's laughter was dying down. "Yeah… I'd like to know that too."

 **Jaune chuckled, "You know… it's funny. I can't even remember anymore."**

Both Mercury's shouted, **"Are you fucking serious?!"**

 **Jaune started to laugh. "Oh my God, no! Can you imagine? Two years and that's what I give you?! Man! that'd be unsatisfying!"**

"No shit!" Mercury was getting angry.

 **Jaune's laughter slowed as he sighed, "No… I did it because of Metacritic."**

 **Both Mercury and Emerald went wide eyed. "The… website?" Mercury couldn't believe what he heard. All this because of a review aggregator?!**

Mercury was frozen in shock. Emerald laughed at his disappointment. All was right with the world again.

 **"** **You know how it goes. It's a tale as old as video games themselves. You've got a deadline looming for your new console, but your only game isn't exactly playable. So you panic and work for three weeks straight without sleep just to get the damn thing out on time."**

 **"** **Okay… I follow you so far, but does that…"**

 **"** **Unfortunately, in your sleep deprived state, you accidently manage to create a glitch that kills players when their avatars die!"**

 **"** **There it is…"**

 **Emerald, however, didn't take that so well, "Did you say accidently?!"**

Everyone was either shocked silent, laughing, or some weird combination of the two.

 **"** **Next thing you know, your tutorial NPC is nowhere to be found and players are dropping like Dorito-encrusted flies. Now! In this case, any sane man would shut down the servers before anyone else got hurt. But! Because you've been awake long enough to think the government is run by Flubar, King of the Molemen, you decide to double, triple, and quadruple down! So, you lock everyone in the game, tell them they'll die if they don't finish it, and try to make it look like this all part of your master plan instead of an ever-spiraling series of events that you have long since lost control of."**

No one was really ready for that answer. On the one hand, it was so out there it was funny. On the other… it was all very human. A simple series of mistakes…

 **Mercury summed everything up, "So… You thought that critics would b harsher on a game that killed a few people accidently than one that killed** ** _thousands_** **on purpose?"**

 **"** **That was my thought process yes."**

 **Emerald's response was shared by a few in the viewing seats, "What the fuck is wrong with you?!"**

 **Jaune turned toward them a moment, "Hey! Cut me some slack alright! Can either of you even begin to imagine five hundred, uninterrupted hours of consciousness?! Forget molemen… about half way through I thought I saw the face of God! Until I realized it was just the night janitor, King… On the plus side, gave him a hell of an ego boost. Man was riding that compliment for days."**

Yang caught that, "Hold up! King? Like… the magic ball that pulled us here?"

Ren shrugged, "It would stand to reason he has other versions of himself in other realities as well, wouldn't it?"

"I guess… still weird."

 **Mercury chimed back in, "Great tits of Ganesha, man, why didn't you ask for an extension?!"**

 **"** **You honestly think I didn't try that?! The publisher wasn't having it. 'It's already been delayed twice' they said! 'It's a big open world, nobody's going to notice a few glitches'!"**

 **Emerald nodded slowly, "Fair enough… But, why did you pretend to be Leon?"**

 **"** **Remember that first month when two thousand of you died without clearing the first floor?"**

 **Emerald and Mercury proceeded to fully acknowledge the monumental fuck up that was that first month.**

Nora smiled a little, "So… he's wasn't really a _bad_ guy, just a few… pretty big mistakes…"

 **"** **Well, I couldn't exactly say 'oops, my bad' at that point, but I had to do something to help. Despite my earlier outburst, I never really wanted to hurt any of you."**

 **"** **You killed a man for mildly sassing you!"**

 **"** **I think I've made it very clear that I'm not exactly the picture of grace under fire! Besides, that guy was in the mafia, that's like a free-be."**

Nora chuckled, "Very Jaune…"

Pyrrha sighed, "Thought not as extreme, thankfully."

Yang thought back to the man's voice when she heard mafia. No doubt in her mind… That was Junior.

 **"** **But… If you want to know the whole truth, as long as this slow-motion train wreck kept going, I could use you guys as hostages to keep the feds off my back until I figured a way out of this mess! Not that I ever did…"**

 **Emerald replied, "Why not just blame it on some hacker group pretending to be you. Would have made more sense than the truth and its not like you had any kind of motive."**

 **Jaune laughed, "Okay… Emerald, the problem with that… is that it's and excellent idea that I wish I'd thought of two years ago… Well, on that sobering note, I'm going to go scream into that uncaring void for a while… Can't say it was nice knowing you two, but you're both the dictionary definition of lesser of two evils at this point." Jaune turned and walked off with a wave. "Have fun while you still can…" The screen faded to white. That was the day SAO was brought down. People were finally free to return to the real world after two long years.**


	20. Jaune Arc: Ace Attorney

**King: Lot's of stuff going on. I had to take a little longer to make sure this one ran well enough. There was also other things in life. Either way, I hope you enjoy the chapter. Chapter 20 baby~! Let's do this!**

 **Court is now in session.**

 **Inspiration: Ace Attorney**

 **/\**

Ruby couldn't help but sigh. "Well that's fun…"

Yang leaned back and placed her hands behind her head, "At least his time he wasn't crazy. Just sleep deprived."

"Let's hope this next one isn't a bad one…"

Sun sighed, "And now you've jinxed it."

 **The screen formed again without King to pause it. They saw the world in grey scale. A man walked through an office of some kind. They didn't see any more than his shoes and bottom of his pants. The only indication of his identity was a cane accompanying each step.**

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. He had finally appeared in earnest. He was curious to see what happened next.

 **Ozpin's cane fell from his hand soon after. The top of the cane was patterned in blood.**

Glynda and Ironwood shared a glance a moment. This cannot end well.

 **Ozpin fell to a knee before the camera pulled along to show Ozpin with a knife embedded in his back.**

Glynda covered her mouth in shock.

Ironwood doesn't much better off. Sure, he and Oz would but heads, but they were still friends.

 **The screen blacked out before seeing a series of words type in: [Arc & Company Law Offices, 07:46].**

"Arc Law offices?" Weiss blinked. "He's a lawyer?"

Nora chuckled a little. "Well that's fun. But I doubt it'll be as funny as the last one."

Ruby gestured toward the screen, looking toward her friends, "Are we going to ignore the part where Professor Ozpin died?!"

"Of course not." Weiss sighed.

 **This time, the world was vibrant with color. A lovely office with a nice plant in the corner. A young man was sitting at a desk, reading a book. They saw Jaune, dressed in a white button-up shirt, blue pants, and black dress shoes. He had a blue suit jacket hanging nearby. He also had his hair under control for once in his life.**

Weiss nodded, "At least he looks the part…"

Coco sighed a little, "Kind of boring though. He looks good, but it's hardly that impressive."

 **Jaune sighed.** ** _Another day, another… day? I've got nothing._** **He smiled a little. At least a quiet day meant everything was…**

 **RING RING**

 **Jaune sighed, "Me and my big mouth." He picked up the phone, "Arc & Company Law Offices. This is Jaune Arc."**

 **"** ** _Jaune… We're going to need you to come in…_** **"**

Ren raised an eyebrow. He had just called Jaune. A lawyer… why would he need to do that?

 **"** **Ren? What's going on?"**

 **"** ** _You remember Old Man Ozpin?_** **"**

Ozpin sighed being called old. He wasn't wrong, but still…

 **"** **Of course, I do."**

 **"** ** _He's dead, Jaune. Murdered in his own office."_**

 **Jaune froze, "W-what?!"**

 **"** ** _Yeah… We arrested a suspect. She wants to hire you._** **"**

 **Jaune sighed, "Okay, then why not call me herself?"**

 **"** ** _You'll see soon enough…_** **"**

 **The screen went black again, letters typing through: [Vale PD Holding Center, 08:27].**

Sun smirked, "Kind of reminds me of a cop show or something."

Neptune nodded, "Little bit."

 **Jaune walked in to find Ren waiting near the hall to the questioning rooms. This Ren was dressed in a long, green trench coat. He had a light scar on is chin. When he noticed Jaune he waved. "Hey."**

 **Jaune walked over and was led to the holding room. "So, what am I dealing with?"**

 **"** **First, you get her statement. After that, you're on your own. We're swamped today. Thankfully, it's all paperwork and not… you know…"**

 **Jaune nodded as they reached the room. He opened the door to find a young woman sitting at the interrogation table. She had two-tone brown and pink hair. Her eyes followed the same theme, as did her outfit. Jaune was more than a little off guard with that,** ** _she looks like a walking ice cream cone!_**

Neo smirked a little, finally being part of the show. His ice cream crack also wasn't wrong, so she didn't hold it against him.

 **Jaune sighed and nodded. "Alright." He sat down opposite her as Ren left the room. Jaune could hold his own, and Neo was cuffed to her chair and the table, but an officer was kept outside incase anything happened.**

 **Jaune looked over toward Neo and watched her a moment in silence. After a while, he pulled a pen and notepad from his coat pocket and moved it toward her. "I'll need your statement if I'm going to be your defense lawyer."**

This got a look of surprise from Neo. She fully expected the guy to be a prosecutor given his stance as a huntsman in training. Those who knew him, however, were fully aware of his need to defend the innocent. I just worked for him.

 **Neo blinked in surprise, her brown and pink eyes switching places. She looked down at the notepad and took the pen.**

 **The officer, a young woman and likely fresh out of the academy, burst through the door, fully expecting Neo, a murder suspect, to lunge toward Jaune.**

 **Jaune crossed his arms and sighed. "You are not helping, officer."**

 **She grabbed Neo's hands and took the pen. "She could easily use this as a weapon. I can't be too careful!"**

Ironwood could see the logic. His Drill Sargent had told him to look at objects like he were in prison, anything can be a weapon if you try hard enough. It got him out of more than a few scrapes in the past. If this girl was a killer, there's the possibly she knew that fact as well.

 **"** **And how am I supposed to get a statement from her otherwise? She can't speak."**

 **The officer paused and blinked. She looked down toward Neo, who had a rather annoyed look on her face. The officer looked between Neo and Jaune a few times before mouthing, "Oh…" She let go and moved to the door again. "Um… Sorry. I though she was using her right to remain silent or something…"**

 **"** **That's for the officers. I'm her lawyer. I need to know what happened and I need a statement if I'm supposed to help. If she doesn't speak up right away, I have to infer she can't speak."**

Neo blinked in surprise. That was… rather insightful of him.

Weiss was equally as amazed, "He's… not wrong, I suppose."

 **The officer chuckled nervously. "I'll… be outside. Call me if you need me…"**

 **When the officer was out again, Neo picked the pen up again and started to write her statement for her legal defense.**

 **[The Statement of Neapolitan in the case of the murder of Ozpin].**

Neo wasn't used to anyone knowing or seeing her full name.

Yang saw the full name and things started to click. Neapolitan… white, brown, and pink color scheme… The girl is a walking ice cream pun! Then that got her thinking. Blake's color scheme follows black. Weiss is white. Ruby is red… _Oh my gods! That's hilarious!_ Yang, being blonde and a lover of puns, pulled the golden color scheme on purpose. The fact that her team all followed the same idea subconsciously was amazing!

 **[A few days ago, Ozpin came to my ice cream shop to offer to buy the location.]**

Neo drooled a little. The idea of running her own ice cream shop was an amazing idea to her. Surely… she'd have to take care of any product that didn't sell~

 **[I told him to leave. That I'd never sell my shop. But… I'm having difficulties keeping up in the market. I'm losing too many customers for one reason or another. It's only a matter of time before I have to close up shop.]**

Neo looked up in pain. _NO! Not the ice cream! Don't let it be true!_

 **[I was running out of options. It was either sell the shop or go out of business. I went to Ozpin's office yesterday evening, hoping I could find a way around things. Maybe even stay on as the inhouse manager. But he told me it was 'too late' and that the deal was off. My business would sink, and I got angry. I stormed out and promised I wouldn't sit back and just take it. Not that I said anything out loud.]**

 **Jaune looked down at the statement and nodded. "Okay… Thank you for your statement. I'll look into things and be ready for tonight."**

 **Neo nodded, but wasn't sure how things would go. She knew Jaune by reputation. The best of the best of legal defense, he's never lost a case.**

Weiss was dumbfounded. "No way! No one's _that_ good a lawyer!"

 **Neo hoped he's find a way to prove her innocence.**

 **The screen turned back again to show a new set of words typed out, [Ozpin's Office, 9:12].**

 **The screen returned to form, showing a crime scene. They saw a tape outline of a body on the ground. The office itself was rather nice. It was large enough to allow for a set of couches and a coffee table between them. In the back, Ozpin's desk was facing away from a large window. As Jaune entered, he started to look around with a more detailed eye.**

 **He found a wall clock behind Ozpin's desk, a digital clock reading [09:14]. Another clock sat on the desk reading the same, only in analog, facing him. Strangely, another desk clock was sitting on the wooden surface, a small digital clock reading [12:00]. Both small clocks were facing away from the window. Jaune turned around to find another clock above the entryway reading 5:27 with a second hand over 42.**

 **Jaune deadpanned, "How many clocks does he need?"**

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Why do only two of them read the actual time?"

Yang folded her arms, "That's a good question." She tried to figure out why it would be so weird.

 **Jaune knew Ozpin was a rather… eccentric, but he'd never seen the office to put it into words. He walked along through the room, taking into effect anything he could. Most of the evidence was collected and ready for trial, but he needed to find anything that could have been missed. Unfortunately, the room was brushed clean. He couldn't find anything out of the ordinary.**

 **Jaune knew he didn't have all day, however. He had to get to the court by 12:30. From there, he'll have to do his best to keep Neo's head above water until the court day ends. He only has three days to prove Neo's innocence to the court. If he fails, she gets locked away for a good long time. For now, he had to get moving…**

Weiss was skeptical, and a little angry, of the situation. "Three days? Three days from arrest?! How is that at all workable?!"

Winter thought for a moment, "Perhaps its to streamline the court process. Though… I'd hate to see the crime rate that would require that."

 **The black screen returned with new typing, [Kingdom of Vale Criminal Court #1].**

 **When they could see the world again, they saw a symmetrical court room. Stands behind either side for the citizens and two legal benches opposite one another. The tall podium in the back of the court for the judge was facing the group with a large symbol of Vale on the front. A semi-circle of a railing was opposite that and connected to a slightly raised platform.**

Blake's eyes narrowed slightly, "That's their court?"

Yang shrugged toward her partner. No one was really sure what they were expecting, after all.

 **"** ** _All rise for the honorable Judge Peter Port!_** **"**

 **The large man with a mustache sat up in the judge's bench and held his gavel close. He dressed as any stereotypical judge would, in a long black robe. Though, few judges still dressed like that in Vale.**

Ozpin chuckled a little seeing Port as a judge.

 **Port slammed his gavel to get the crowd to calm. "Right then! Let's get started. Is the Defense ready?"**

 **The camera showed Jaune standing behind one of the legal benches, "Yes, your honor. We're ready."**

 **Port nodded and turned to the opposite side. "Is the Prosecution ready?"**

 **The camera moved to show a rather anger inducing figure. Standing opposite Jaune was the large brute of a man with buzzed brown hair. He wore a black suit with a golden broach resembling an eagle with wings spread. He smirked, "We're ready, your honor."**

Velvet was rarely angry. Few things in this world could truly get under her skin. One thing that could… Cardin Winchester. And seeing Cardin on screen opposing Jaune? That wasn't fun.

Everyone in the audience agreed with her. Some knew him and wanted to break his legs. Some were perpetually disappointed in the young man. Some just thought he was an annoying prick.

 **Port nodded. "Right then. Will the prosecution please begin their statement of the facts as we see them?"**

 **Cardin nodded and picked up a piece of paper, reciting the statement.**

 **[Statement of the facts. Ozpin, a local business mogul, was murdered last night in his own office. The murder weapon, a double-bladed piercing knife, was found embedded in his back. Cause of death is by a ruptured lung and blood loss. Time of death is placed between 11:30 and 12:00 based on his body's condition. The cleaning staff discovered the body and called the police at 5:00 AM. The evidence and testimonies collected in the following hour led the investigation team to arrest the defendant.]**

Blake was not taking that well. "That all happened in one day?!"

Weiss slumped in her chair, "What's with this place?"

 **Port nodded. "Right then. Let's begin, shall we?" Port slammed his gavel again and the proceedings began.**

Yang sighed, "This is going to be so boring…"

Blake rolled her eyes, "Just think of it like a mystery novel."

"You and your books…"

 **Cardin folded his arms and smirked. "The prosecution will call our first witness," he picked up a paper again, "Mr. Alexander Peach."**

Ruby perked up, "Professor Peach?" It was interesting to see their _Herbalism and the Huntsmen_ teacher on the screen for the first time.

"Oh cool!" Yang smiled. "We get to see Prof. Peach in this now."

 **A man walked up behind the railing. He was dressed in a pink, two-piece suit. His pink hair was cut short and clearly combed. He smiled toward everyone. "Hello. Nice to meet you all."**

 **Port smiled back, "A pleasure!"**

 **Cardin sighed at it all. "Mr. Peach. Please state your name, occupation, and how you knew the deceased."**

 **Peach's smiled fell into a somber face. "My name is Alexander Peach. I work at Ozpin's office building as a caretaker. My job is to make sure all the plants are healthy to keep up the appearance of the offices."**

Ozpin smiled and nodded, "I could see that. He always loved growing and maintaining his own garden."

 **Cardin nodded, "And you were the one that called the police?"**

 **Peach sighed, "Yes."**

 **"** **Now, if you would be so kind, could you explain what happened to court."**

 **Peach nodded, "Alright."**

 **[The testimony of Alexander Peach].**

 **"** **My wife and I work in Ozpin's building. The night before, we were finishing our work when we saw Neo walk in toward Ozpin's office. At the time, we thought nothing of it and left normally. The next day, Celia walked into Ozpin's office to fix something that** ** _I_** **certainly don't understand. She found him on the floor with that knife in his back…"**

Yang groaned, "Yeah… cause this is _so_ interesting…"

Blake glared toward Yang, but she was ignored.

 **Port was silent a moment before turning toward Jaune, "The Defense may begin their cross-examination."**

 **Jaune nodded, "Thank you, your honor."**

 **[Cross-Examination of Alexander Peach].**

 **Jaune thought back, he needed something in Peach's testimony. He wasn't sure what yet. "So, Mr. Peach. You said both you and your wife work in Ozpin's building."**

 **Alexander smiled, "Yessir!"**

 **"** **What do you both do on the job?"**

 **"** **Well, I'm a sort of gardener. My job is make sure the office plants look good and brighten up the space. Celia is a mechanic and fixes a lot of technical things."**

 **"** **And what did she need to fix in Ozpin's personal office that morning?"**

 **Alexander shrugged. "Something in his ceiling. A leak, maybe? I'm not sure."**

Sun was getting a little bored now. "Why would that matter?"

"I might later on." Glynda adjusted her glasses. "There's more going on here than we see…"

 **Jaune nodded. "Right then. Next… what time did you see Ms. Neo walk in?"**

 **Alexander thought for a moment. "It was near closing, so about 9:30 PM. There about."**

 **"** **9:30 PM?" Jaune raised an eyebrow.**

 **"** **Yep!"**

 **Jaune smiled.**

 **Cardin, however, wasn't so happy to hear that.**

Ruby blinked, "What's going on? Was that important?"

 **Jaune took in a breath. Suddenly, he shouted, "HOLD IT!" The words seemed to manifest in front of the screen in a comic-like impact bubble with red lettering.**

This sent a slight shiver up all of their spines. Yang was suddenly invested again. "What the heck was that?"

 **The wording disappeared and the camera pulled back to Jaune. "I believe there's a contradiction here."**

 **Cardin growled, "I certainly don't see it."**

 **Jaune smirked, "You should. You read it off a moment ago." Jaune picked up a piece of paper, "Ozpin's time of death wasn't 9:30, when Neo arrived. Rather 11:30 to Midnight. A full two hours later!"**

 **Cardin looked like he'd just been punched in the gut. Not in a metaphorical sense, either. His reaction looked like he'd actually been physically struck.**

Yang chuckled, "A bit of an overreaction, don't you think?"

Velvet couldn't help but grin at her bully being backed into a corner like that.

 **Cardin groaned, but regained some composure. "Clearly, she stabbed him at 9:30 and he died two hours later."**

 **"** **I doubt it. Ozpin wasn't a young man anymore. For his body to hold out for two hours as he bled onto the floor? Without once having anyone notice or hear any groans?"**

 **Cardin groaned, but smirked after a moment. "You're right."**

 **Jaune wasn't expecting that. "What?"**

"What?" A few in the audience shared the confusion.

 **Cardin's smirk grew, "Well, she clearly didn't stab him at 9:30, when everyone else was nearby. But, maybe that wasn't the point of that meeting. She returned after hours to kill Ozpin when no one else was around!" Cardin picked up a copy of Neo's statement, "After all, she's admitted to being very angry after she left the office that night."**

 **Jaune groaned. He had hoped that could put a scratch on Cardin's armor, but it didn't do too much, apparently. Jaune sighed. He'd have o keep going, but not here. "No more questions, your honor."**

 **After a few minutes, Peach was led away and Port closed his eyes in thought. "The evidence as it stands does not sufficiently place Ms. Neo at the crime scene."**

 **Cardin interjected, "But it doesn't disprove it either. We're still at square one…" Cardin started to smirk again. "With the Defendant at the scene and with a motivation for murder."**

Neo didn't like where this was going. She, personally, didn't mind the murder charge. She's done plenty. But the Neo on screen wasn't her. She owned and operated an ice cream parlor (aka living the dream). She wasn't a career criminal…

 **Jaune groaned. He had to figure out something!**

 **Cardin's grin spread from ear to ear. "Face facts. The Defendant was in the office. She tried to accept a defunct deal and left angry. A passion project dying would certainly be enough to drive her to murder. Face it, she was the one who put that knife in Ozpin's back! It's that simple!"**

 **Jaune scratched his head in frustration. It couldn't be that simple! There had to be something he was missing! She couldn't have stabbed Ozpin in the… Jaune suddenly went wide eyed. "In the back…"**

 **Cardin raised an eyebrow.**

Yang couldn't help but lean in.

This got a smirk from Blake, "Not so boring after all?"

Yang sighed.

 **Port sighed. "Unless the Defense has… well… a defense to utilize, it may be best to…"**

 **The camera snapped between various locations to show Jaune's actions. His right foot dragged back. His body turned. His left hand raised up to his chest. A finger extended as he swiped his hand to a pointing position.**

 **And then it happened.**

 **"** **OBJECTION!" The letters appeared like the last time.**

They could almost feel the power behind that phrase. Coupled with his stance, it almost felt iconic.

 **Cardin slammed his fist into his desk, "You cannot be serious! We all know she's responsible for sticking that knife in Ozpin's back!"**

 **Jaune smiled. "Really? I think you're overlooking something."**

 **"** **And what would that be?!"**

Ruby smiled. "Yeah! What is it?!"

 **Jaune placed a hand on Neo's head, accenting her height. "She's 4'10. In heels."**

Eyes turned toward Neo, expecting her to be outraged by her height being pointed out. Neo, however, just shrugged. It was a statement of fact. Her height never bothered her. In fact, it's been rather helpful over her time as a criminal.

 **"** **So?!"**

 **"** **So… Ozpin was 6'6. A little hard for someone nearly two feet shorter to stick a knife in your** ** _upper back_** **, don't you think?!"**

 **If Cardin was punched before, this time he was hit by a truck.**

 **Port blinked in surprise. "He does have an excellent point…" He cleared his throat before continuing, "However, this does not prove her innocence, either. We will investigate the scene again and reconvene tomorrow. Dismissed!" He slammed the gavel again and people started to file out.**

 **Neo smiled up toward Jaune, prompting him to sigh, "We're not out of this yet. I bought a day, but I need to go back and look into things further. If all goes well, I might be able to clear things up by tomorrow's trial."**

 **Neo patted his shoulder in encouragement before she was led away, back to the holding cell.**

 **Jaune thought for a while. "Okay… Best to see what I can find." Jaune left the court and returned to the office. He had to find something…**

 **[Neo's Parlor, 20:22]**

"20:22?" Ruby asked.

Ironwood tapped his finger on his chair, "8:22 PM as written in military time."

"Oh! Got it!"

 **Jaune, after being told to stay away from the crime scene while the investigation team was on site, decided to look through Neo's shop to see if he could find some evidence to prove her innocence somehow. He looked around to try to find… anything. But it was mostly ice cream. Thankfully, the power was still active, so the treats weren't melting. Unfortunately, he didn't find much in the way of evidence. As he walked through, something caught his eye behind the counter. He leaned over and found a knife, rather similar to the one in Ozpin's back.**

 **Jaune sighed, "Oh… that's not good."**

Neo blinked. It was all too recognizable. That was the knife she kept hidden away in her umbrella.

 **"** **Or maybe…"** **Jaune picked the knife up and brought it with him. "Best to take it just in case."**

 **Black out.**

 **[Day 2, Kingdom of Vale Court #1, 9:30 PM].**

 **Everyone had returned and was in place when Port slammed his gavel again. "Right then! Let's get back to it."**

 **Jaune hoped he could nip this in the bud sooner rather than later. "Your honor, we still have no indication of how Neo could even** ** _reach_** **Ozpin's upper back, let alone stab him."**

 **Cardin smirked.**

Velvet groaned, "Oh no…"

Coco sighed. "I hate that prick."

 **Cardin pulled up a file folder, "Actually, we do." He pulled out a photo from the folder, "Fresh from the investigation team!"**

 **The photo showed a shoe print on Ozpin's desk. A high heeled boot, similar to the kind Neo wears on a daily basis, pointed toward one of the clock faces. Jaune was handed a copy of the photo.**

 **"** **So, there you have it. She jumped up on the desk to compensate for the height difference."**

 **Jaune groaned. That was a problem.**

Weiss blinked a moment. "Hang on a second…"

Ruby turned toward her partner, "Something wrong?"

Weiss thought out loud for a moment, "Weren't the clocks facing away from the window?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"But the boot is point _toward_ the window…"

 **"** **HOLD IT!" There it is. Jaune followed the same train of thought. "There's a contradiction here!"**

 **Cardin scoffed. "I don't see how! You're just trying to grasp at straws."**

 **Jaune ignored him and gestured toward the photo. "Notice the boot print in this photo is facing toward a clock. The small analog clock, which, if I'm not mistaken, was facing away from the window."**

 **"** **So what?!"**

 **"** **So, if we can see the face of the clock, it means the print is facing the window, and** ** _away_** **from the crime!"**

 **Cardin didn't seem to react this time.**

Ruby was a little concerned given the constant over reaction. "Oh… that can't be good."

 **Cardin grinned, "Maybe you're right. Maybe she was facing the wrong way. Or… it was a jumping point."**

 **Now it was Jaune's time to react, "What?!"**

 **"** **According to her records, the Defendant is very acrobatic, having earned medals in the past."**

Neo nodded. She was certainly capable of winning contests in acrobatics, if not for the whole… wanted criminal thing.

 **Cardin continued, "Surely someone that capable could use this as a jumping off point and turning to stab him midair. The height and force would be more than enough to compensate for her size."**

 **Jaune groaned. Neo tapped his shoulder and pointed toward the photo. She gestured toward the edge of the desk. Thankfully, Jaune was able to figure out what she was getting at. "Nice try, Cardin! But a kick off wouldn't be on the top of the desk. She'd kick off the desk's corner!"**

Neo nodded with a grin. It was best if the jumping point wasn't a horizonal surface if you can manage it.

 **Cardin groaned, but didn't waver. "Regardless, it does place her at the scene and shows how she could have killed him. But, that was just a proof of concept. The prosecution would like to call our next witness."**

 **Port nodded, "Proceed."**

 **Cardin picked up a paper again. "The Prosecution calls Neptune Vasilias."**

Weiss blinked. "Neptune?"

Said blue haired boy looked up in surprise.

 **The Neptune to step up looked like a stereotypical action hero, complete with scars and eyepatch.**

Yang started to laugh seeing that.

 **Neptune scoffed and folded his arms.**

 **Cardin addressed the blue haired man, "Please give your name and occupation for the court."**

 **Neptune glared toward Cardin, "Pretty sure you already used my name, but whatever. I'm Neptune. I run a self-defense shop in town."**

 **Port interrupted. "Pardon, but what is a 'self-defense shop'?"**

 **Neptune smirked, "I make it a point to sell items for personal defense. Things like pepper spray, batons, knives of various form…"**

Weiss had to admit, it was a decent business strategy to have all that in one place should it be needed. Though, the licenses would be a nightmare to keep track of.

 **Cardin smirked. "Quite… Now, have you ever met the Defendant in your store."**

 **"** **Sure. She came in way back to buy a concealed knife. Fits into a parasol for easy travel."**

 **Cardin scratched his chin in thought, "And you just sold it to her?"**

 **"** **One, there isn't a law against hidden blades like this. Two, if there was, she has a license from another kingdom."**

Ironwood was skeptical, "Why wouldn't they have a law against hidden blades?"

Ozpin was thinking the same thing, but thought about it out loud, "Perhaps its for self-defense and because it's inherently short range. I'm guessing the police would carry firearms…"

Ironwood nodded, but still didn't like the idea.

 **Cardin brought out a familiar item. It had an evidence tag, stating it was collected on the first day of the investigation, "So… this umbrella…"**

 **Neptune glared toward him, "Parasol."**

 **Cardin's eye twitched. "The hell's the difference?!"**

 **Jaune tapped a finger on his desk, waiting for the point, "One's for rain, the other is for sun." This earned a nod from Neptune.**

Neo blinked. She had been unaware of that distinction. She always just called it an umbrella. Granted, the fact that it was made of lace made it almost useless in the rain.

 **Cardin rolled his eyes, "Whatever. Do you sell** ** _parasols_** **like this in your shop?"**

 **Neptune nodded, "I do. They're usually custom orders. She came in and asked for a standard lace. It was weird, but a sale's a sale."**

 **"** **And tell me, what kind of blade would fit into this item?"**

 **Neptune looked at Cardin like he was crazy, "Long, thin, usually double-edged…"**

 **Cardin smirked, "Like, say, the murder weapon?" Cardin held the parasol up to show a hole on the bottom of the handle. "Notice the blade is gone." He pulled up the murder weapon. "Now, notice the style of this murder weapon. It fits right in."**

Ruby slammed her fist onto her open palm in realization, "Oh! That's why he took the sword from the ice cream shop!"

 **Jaune sighed in relief. "HOLD IT!" Jaune smirked toward Cardin, "Nice try Cardin. But it won't be that easy." He pulled out the knife from the parlor. "But I think you'll find this is the blade that belongs in that parasol."**

 **Cardin seemed to be struck again. "Where the hell did you find that?!"**

 **"** **In Neo's ice cream parlor. Behind the counter." Jaune took the parasol and the blade into either hand. He slid them together and they fell into form with a click. "Perfect fit."**

 **Cardin groaned and told Neptune to be led off. Jaune didn't have any questions, so the merchant was led back out of the court.**

 **Cardin scoffed, "But that doesn't change anything. After all, the blade is a generic form for both. They would both likely fit into the umbrella." No one was going to bother correcting him. That was a lost cause.**

Velvet smiled a little. She didn't like the idea of anyone being a lost cause but felt a little cathartic at Cardin's failings.

 **Jaune sighed. "Right then…" Jaune thought to himself for a moment. Something in his head got him to jump in surprise.**

 **Cardin groaned. "So, Ozpin's murder is still on going and it's clear that…"**

 **"** **HOLD IT!"**

 **"** **Goddammit! What now?!"**

Velvet never knew the joy of catharsis by proxy. Now? Now she knew its pleasures of seeing her bully backed into a corner. She only agrees here because there's no real harm. Just annoyances while still acting as needed.

 **Jaune pulled up the picture of the foot print. "Something's been bugging me about this picture."**

 **"** **You can't be serious."**

 **"** **I wasn't sure at first, but I think I figured it out."**

 **"** **And you couldn't bring it up before?!"**

 **"** **You didn't exactly give me the chance to. But since I have some time from your bunk witness, I felt it best to speak up now. Especially now that we know the intended purpose of the blade used."**

 **"** **You know what? Fine. Go nuts. Let's hear your new conspiracy theory."**

 **Jaune nodded. "Appreciated. Now, let's start with the print itself. It's rather full, isn't it?"**

 **"** **Pardon?"**

Neo nodded. She knew where he was going, given her need to always keep track of her actions and any evidence she'd leave behind. Most others among them didn't.

 **Jaune continued, "If this print was in motion, there'd be a scuff mark of some kind. This print was made in a stationary position. Which leads me to ask, why would that be? Then I remembered Ozpin's clocks. The broken digital clock on his desk is always reading 12:00. But it doesn't blink."**

Yang clued in first. "Right! If a digital clock brakes, it shuts down! But if it's stuck on 12:00, it always blinks!"

Ruby groaned, "I hate it when that happens…"

 **Jaune folded his arms and smiled, "So why doesn't it? Then I remembered that, yesterday, Alexander Peach said his wife worked on something in the ceiling of Ozpin's office. Put that together and it makes an interesting picture. I hereby request from the court an investigation into the ceiling of Ozpin's office just above his desk."**

 **Cardin sighed. "Sure. I'll allow it. That way, when they find nothing, you can finally give up and people will see you for the crack pot you are."**

Coco smirked. "I get the feeling they _will_ find something that might just turn this whole thing around.

 **Port nodded one. "Alright. We'll reconvene in two hours after the investigation."**

 **The screen turned to black with the message, [Kingdom of Vale Court #1, 11:50].**

 **Cardin looked very angry. He hated the fact that he had to say it. "After an investigation of Ozpin's ceiling area… the court found a hidden safe integrated into the structure above his desk."**

Velvet cheered for this. Jaune was kicking Cardin to the curb! It was amazing to see. This got Coco to try to tease her, but she didn't care! It was that amazing!

 **Jaune smirked. "And inside?"**

 **Cardin's eye twitched. "We don't know."**

 **Port raised an eyebrow, "You didn't open it?"**

 **Cardin groaned, "We can't. While we were able to remove the safe without compromising the structure, the material was impossible to open safely. The digital lock has a closed system that requires a certain code. It goes into lockdown if combinations fail enough times. We were unable to get in."**

Yang chuckled a little at the unintended pun.

 **Jaune thought for a moment. "If I might try something…"**

 **Port nodded, allowing Jaune to try. Cardin scoffed, "Good luck…"**

 **Jaune then put in a six-digit combo. When if failed, much to Cardin's enjoyment. Then he tried again.**

 ** _Click_**

 **Cardin's grin gave way to surprise.**

 **Jaune smirked. "The broken analog clock above the door showed 5:27:42. Put that into a six-digit combination, and you get 0-5-2-7-4-2 or 1-7-2-7-4-2. Turns out, it was the former."**

 **Inside the safe was a beautiful, polished ruby, yellow topaz, and amber necklace wrapped in 22 karat gold.**

Coco whistled. "Damn! That's a beautiful necklace. But why was it in Ozpin's safe?"

 **Jaune saw the necklace and nodded to himself. "Do you know what this is, Cardin?"**

 **Cardin just shrugged. "Should I?"**

 **"** **One would think. This is one of a set of four necklace piece called the Maidens."**

Ozpin blinked in surprise. This was an unexpected development.

 **"** **These pieces are one of a kind. This happens to be the Autumn Maiden. Any of the pieces could be sold at a price to let a person live in luxury for several lifetimes."**

Weiss's mind went blank. The shear value of that one necklace was more than the income of the SDC for ten years ten times over! And that's only one of them! Imagine what would happen if someone got all four!

 **Jaune continued, "Given the footprint and the placement of the safe, I submit that** ** _this_** **was the target of the crime! Ozpin was just in the wrong place at the wrong time!"**

 **Cardin groaned again. "What does that prove?! If anything, it just hurts the Defendant's case more! The money that necklace would sell for could keep her shop open for decades!"**

 **"** **Remember Cardin, Neo is sub-five-foot. She's not tall enough to reach the ceiling, even with the desk as a boost. Not to mention the fact that none of us were aware of the safe until today."**

 **Cardin gritted his teeth and slammed his fist on the desk. After a moment, he took a breath and looked back up. "The Prosecution would like to call its last witness, an eye witness, who saw everything as it happened…"**

Neo groaned, sort of. If she could, she would have. She didn't like where this was going.

 **The witness was led in. She was a woman in a flowing red dress. Her heels clicked as she walked. Everything about her showed she was a woman of power.**

Cinder blinked. She wasn't expecting to see herself as a witness for the prosecution. But she had to admit, she at least liked this portrayal so far.

 **Cardin crossed his arms, "Please give your name for the court."**

 **She smiled. But it was a smile that felt off. "My name is Cinder Fall. I live in the building across from Ozpin's office."**

 **Cardin nodded. "Now, if you would be so kind as to give your testimony…"**

 **"** **Of course."**

 **[The Testimony of Cinder Fall].**

 **"** **I had planned to stargaze that night since there was supposed to be a meteor shower, so I was on the roof with my telescope. But the cloud cover was horrid. I couldn't see anything! I was starting to pack up when I saw it through the window! That girl was trying, and failing, to reach toward the ceiling. But Ozpin walked in and caught her in the act. She jumped around him and stuck a knife in his back before he could shout out. She ran off after that."**

Neo didn't like Cinder. That was evident every time they were in the same room. Even when they weren't. So, this Cinder taking a crack at her height was annoying. She could tell when someone was objectively stating a fact and when they were mocking her.

 **Cardin nodded. "Thus, the necklace was still in the safe and we know how things went. I think we're done here."**

 **Jaune glared toward his opposition, "Hang on, Cardin! I still get to cross-examine your witness."**

 **Cardin rolled his eyes. "Fine. But be quick about it."**

 **[Cross-Examination of Cinder Fall].**

 **Jaune thought over her testimony. "You said you went out to stargaze on the roof of your building?"**

 **Cinder nodded. "That's right."**

 **"** **Can anyone vouch for your presence?"**

 **Cinder sighed. "Unfortunately, my hobby isn't shared by too many in my building, so no."**

Ruby thought for a moment, "So… she doesn't have an alibi either?"

Yang looked to her sister in surprise, "Ruby? Where did you learn that word?"

Ruby just pointed, "Uncle Qrow."

Winter sighed and shook her head, "Of course it was…"

Qrow just took another sip from his flask.

 **Jaune thought for a moment, "When did this happen?"**

 **Cinder thought for a moment. "Around 11:40."**

 **"** **And how were you aware of that? Last I checked, there's no clocks on rooftops."**

 **Cinder tapped her chin. "I remember seeing it in the clock in Ozpin's office."**

 **Cardin's eye twitched. "No…"**

 **Cinder looked toward him in confusion. As per the court's rules, she was unaware of the day's proceedings so as to ensure justice is played out.**

 **Jaune smirked. "OBJECTION!"**

Nora jumped up and copied Jaune's pose. "Objection!" She giggled. "That's so fun to say!"

 **Cinder jumped a little hearing that.**

 **"** **The clock you'd be able to see in that office from the outside was broken! And last I checked, it read 5:27."**

 **Cinder felt her eye twitch a little. A small spark effect flying off. "Then it seems my memory had failed me there. I remembered the clock, but the time must have been on my scroll."**

 **Cardin tried to act as damage control. "The human mind can easily be fooled by such things. Blending memories made of valid bits of the whole."**

 **Jaune nodded, deciding to continue with a different section of her testimony. "Hang on… You said your stargazing was on your building's roof."**

 **"** **We've been over this Arc." Cardin tried to move on.**

 **Jaune nodded, "We did. But there's something off about that. If you were stargazing on the roof, you'd be looking upward. Yet you said you saw the murder out of the corner of your eye and into an office. At an angle that would make it impossible to see anything!"**

 **Cinder growled. A small fire effect appearing before she calmed down again. "Obviously, my building is high enough to see into the building."**

 **Jaune smirked. "Then you'd never see anything through your telescope."**

 **Cinder shook, the fires building again.**

 **"** **I have the feeling you're hiding something Ms. Fall."**

 **Cardin slammed his hand onto the desk, "Enough Arc! You're making it sound like my witness was the murderer!"**

 **Cinder slammed her fisted onto the railing.**

Roman raised an eyebrow. "Well now…"

Cinder glared. A petty criminal? Really? That's all she came to in this one?

 **Cinder started to laugh. "Fine then, Mr. Defense Lawyer! Then pray tell, what did I see through my telescope?!"**

 **Jaune thought for a moment. He smirked for a second, "I'd say you** ** _did_** **see into Ozpin's office."**

 **Cinder grinned, "See? Even you can see reality when…"**

 **"** **I'm not done, Ms. Fall. You saw into Ozpin's office, because that was your intended target!"**

 **Cinder growled. "What exactly are you saying?!"**

 **"** **I'm saying that you've been watching Ozpin for a while now. You knew about the Maiden necklace hidden away by spying on his office. You waited until someone came along and planned to use them as a scapegoat for your heist!"**

 **Cinder seemed to have a small explosion near her head as her anger boiled.**

Cinder couldn't fault the plan, but she couldn't condone the lack of preparation.

 **Jaune pointed toward Cinder with the pose from before, "You have no alibi, no evidence as a witness that doesn't throw yourself under the bus, and no way out of this without an answer! What do you have to say for yourself?!"**

 **Cinder was shaking. "You think you can prove…"**

 **"** **I think I can!" He pulled out the murder weapon. "Neptune stated most of these blades are custom orders." He pulled Neo's blade for comparison, showing a small number. "The non-custom sets have serial numbers. The murder weapon doesn't. Small little things that most people wouldn't notice. I bet if we ask, Neptune would be able to tell us who bought this particular blade."**

 **Cinder's shaking was getting worse.**

 **"** **And, if I may, I noticed your particular heels when you walked in. A better version for being on your feet than normal high heels. And a perfect match for the print on Ozpin's desk!"**

Ruby was amazed. "This Jaune is really smart!"

Weiss nodded. "He's more observant than anything. Simply taking out the falsities to find the truth."

 **Jaune continued. "I have the feeling you** ** _did_** **see the time on the clock in Ozpin's office, from the inside! You planned to steal that necklace! But you couldn't see the combination and couldn't get the safe open! So, you got caught and killed Ozpin to get away! You planned to pin everything on Neo and come back to steal the Maiden before any of us were aware it was there! Face it! Your testimony is falling apart as you grasp at cinders!"**

Yang doubled over in laughter.

 **Cinder, however, didn't take it so well. She screamed out as the fire effects surrounded her.**

 **A small black out was followed by a full color recap of the events exactly as Jaune had told it. Complete with Cinder jumping down to kick Ozpin around. Her height of 5'11 making it much easier for her to reach Ozpin's upper back with the blade.**

Nora went starry eyed. "Oh my gosh! So that's how it all went down!"

Ruby cheered, "Go Jaune! Figuring all that out!"

 **When things returned to normal, Port shook his head and sighed. "Given recent… events, I think we can all say that my verdict should be fairly obvious. I find the Defendant…"**

 **[NOT GUILTY]**

 **Jaune sighed in relief. Another case down. Another innocent person saved from prison. Another hidden criminal put behind bars. All in a day's work for Jaune Arc: Ace Attorney!**


	21. 99 and a Witch

**King: 21 chapters and 80,000+ words of content (not including these notes at the beginning). I call that a win. Let's get to what you're all here for, shall we~?**

 **Inspiration: Soul Eater**

 **/\**

Nora was giggling as she shouted "Objection!" She even got Ruby to join in.

King was still nowhere to be seen, so the screen started to play the next world. Before it could, he popped back to form. "I'm back~ Who missed me?"

Ruby waved, smiling. "So, how did it go?"

"Oh, I'm no where close to being done… Unfortunately… This stuff is… ridiculously complicated. I just want to pop in and see how you guys were doing. Do you need anything while I'm working?" After a few people got a snack or drink, he disappeared again and the screen formed the next world. As he faded, he spoke to himself, "This ought to be good~"

 **The screen opened to show a massive castle-like building. It looked like a variation of Beacon, just with floating fires above several smaller towers. The scene flew around the castle as a voice over began.**

 **"** ** _The Beacon Academy. A haven for the best and brightest of the DWMA students._** **"**

"DWMA?" Ruby's head tilted, "What's that?"

Ozpin readjusted his glasses, "I can't say I'm aware."

Qrow took another swig, "I've never heard about anything like that. This is probably a reality with different rules."

 **"** ** _It is here that the next generation of Meisters are trained to defend the innocent civilians and to create new Death Scythes. All in the hopes to prevent the Grimm from regaining a foothold over the world._** **"**

Ruby went wide eyed, "Death Scythe?! That sounds so cool! Maybe it's like an improvement to normal weapons! Maybe it can do more stuff than even Crescent Rose!"

Yang chuckled at Ruby's antics.

 **The screen stopped to show Ozpin standing in the main court yard of the Academy. His usual green suit was exchanged for a robe. He had a cartoonish skull mask resting on the upper side of his head. He chuckled and took a large gulp from his coffee mug. He sighed in satisfaction with eyes closed. Then he started to address the audience, "That's the idea anyway."**

Nora laughed a little. "That mask is so adorable!"

 **Ozpin swung his cane around one handed. He walked on as he continued the voice over's point from before, "The Academy was founded to fight against evil souls, humans who try to stray into the world of the Grimm. We give them the title Kishin. These Kishin souls are dangerous beasts out to destroy everything in their path. And so, I founded this school to fight back."**

Qrow chuckled. "Guess this Oz is more of the playful type than ours."

Glynda sighed. "So, it seems…"

 **"** **Granted, making it a school to train young students rather than more experienced types was a personal decision. Victory will be found in a simple soul, after all." His cane slammed into the ground and he turned back to the viewers. He grinned and continued, "But I've rambled enough. You're not here to see me. Let's roll up our sleeves and get to work!"**

 **The screen snapped to black.**

 **When it returned, it showed an area of Vale at night. It wasn't very distinct, but it was clearly Vale at the same time. They saw a man walking down the streets. He grinned with a sharp toothed smile as he dragged a massive set of iron claws across the ground.**

A lot of the group felt a chill run up their spines. The sound of metal scraping across cobblestone was a very distinct sound that just got to a person. It wasn't a kind sound. It made even the strongest man shake in fear, at least a little bit.

 **The man lifted his claws and moved in silence. He jumped forward, the camera lagging in place. After a moment, the screen was showing his first-person view as he ran along the streets and alleys. He jumped along until a young woman appeared in his view. He rushed toward her. She didn't notice. She didn't turn. The screen went red. She didn't even have the chance to scream.**

"Oh my gods…" Velvet recoiled went that happened. It was terrible to see and the fact that they didn't see how it happened made them all have to imagine. That only made things worse.

 **The man walked on as another woman screamed. She spun around to run when he noticed her. He ran after her and caught up to her by a large set of stairs. He rose his claws to kill again as he roared out.**

 **A scoff from the stair cases made him pause. He turned his head away from the woman, giving her the chance to escape.**

Velvet exhaled in relief for the woman. At least she got away alive.

 **The man looked up to see two late teens standing at the top of the stairs.**

 **The first was a young woman with brown hair and eyes. She wore a long brown trench coat over something resembling the Beacon uniform. A cartoon bunny pin was placed on her lapel.**

"Velvet?" Coco smirked. "That's certainly a good look for you."

Velvet blinked in surprise. Not in seeing herself on the screen, that's happened already. But seeing her seemingly so confident… that was a shock. There was also the fact that she wasn't a faunas in this world. That was interesting to say the least.

 **The young man next to her was an all too familiar blonde boy. His deep blue eyes seemed to shine in the darkness of the night. He dressed in a black jacket, gold shirt, dark jeans, and boots. He had a white beret with a golden symbol of crossed lances.**

Nora pointed toward the screen in excitement, "There's Jaune!"

Yang whistled, "It's kind of weird to see Vomit Boy so confident."

Coco raised an eyebrow. "His style is alright. He could do better, but its still good for moving around."

Velvet blushed a little seeing this version of Jaune. Seeing them both side by side, both confident… it was almost dream-like.

 **Jaune smirked when the man noticed them. "I'm going to guess that's the guy we're after."**

 **Velvet nodded. "He's not exactly subtle…"**

 **The man finally turned his whole body toward them. He reached his hand up and licked one of the claws.**

Cinder couldn't place it, but he seemed familiar. She'd seen him before.

 **Velvet cracked her neck before looking down at the man, "A twisted soul, straying to the path of the Grimm… Mad Serial Killer, Tyrian…"**

Cinder had a moment. Now she could see it! It was Tyrian!

 **"…** **Your soul is mine!"**

Weiss had taken a sip from some tea she got at the beginning of this round. When Velvet said that line, she coughed as she tried to gasp with tea in her mouth. "His what is what now?!"

 **Tyrian laughed as he started to charge toward them. As he slammed a claw into the ground, Velvet jumped back to avoid the attack. Jaune flipped in the air and toward Velvet. She caught his hand and swung around with him in hand. Jaune seemed to glow for a moment in the blur. When Velvet landed, she was holding a white and golden spear. The majority of the metal was primarily white while several accents being gold, the spearhead was white, but the sharpened section of the weapon was gold.**

Ruby was seriously amazed. One, Jaune just became an actual weapon! That was so cool! Next, he became, in her personal opinion, an amazingly beautiful weapon. It was the kind of weapon a person would beam with pride to have in hand. _No wonder this Velvet is so confident._

Her surprise about Jaune becoming a weapon was shared by the rest of the group. But they didn't have her zeal for the idea.

 **Tyrian roared and charged toward Velvet. Velvet dropped her stance and spun the non-bladed end of the spear into Tyrian's gut. With a rather acrobatic spin, she slashed at Tyrian, earning a few good hits. Tyrian tried to back up, but Velvet vaulted using her spear and kicked him clean in the jaw. She slid down slightly, wrapping her arm around the spear. She slammed her feet onto the ground and swung her weapon with enough power to send Tyrian flying upward.**

Velvet was amazed, seeing herself move so effectively. Sure, her semblance being able to copy other people's actions helped her in a fight, but it was always someone else's movements. Someone else's powers. But this was her. This was her power.

 **Tyrian shook himself back midair and got ready to slash at her on the way down. A brown blur got him to look upward. Velvet had jumped into the sky and slammed her blade into Tyrian's gut on the way down. They fell to the Earth with a powerful shockwave. Tyrian's eyes went white as his body twisted with a massive pop, revealing a red, spherical item. It was Tyrian's twisted soul.**

It was odd for any of them to see a physical soul. They've seen aura and semblances that were an extension of the soul, but never the soul itself.

 **Velvet held her spear toward the soul. It began to glow, so she let go, allowing Jaune to reform into his human state. Jaune reached out and took the soul in hand, spinning around by an extension on the top of the soul. He tossed the soul into the air with a smile. As it fell back down, he caught the soul with his teeth and it flowed down his throat.**

This got a rather shocked reaction. Jaune had just eaten a soul. A SOUL! He just ate the inner spirit of a human being! Granted he was a seriously bad dude, but the thought was jarring.

 **Velvet smiled. "I've been meaning to ask, what does a soul taste like?"**

 **Jaune shrugged, "They don't really have a taste. It's more the sensation of them going down."**

 **"** **Huh…" Velvet stated to walk with Jaune down the streets. "Well, on more important news, that was soul 99!"**

 **Jaune smiled. His partner was always the enthusiastic one. "Just one more thing to do. The witch's soul."**

Ozpin took a sip from his coffee. "A witch's soul?"

Qrow chuckled, "5 Lien says it's Glynda."

Yang smirked toward her uncle. "20 Lien says it's not~"

Nora jumped up in her seat. "Place your bets! Who's the witch?!"

When they were done, the run down was as follows:

5 votes Glynda Goodwitch

1 vote Weiss Schnee

2 votes Winter Schnee

4 votes Cinder Fall

Remaining abstain

With the betting closed, the group looked back up to the screen.

 **Velvet walked up to a window and breathed on the glass, causing it to fog. She used her finger to write out a number as she spoke, "42-42-564 to knock on Death's door."**

"Death?" Qrow paused before he could take another sip from his flask. "As in… the Grim Reaper?"

"Well that's unnerving." Ironwood replied.

 **The window started to glow, becoming like a screen that connected them to Death. Velvet waved into the glowing surface, "Hello again, sir!"**

 **On the other side of the screen, Ozpin waved back, "Hello~! It's great to hear from you both again!"**

If Ironwood had been drinking, he'd have done a spit take. "Oz is the physical embodiment of Death?!"

Ozpin blinked, but just took another sip from his mug, a small smirk on his face hidden behind the ceramic cup.

 **Jaune smirked, "Just reporting in to say we got the 99th soul."**

 **Ozpin nodded. "Good to hear~!" His tone dropped to give them a warning, "However, you must remember that your next goal is the witch's soul. Both of you need to be careful. Many great Meister's have lost their lives before the magical powers of a witch."**

 **Velvet and Jaune nodded. A look of determination painting both of their faces.**

 **"** **And, because of this, if anything goes wrong, I will have to confiscate all the souls you've collected so far. Am I understood?"**

 **They both answered in unison, "Yes sir!"**

 **"** **Excellent! Good luck you two~!" The window ceased to glow and returned to its natural state.**

 **Jaune was the first to speak after this, "Now, we just need to find a witch."**

 **Velvet held up a piece of paper. "I might have a lead or two~"**

 **Jaune smirked, "Then what are we waiting for?"**

Coco smiled. "I have to admit, Vel, you and Arc have a good thing going there."

Velvet blushed but nodded. "Yeah…"

 **The two made their way off down the streets as the screen moved upward. The night sky seemed to shift slightly before it came down again. The screen revealed a two-tier house made of pumpkins. Jack-o-lanterns, really.**

 **Jaune sweat dropped, "She lives… in a pumpkin?"**

 **Velvet had a similar reaction. "Witches are weird…"**

Roman smirked, "Alright people! Moment of truth! Who's the witch?!"

Those that made their bets leaned in with bated breath.

 **Jaune turned toward his partner, "Alright, so what's the plan?"**

 **Velvet took on a thinking stance, "I'm not sure. We don't know what we're up against. Not to mention that it's a witch. We need to be careful. Let's go in for some recon. We can figure out a strategy from there."**

 **The two nodded and made their way toward a window on one side. They both looked around to make sure they were unseen, snapped off the pane, and vaulted into the room. They landed in a rather large library of some kind. After a moment, Jaune made for the nearby door. He cracked open the wooden barrier to look beyond and into the next room without being seen. This was a mistake. Jaune face turned beat red and he instantly closed the door, their cover was easily blown with that.**

"The heck did he see?" Ruby asked.

Pyrrha had only seen a reaction like that once. She looked toward her team. They all had the same realization. "I think I might know…"

 **Velvet turned toward her partner, a slight glare on her face, "What the heck was that?!"**

 **The door opened to reveal their witch. In a bath towel…**

This got everyone to simultaneously say "Oh…" in realization.

 **The woman before them had long black hair reaching to her shoulders. She had adorned a pointed witch's hat as she left the bathroom. Her amber eyes fixed in a glare.**

Yang started to laugh, "Holy crap! Blake's the witch!"

"So…" Emerald leaned back, "Nobody wins?"

Nora grinned, "In the event of all losing, the house takes the winnings!"

Ren tapped Nora's shoulders, "You made a bet too. There is no house."

Nora blinked for a moment in silence, "Damn it…"

 **Blake growled a little toward the two, "I appreciate that you realized your mistake by peeping at me in the bath. But I don't appreciate you trespassing in my home."**

 **Velvet met Blake's glare with her own, "Witch Blake! We're here to collect your soul!"**

 **Blake raised an eyebrow.**

 **Jaune smacked his cheeks to calm himself back down. "Right! Let's do this!" He started to glow and became a spear again, falling into Velvet's hands.**

 **Blake was surprised to see that. "He actually turned into a spear?"**

Ruby still thought it was kind of cool. Turning into a weapon?! That's so cool! But what if it could work the other way around? What would Crescent Rose look like?!

 **Blake's surprise fell into a grin. "Tell you what…" Using magic, she was now wearing a long-sleeve black dress, white leggings, and thigh-high boots.**

 **Velvet paused a moment.**

 **Blake held out a hand, palm upward in expectation to receive, "Give me the spear, and I'll ignore your trespassing."**

 **Velvet glared back, readying Jaune to attack, "Not happening!"**

 **Blake's hand flipped around with palm facing Velvet. A small jack-o-lantern appeared and grew in her hand. "Halloween Cannon!" The jack-o-lantern flew forward and turned into a beam of power. The beam fired through the house walls with a powerful burst.**

 **Off in the distance, Velvet slammed into a tree. Jaune, still in spear form, flew up next to her, pinning her to the tree by her coat. Velvet groaned. "We're not done here…"**

 **Jaune returned to human form and held Velvet up in the tree. "Not even close."**

Yang crossed her arms and smirked in her seat, "I have to admit, I don't know who to root for."

Nora jumped up on her chair, "Well I'm rooting for Jaune!"

Pyrrha and Velvet had similar enthusiasm to Nora's. Granted, Velvet had a slight ulterior motive. To see her and Jaune succeed together…

 **[The next day]**

 **Jaune and Velvet were hiding behind a tree near Blake's house. Today's plan, ambush. It might not be a glamorous option, but it was the best they have. Velvet was leaning out from behind the trunk, Jaune leaning out above her. Unfortunately, they've been waiting for a long time.**

 **Jaune groaned. "Where they hell is she?"**

 **Velvet was just as annoyed, "No idea. She needs to leave eventually, right?"**

 **"** **Well… I guess we'll have time to make up another plan. Any ideas?"**

 **"** **Yeah." Blake had snuck up behind them was now directly in front of Velvet's face. "Any ideas?"**

 **Velvet recoiled straight into Jaune. The screen pulled back to show Velvet freaking out over her unconscious partner while Blake held up a V for victory.**

Yang, Ruby, and Nora went into a laughing fit. Blake chuckled a little seeing that as well. It was interesting to see this version of herself.

 **[The next, next day].**

 **Velvet and Jaune were making their way toward Blake's home. Velvet looked over a small paper, "We need to try something different if we're going to get to her."**

 **"** **She said she wanted me in my spear form. Why not play that up and use it as a sneak attack?"**

 **"** **That might work…"**

 **"** **Good luck with that." The two spun around to find Blake standing behind them. "Halloween Cannon!" A large purple cloud from the explosion formed into a pumpkin shape, showing its origin.**

This got a few laughs on top of the main group. The cloud alone was rather ridiculous.

 **[Round Three!]**

 **Velvet had Jaune's spear form in hand as she dodged a flying, burning pumpkin. Blake was sitting on a flying jack-o-lantern, using her magic to create more pumpkin bombs that would fly toward Velvet.**

 **Blake rested her chin in her hand, "Give it up. You can't beat me."**

 **Velvet growled. She and Jaune had been through too much to give up now or ever! There had to be an option!**

 **Jaune spoke through his weapon form, "Velvet… I think I have an idea."**

 **Blake's look of surprise returned. "I didn't know he could talk as a spear."**

Ruby was starry eyed. Weapons that can talk?! What would Crescent Rose sound like?! So many possibilities!

 **Velvet looked toward the blade of her spear for a moment, "I'm listening."**

 **They could almost see Jaune reflected in the blade of the spear. His grin spoke volumes. "Let's kick things up a notch or two."**

 **Velvet smirked. "Let's do this."**

 **The screen faded to a black screen. Two wavelengths, one brown and one gold, seemed to flow across the screen. They heard Jaune and Velvet screen out, "Soul Resonance!" The wavelengths flowed together and amplified each other.**

"What's going on?" Ruby was a little confused.

Yang shrugged. "Guess we're about to find out."

 **The screen returned to the fight, showing Velvet and her spear/Jaune glowing. A pair of souls seemed to flow together and became a single power. It pulled away to show that Ozpin was watching the fight on a screen shaped like a gravestone.**

 **Ozpin took a sip from a coffee mug, thinking to himself.** ** _Velvet and Jaune always were a talented pair. To be able to resonate their souls at such a young age is impressive alone, but the effect was also different._**

Ozpin nodded. "Okay. I think I get it. Their souls seem to have a wavelength of some kind, like we have aura. Like any wave, if they flow together, the effect amplifies to a more powerful wave."

The group of viewers all nodded in understanding.

 **Ozpin smirked.** ** _Most pairs have the power flow into the weapon. But Jaune and Velvet were always a little different there._**

 **Velvet started to glow. A pair of wings seemed to sprout from her back, an extension of her soul made manifest. She jumped up with a shock wave, instantly above Blake. She slashed with Jaune and sliced the pumpkin in two.**

 **Blake had jumped off and held both hands outward, "Smashing Pumpkin!" A massive magic pumpkin created a powerful shockwave, sending Velvet flying.**

 **Velvet swung around and landed on a nearby building. She jumped off the surface and slashed at Blake. This continued for a few jumps. When Resonating, Velvet gains tremendous amounts of strength and stamina. She can jump to a location in a blink, all in a single action. It's often confused with super speed; but, in reality, it's more like a literal jump.**

"Woah…" Velvet was taken aback seeing her move like that. It was like she was flying. Granted, she was really just jumping forward really fast. But it still looked cool.

 **Blake was having difficulties keeping up. Velvet would jump by her and slash, only to impact the area behind Blake and spin around for another jump and another slash. She tried to fight back as best she could, but it was no use. Velvet swung through, not with a slash, but with a piercing run. She, along with an impaled Blake flew off toward the ground. When they landed, Blake's body popped like Tyrian's had, revealing a purple soul.**

"No! Blake!" Ruby was sad to see a friend and teammate be killed like that. She knew it was another world, but it still hurt.

Blake recoiled seeing the way she went. It had to have hurt like nobody's business.

 **Jaune reformed and took Blake's soul in hand with a grin. "And there it is. Mission accomplished." He ate the soul and took in breath.**

Blake groaned. The idea that someone just ate her _soul_ was more than a little jarring.

 **Velvet watched her partner. "Well?"**

 **Jaune was shaking slightly. "This one's definitely different. I can feel a lot of magical power… It's a little overwhelming. But it's… fading? It's not supposed to do that!"**

 **"** **What?" Velvet paused when she felt a weight land on her head. She looked up to see a black cat staring down at her, resting on her skull. "Um…"**

 **Jaune looked up toward the cat. "Don't tell me…"**

 **The cat looked between the two, getting comfortable on Velvet's head. Then she spoke, "I never once said I was a witch…"**

 **Jaune and Velvet had all the color drain from their bodies in shock.**

Nora went into a laughing fit powerful enough to knock her off her seat. "Blake's an actual cat!"

Blake was just wide eyed in shear shock. As was a large chunk of the audience.

 **Blake jumped off of Velvet's head and reformed into her humanoid form, revealing a pair of cat ears adorning her head. "I'm just a cat with an insane amount of magical power."**

 **Jaune felt a chill run up his spine. "But… that means…"**

 **Velvet's eye twitched. "99 evil souls… and a cat…"**

 **"** **We messed up the witch's soul…"**

 **They both fell over in disappointed shock, speaking in unison. "We have to start over…"**

A few among the group laughed at their reactions. Some felt sorry for them.

 **Jaune shouted, "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" He started to rev a motorcycle and drove off down the street with Velvet sitting behind him. "We were so close!"**

Yang whistled, "Got to say, this version of Jaune has good taste in cycles." Sure, it didn't look like hers or anything, but still.

 **The motorcycle was a shining gold and white. A brown, running rabbit was detailed onto one side. He wasn't sure about it at first, but he's gotten used to their theme after a while.**

 **Velvet had her arms wrapped around Jaune's waist to keep herself stable. She was still getting used to Jaune's method of transportation.**

Velvet blushed a little seeing that.

 **Blake was back in cat form and resting on top of Velvet's head again. "Come on, it doesn't seem that bad."**

 **Jaune growled, but kept eyes forward, "Shut up!"**

 **Velvet was just as annoyed by the magical cat on her head, "Why are you here, anyway? Didn't we take your soul?!"**

Blake could see the joke coming a mile away.

 **The Blake on screen just deadpanned, "Didn't you know cats have nine souls? One less is no skin off my nose."**

Blake groaned at the nine lives joke. A few of the viewers laughed a little, and she could see the joke at hand. But it was just… too easy.

 **The screen pulled away as Jaune and Velvet groaned. As it did, the voice over returned, "** ** _Not all journeys are ever really straightforward. Sometimes, there's a bump in the road._** **"**


	22. Right Behind You

**King: Oh... this is going to be fun~ Plenty of people have asked for this (and another one from the franchise, but that might have to wait). Let's get started and see how it goes~?**

 **Inspiration: Team Fortress 2**

 **/\**

King was still out, so the next round started to take form on the screen.

"I don't know why…" Ruby folded her arms, "But I have a bad feeling about this one…"

 **The first thing they saw was a blue alarm bell blaring out. The screen blurred as it moved between panels lighting up, a voice reading out each. "** ** _INTRUDER ALERT! RED SPY! IN THE BASE!_** **"**

 **The camera pulled back to show an older version of Yang, about 35-ish, in a blue uniform looking at each of the panels, "A Red spy is in the base?!"**

"Red spy?" Yang was surprised to hear that.

Blake rolled her eyes, "Not a very good spy, apparently."

 **Yang grabbed a shotgun from a weapon rack and started to run down the hall, "We have to protect the Intel Briefcase!" She had to get to the intel room and defend the case from the spy.**

 **"** **Yo! A little help here?!" A blue uniformed Mercury was trying to open the door in a panic. Unlike Yang, he wasn't aged up.**

Mercury raised an eyebrow seeing himself. "Okay… What this going to be then?"

 **Yang pushed him to the side, "Alright! Step aside." She started to punch in the code on the key pad.**

 **Mercury had a baseball bat in hand and was waiting patiently for the door to open. Okay, impatiently. "Let's go! Let's go!"**

 **Down the hall, a frantic, blue patterned Nora, also in her mid-thirties, charged down the hallway with a massive minigun spinning in hand, "INCOMING!"**

Nora cheered seeing herself so awesome.

Ren, however, was starting to catch on. "Isn't this like that Pyro world… Red and Blue versions of all of us?"

The group felt a chill go up their spines. A reaction to either the unholy terror that was Pyro-Jaune or the candy-colored happy world he saw during his rampage.

 **Nora barreled through the two and broke down the door. The room was undisturbed, save for the now broken door. All three screaming as they entered.**

 **Mercury fell in front of the desk and reached up to touch the briefcase. "Hey… It's still here!"**

 **Nora held her gun toward the side in relief, "All right then~"**

 **"** **Ahem!" The three turned toward a mid-thirties version of Jaune in a three-piece blue suit with black gloves. He had someone slung over his shoulder. "Gentlemen?" It was that upper Mistrali accent again. However, unlike last time, this felt more… suave.**

If the last time they heard it sent a chill through their core, this one heated them up. Nora still laughed hearing it, granted. But the others? The girls couldn't help but blush a little, not even Weiss was immune anymore. Pyrrha and Velvet? Their faces were tomatoes, and sporting a nose bleed.

 **The screen snapped off to show a title card similar to the Pyro version they saw before. It read, in big white letters, [Meet the Spy] with a file folder set to the side and a butterfly knife stabbed into the other.**

"So, it _is_ like the Pyro reality." Sun groaned a little remembering that.

"This can't be good." Neptune agreed with Sun's sentiment.

 **The screen returned to the scene as the Blue Jaune adjusted the slumped body over his shoulder. He stepped into the room as broken glass cracked beneath his feet. "I see the briefcase is safe."**

 **Yang grinned, "Safe and sound!"**

 **Jaune seemed to think for a moment, "Tell me," he looked between each of the people in the room, "Did anyone happen to kill a Red spy on the way here?" Being met with only shrugs, his face turned sour, "No? Then we've still got a problem." He slammed the body of the Blu Lie Ren on the table with a butterfly knife embedded in his back.**

"Ren!" Nora didn't take that well. Ren had to calm her back down, but it wasn't fun for her to see. The two were all each other had for so long…

 **Yang groaned, "And a knife…"**

 **Mercury scoffed, "Ooh… big problem. I've killed plenty of spies." He took the knife out of Ren's back and started to spin it rather gracelessly in his hand. "They're dime-a-dozen backstabbing scumbags." He gestured toward Jaune, "Like you!" He lost what focus his had and the blade hit into his finger. "Ow!" He dropped the knife on the table and started to suck on his new injury. "No offense."**

 **Jaune picked up the knife and spun it in hand with the grace and skill of a professional, "I assure you, if** ** _you_** **managed to kill them, they were not like me."**

Emerald laughed at this Jaune tearing Mercury down.

 **Jaune handed the knife to Mercury as he walked to his side, "And nothing… Nothing! Like the man loose inside this building."**

 **Mercury was far from impressed, "What? Are you president of his fan club or something?"**

 **Jaune turned back around toward Mercury, "No…" He snapped a folder in hand as he glared toward Mercury, "That would be your mother!"**

Yang sighed, "Really… A your mom joke?"

"Why does he have a folder?" Ruby observed.

Yang blinked. "You don't think…"

Emerald had a massive grin, "Please! Please let that be what I think it is!" She wanted to see Mercury really get what was coming to him.

 **Jaune slammed the folder on the desk and a set of photos fell out from their manila housing. Each was a picture of rather… intimate moments between the Red Jaune and a woman. Mercury was at a real loss for words. Anger, shock, so much going through his head.**

Mercury groaned. "This is stupid…"

Emerald was in a blissful fit of laughter, "This is hilarious!"

Yang also started to laugh. "Damn. Alright. The joke works. Give him this, he brought evidence."

 **Jaune continued, "Indeed. And now he's here to fuck** ** _us_** **!"**

This got a snicker from the crowd.

 **Jaune smacked Mercury's chest with the back of his hand. "So, listen up, boy! Or pornography staring your mother will be the second worst thing that happens to you today." He walked off as Mercury tried to collect the photos, trying to save face.**

 **Unfortunately, Nora and Yang already got some of the photos. Nora showed Yang one of the photos, getting her to jump a little. Mercury spun around and swiped the photos out of their hands, "Give me that!"**

 **Jaune looked off with a glare, as a score started to swell. It was the theme of a man that could be right behind you, and you'd never know until the knife was in your back. "The spy has already breached our defenses."**

 **The screen faded to show a red version of Jaune running down a hallway.**

"So, that's technically the main Jaune we're here for." Neptune reasoned, "Like how the Pyro version we saw before was on the Red team."

 **Jaune ran up to a doorway and placed himself against the wall to the side. He peaked in to find a blue Ruby in a hardhat working with her sentry gun system.**

The Ruby in the audience went starry eyed, "Oh my gosh! That's so cool! Look at it! Two heavy caliber miniguns and a missile pod! How does it work?! How do I build it?!"

 **Jaune pulled a strange device out of his coat and ran into the room. He slid the item underneath the turret, causing it to spark and shut down.**

 **Ruby shouted out in surprise, "Sentry down!" She noticed Jaune walking up toward her and tried to draw a gun. Jaune, however, was already on the draw, pointing a heavy caliber magnum pistol toward Ruby. One gunshot later, the door behind Ruby flung open, a hole in her hardhat and her blood splattered onto the door.**

Ruby shrunk in her chair seeing that. She'd never be used to that, but that's probably for the best in a way.

 **Jaune moved into the doorway with pistol drawn, another gunshot caused the screen to return to the blue Jaune addressing the trio from before. "You've seen what he's done to our colleagues." The blue Jaune gestured toward the dead blue Ren.**

 **The scene faded to show Ren in a snipers' next with Jaune moving slowly toward him from behind. A squeaking floorboard alerted Ren to his intruder. Ren spun around to try to attack Jaune, but that was difficult in close quarters with a sniper rifle. He dropped the gun and picked up a large kukri, trying to slash at Jaune. The trained spy kept out of reach of the blade for a while before slashing at Ren's cheek, leaving a scar. Jaune spun around Ren with a slash at his side before spinning into a backstab. The force of the blow caused Ren to fall from his height to the ground below as Jaune brushed his gloved hand against his suit jacket.**

Nora wasn't taking that well. Seeing that play out was difficult for her. Luckily, she had Ren nearby to help calm her again.

 **The scene returned to Blu Jaune, "And worst of all…"**

Roman nervously chuckled, "It gets worse?"

 **"…** **he could be any one of us."**

Everyone was surprised. What could he mean by that?

 **The screen showed the Blu Coco in a combat medic uniform trying to attack the Red Jaune with a bone saw. Jaune caught her arm and wrapped his own around it, keeping her in place. The camera fell to their feet. Leather dress shoes became heels, red slacks to blue skinny jeans, suit jacket to a pale blue medical coat, stylized blonde hair to a brunette curl. Brown eyes stared back into brown eyes. Coco was staring into her own eyes…**

This got everyone to freeze. The Jaune had just transformed into Coco right in front of their eyes. It was kind of crazy.

 **While Coco was taken aback seeing that, the disguised Jaune struck Coco's neck with enough force to knock her out and send her sunglasses upward. As Coco fell, Jaune/Coco caught the glasses and placed them on his face. No one would ever suspect him now.**

Coco laughed nervously, "Okay… I know he probably just killed the other me, but _that_ was kind of cool…"

No one was really so comfortable about the idea. Someone that could take on anyone's face, move in perfect stealth in plain sight… No one would ever expect it. By the time they knew, it would be too late, if they ever found out.

 **The scene returned to Blu Jaune, his tone becoming slowly more panicked "He could be in this very room! It could be you! It could be me! He could even be…"**

 **BOOM!**

 **Blu Jaune's head exploded in a mass of blood and bone.**

Everyone recoiled seeing that. Especially because it came out of nowhere. A few of them even shouted out with a hardy, "WHAT THE FUCK?!"

 **The screen turned to show Yang with her shotgun pointed toward him as the other two had similar reactions to the viewers. Yang pumped the shotgun as she spoke, "What?! It was obvious! He's the Red spy!"**

Raven got over the shock first, "That… makes sense. Hiding in plain sight was simple but hiding as the one that warns them is rather smart."

"Didn't help _him_." Qrow was long used to his sister's lack of tact.

 **Yang moved toward the dead Blu Jaune with Nora following behind, "Watch! He'll turn red any second now!" After a while with no reaction, Yang poked his foot with her gun. "Any second now…"**

Ren deadpanned, "I don't think that was the spy…"

Nora tried to use some humor to diffuse the fact that she just saw a man's head explode. "I mean, he was the Blu spy."

 **Yang grinned, "See?! Red!" Yang reexamined the body, "No wait. That's blood."**

 **In the background, Mercury looked out toward the hall. After a moment, he started to move closer toward the two.**

 **Nora grimaced, "So, we've still got a problem."**

 **Mercury took out the butterfly knife from before, silently flipping it through his fingers.**

 **Yang groaned, "A big problem..."**

Ruby smiled nervously, "I think I found him…"

 **Yang and Nora sighed over the Blu Jaune's body. Yang nodded and stood upright again, "Alright! Let's go catch this Red spy!"**

 **Jaune spun the blade to reverse grip as he spoke, his personal accent returning, "Right behind you."**

 **Nora and Yang looked toward each other in a shocked realization.**

 **The screen from before, showing all of the team, appeared again with the jazzy music. With each note played, they could hear a stabbing sound as Jaune made short work of the two Blu mercenaries.**

Yang let out a quick chuckle, "Okay… That's a little funny."

 **The screen returned to show the photos from before of Jaune and Mercury's mother strewn about on the floor, some with droplets of blood. A gloved hand reached down to brush the risqué photos aside to show a simple scene of the two, walking hand in hand. Jaune picked it up and smiled. "Ah… Ma petite chou-fleur~" He placed the photo in his coat pocket and walked off with intel in hand.**

As the screen faded, Sun had to ask, "What the heck did he say?"

Ozpin adjusted his glasses, "It literally translates as 'my little cauliflower.' It's an old term of endearment in upper Mistral. Think of it like calling someone 'Honey' or similar phrases."

"Huh… Neat."


	23. Arc: Eternal

**King: I know people asked for Doom (2016) specifically, but I saw Eternal's reveal recently and I just like the weapon versions more. Hope this is still worth it~ Enjoy!**

 **Inspiration: Doom: Eternal**

 **/\**

King was still away, so the next round started to form on screen.

 **The screen opened to a black out as a voice over began, curtesy of James Ironwood, "** ** _Jaune Arc was never what one would call a 'stable' man._** **"**

This phrasing made Ruby groan, "Oh no… It's a Psycho-Jaune."

Everyone in the theater got ready to see something horrifying.

 **"** ** _However, right now…_** **"**

 **The blackness over the screen moved off, revealing a massive hoard of Grimm of so many forms: Beowolves, King Taijitus, Creeps, Ursi, even a goliath or two.**

Everyone, aside from Cinder, was horrified to see that. So many Grimm in all one place was a sight that would terrify anyone.

 **A Creep seemed to see something toward the audience and started to run toward them. As it moved, a dirty, white armored boot came into view from the camera angle. As the Creep jumped, it was knocked back to the ground as a double-barreled shotgun was pointed toward its face. One pull of a trigger later, and the Creep's head exploded.**

"So, that's going to be Arc, then?" Coco raised an eyebrow.

Ruby was a little disappointed. The shotgun was powerful, sure. But it was also very… normal. _I guess Jaune always did like the classics…_

 **The screen moved up along his body, showing off his futuristic armor. The under armor that was supposed to be on his arms was gone, showing off a gun show on top of his weaponry.**

Yang drooled a little. She was able to hide it before Pyrrha or Velvet noticed anything. Not that they would. They were far too distracted.

 **Jaune cracked his neck and pulled his shotgun up to hold it in both hands. It was the pride of his arsenal, his baby. The Super Shotgun. A pair of claws opened up under the barrel as he started to walk forward.**

 **Ironwood's voice over returned, "** ** _He's exactly what we need._** **"**

 **A Beowolf noticed him and started to charge, only to be met with a claw embedding in its body. It seemed to look toward the item before following a chain back toward Jaune, who was flying toward it. He landed a knee into the creature's chin and fired a double-barreled does of buckshot into the Grimm, ripping it apart.**

Now it Ruby's turn to drool. "IT HAS A GRAPPLING HOOK?!"

 **Jaune launched another hook and flew off, using a Nevermore to take to the skies. He landed on top of a Creep and stomped its head hard enough to make it splatter. As the Grimm started to swarm, he used his armor's weapon storage system to exchange his Super Shotgun for his normal shotgun. It was weaker than his Super, but he didn't have to reload after every shot. In fact, thanks to his armor's internal systems, he didn't have to reload at all.**

Ruby gasped, "No reloads?! No empty clips?!" She was excitedly bouncing in her seat. "How does it work?! How do you build it?! TELL ME THE SECRET!"

Ironwood was actually thinking the same thing, though less… excitedly. The idea of an ammo system that never required a reload would be very beneficial.

 **He saw a large Ursa starting to approach. He smirked. He twisted and snapped the front half of his gun off.**

Ruby had a look like she'd seen Jaune snap someone's neck, "What the heck is that?!"

 **The half swapped with a similar replacement. He snapped this part on and the gun was ready to fight again.**

Ruby went starry eyed, "It's modular?! Oh my gosh! This is the best version!"

Yang couldn't hold back her chuckles at Ruby's antics, "Ruby…! I love a shotgun as much as anyone here, but it's not all that…"

 **Jaune ducked under a slash as a section within the shotgun started to spin. He placed the gun in the Ursa's gut and unloaded. This wasn't a shotgun. This was…**

"Shot-minigun!" Ruby was giddy.

Even Yang had to pause in amazement. "No way…"

 **The Ursa recoiled after 15 clean shots in about a second. It shook its head, only to find Jaune having jumped onto its back.**

Nora grinned, "I approve~!" She remembered back to their initiation.

 **Jaune grabbed one of the white spikes in its back and ripped it out of the creature, causing it to cry out in pain. He spun the spike around and ran the spike through the Grimm's head, pinning it to the ground.**

Nora giggled, "Aww… It's broken."

 **Jaune jumped off the dead creature and landed a powerful punch into a Beowolf. He grabbed another Beowolf and placed a hand on its jaw with the other on its upper mouth. After a moment of strain, he ripped the top half of the Grimm's head clean off.**

Cinder gripped her seat in fear. True, unashamed fear. This wasn't a man. It was a devil!

 **Unfortunately, he was running low on ammo. He grinned.** ** _Good._**

"How is it good to be out of ammo?!" Ruby was incredulous.

 **Jaune sent his shotgun back to his storage system as a large Ursa Major started to charge him. Jaune smirked and took out an industrial-grade, heavy powered chainsaw. As the Ursa reared back to attack him, Jaune ripped through the creature's leg, knocking it off balance, and then embedded the spinning pain bringer into the Grimm's head.**

Ruby was in shock, "A chainsaw… that powerful… Oh wow."

 **Jaune charged through, cutting a few more Grimm in half with the chainsaw, but prioritizing his fists. He only had so much fuel after all~ Okay, real talk, he preferred the straightforward approach.**

Yang grinned. "I have to admit, I agree with him on that. Nothing better than a fist to a Grimm's face~!"

 **A King Taijitu tried to lunge at him, only for him to twist to the side and grab it by a fang. He punched the side of the snake's head and ripped the fang out. He jumped on top of its head and jammed the fang into the Taijitu's forehead. When the second head tried to attack, he jumped off and let it bite into itself. He landed on the side of the second head and punched its eye in.**

Yang grinned and winced a bit, "Brutal~!"

 **Jaune jumped down and off to the side. He stood in front of a doorway to a military base. As the doors opened, a Creep tried to attack him, only to be met by a fist in its jaw before a boot squashed it on the concrete. Jaune just calmly made his way inside. The door snapped shut as a Nevermore tried to scratch its way in. Jaune simply made his way through the building. After a while, he started to move through a control room. The people inside were scrambling as the Grimm were starting to rip the compound apart.**

Roman chuckled, "That is the appropriate reaction."

Emerald clenched her fist in her chair, "Yeah… No kidding."

 **Jaune just walked through as they went. As he passed, the people that noticed him seemed to freeze in fear. One woman seemed to try to hide behind her clipboard. Jaune ignored them and just walked through toward the end of the room.**

Nora blinked, "They're scared of him?"

Ren sighed, "The world _did_ open saying he was unstable."

"Yeah… But he's fighting Grimm. Why would they need to be scared of _him_? Especially if there's a Grimm attack going on."

No one had an answer for that.

 **Jaune looked up toward a large blast door. It wasn't about to open without a key card… Then he noticed something red off to the side. He started to slowly make his way told a duo of the staff.**

 **One man was typing in something, "Corporate says we need to let them through!"**

 **The second man had a more panicked tone, "Why the hell would they say that?!"**

 **"** **I don't know! I just…" The first man noticed Jaune approaching. He shook as Jaune loomed over him.**

 **Jaune wasn't looking at the man, but rather the bright red keycard dangling from his neck. He reached down to grab the keycard without removing it from the man's neck and dragged him over to the scanner, lightly choking him in the process. He scanned the card and forced the door open.**

Yang let out an impressed whistle, "Damn~! I have to admit, this version is something else."

 **As Jaune walked through the door, a pair of well-armed soldiers were by another entry point. One noticed someone approaching. "Hey! What are you doing… here…?" Then he noticed who it was. Jaune Arc, the Grimm Slayer, in the flesh.**

"The Grimm Slayer?" Pyrrha couldn't help but feel there's a story to get a name like that. If they thought about it, they were all Grimm slayers, but they were never addressed with a name like that.

 **The soldier who shouted recoiled slightly seeing Jaune. Jaune moved toward the soldier and looked him dead in the eye. Despite the man being of similar height, Jaune made him feel puny and insignificant. Jaune looked down to the gun in the man's hands. A military issue Plasma Rifle… Jaune reached out and took the gun out of the soldier's hands.**

Ruby gasped again, "Plasma Rifle?! Can it do that?!"

 **Jaune pushed his way through the two and readied his new weapon. He kicked down a panel and jumped into a room full of Grimm. He fired a stream of plasma bullets into the crowd of Grimm and caused them to explode into shards, cutting into others among them.**

Ruby wasn't here anymore. She was in weapon nirvana~!

King, without appearing viably, thought to himself with a smirk, _Just wait kid. It gets better~!_

 **Jaune ran though, picking up a rocket launcher off a dead soldier. He fired three shots to rip the Creeps and Beowolves apart. He swapped back to his standard shotgun and swapped the halves. He fired three small sticky grenades from the barrel, all landing on various Grimm. He ran passed them as they exploded into black and white chunks.**

 **He ran along and saw a large device lying against a wall, its dead wielder off to the side. Jaune picked it up as he ran and pointed the massive weapon toward a King Taijitu. A second of charging later, he unleashed a massive plasma shot toward the beast, ripping its head clean off as the neck beneath it exploded on impact. No hole, no way to anyone would fix it. Its neck literally burst apart into small pieces.**

Ruby was frozen in sheer bliss. She didn't even notice when Yang waved her hand in front of her eyes.

 **More and more Grimm were starting to swarm. He had to move, fast!**

"Run Jaune!" Nora wanted to see her leader find a way out of this. He _had_ to have plan, right?

 **Jaune saw a broken paneling off in the distance, small enough to slide in but keep the Grimm out. He made tracks. As Grimm would try to charge in front of him, he would introduce them to the end of his shotgun. As he approached the wall, he slid underneath, and through a hole at ground level. The Grimm slammed into the wall, unable to follow, but they would try.**

Ren smirked and nodded. "Not a bad maneuver." His smirk fell off, "But it only bought him so much time before the Grimm tear into the wall."

Nora grinned, "It's all he needs! Jaune'll come up with something!"

 **Jaune had nothing…**

Nora groaned and deflated.

 **He was low on ammo and fuel to the chainsaw. He needed something else. Something to turn this around. He decided to look around. This was an SDC base, so there had to be weapons around here somewhere.**

"SDC?" Weiss was surprised to hear that. "That's a Schnee Dust Company facility?"

Ironwood scowled. He didn't like the idea of a civilian company being armed with military weaponry. With the Grimm and White Fang stalking around, he didn't have a choice but to allow it. But he didn't have to like it.

 **Jaune groaned. Apparently, he found himself in a research lab or something. He wouldn't find anything powerful hidden in the usual places. He approached the screens, hoping to find something experimental that could help. He froze seeing one in particular.**

Ruby was shaking excitedly. "Experimental weapons! What did he find?!"

 **Jaune grinned. He'd heard about this one…**

 **A Creep started to bite into the wall. A Beowolf punched through the steel reinforcing. A small goliath (only about 20 feet tall) brought down the wall.**

Blake soured on that last impact, "Whatever he found better be good."

 **The Grimm were about to charge when they heard something above them. Jaune was standing in a larger hole in the wall with a giant, futuristic weapon in hand. The weapon started to glow green.**

 **Jaune's semi-psychotic grin spread from ear to ear. He actually had it. _The King of Cannons! The Doomsday Bazooka that lays waste to everything!_ The green glow brightened, the charge complete. ****_It's the BIG FUCKING GUN 9000!_** **He fired a powerful blast of energy into the Grimm hoard. Upon bursting, the plasma ripped the Grimm, large and small, apart at a molecular level.**

"Ruby?" Yang tried to shake her sister, but she was too far gone. Ruby was in heaven.

Everyone had to agree. The sight of the BFG-9000 just… It was perfect~

 **Jaune certainly agreed. The Grimm actually started to back away. The Grimm Slayer was back on Remnant, fully equipped and ready to kill. He looked out over the burning landscape around him. He had a job to do. And no Grimm, man, or whatever the fuck Salem is will ever get in his way. As another small hoard of Grimm started to approach, he picked up shotgun shells and smiled as he readied his Super Shotgun for a fight. The camera swung along with the hoard as it charged toward him. The last shot was Jaune with his shotgun pointed at the screen. With a smirk, he fired the shell, the flash signaling the end of the set.**


	24. Plus Ultra

**King: That day has come~! 200,000+ views baby! Hot damn! It's all thanks to you all that I get to say that~ Now, let's get to the story. Y'all can read titles! You know what's coming. Say with me~ Go beyond!**

 **Inspiration: My Hero Academia**

 **/\**

King was still nowhere to be found. So, the screen started to form into the next world. However, the ruling ball of magical purple fire reappeared to stop it. "Alright~! I think I've got this filter back under control! Let's try this shall we~?"

As the next world started to form again, the screen glitched. A spark later, it shut down.

King was silent for a while. "Um… Okay. So… Looks like I broke it. Thankfully, this is a quick fix compared to the filter." King disappeared again, the screen seeming to glow slightly. "Okay! Fixed the screen, but the filter is shot… again…" He sighed and shrunk in form. "I'll just start the next one and try to fix it…" He disappeared again as the next round started.

 **The opening scene was solid black as Ruby's voice echoed through, "** ** _For as long as I can remember… I've always wanted to be a hero._** **"**

Yang smirked and tustled Ruby's hair, "Sounds like you!"

Ruby was at least able to fight this off, "Yang!"

Blake just rolled her eyes at the sisters' antics. "To be fair, though, it sounds more like something Jaune would say."

 **"** ** _I wanted to be just like my hero… I wanted to be the next All Might, the Symbol of Peace._** **"**

This got everyone's attention.

 **The first thing to show on screen was a tall, muscular man with golden blonde hair dressed in a red, blue, and yellow suit straight out of comic books. He was an imposing man, but one that made them all feel at ease. A smile adorned his face that seemed to shine like a light cutting through the darkness. This was a true super hero.**

 **"** ** _The man that would always smile, no matter how awful things seemed. He would push through the toughest challenges to save people. No matter what._** **"**

Ruby smiled. "I like him. He seems like an awesome guy!"

Ozpin sighed with a smile. "Yeah. The world always needs people like that."

 **"** ** _And one day… I actually got to meet him!_** **"**

 **The man on screen deflated in a cloud of smoke into an older, rather jaded-looking version of Jaune. He was almost skeletal, clearly a sick man.**

"What the heck just happened?!" Yang shouted.

Everyone was surprised, but only Pyrrha tried to offer an answer, "Maybe he's too old. It's possible that the larger man was Jaune in his prime."

This got a few to start losing themselves to their imaginations.

 **But, Ruby continued, "** ** _I learned that a grievous injury sustained during a fight a few years ago destroyed most of his internal organs. He can't use his quark for more than three hours a day before coughing up blood…_** **"**

Pyrrha clenched her hand around her chair's armrest. "That's…" She couldn't really put it into words.

"Quark?" Weiss folded her arms and frowned, "What's that about?"

 **The Ruby off screen seemed to hit a realization, "** ** _Oh! Right… Um… Quarks are something like super powers. More than 80% of the global population has some kind of power. All Might's power was thought to be super strength, but I learned the truth. It's a stockpiling power called One for All. It infuses him with the strength to do so many amazing things! Super strength! Super Speed!_** **"**

Yang chuckled, wrapping an arm around her sister's shoulders, "Now I know that's you talking~!"

Blake nodded, "It _does_ resemble how you get with weapons."

 **"** ** _I always thought he was amazing! I still do! Don't get me wrong! That came out wrong… Point is! I found out that Jaune was like me… We were both born without a Quark. His power, One for All, can be inherited by a chosen successor. And he chose me!_** **"**

 **The screen finally showed Ruby, decked out in a red super suit complete with mini-cape.**

Yang chuckled a little. "For as long as I've ever known you, you'd always been wearing that cape. Even in other worlds."

 **Ruby continued to speak, but not through the picture they saw, "** ** _After receiving the power of One for All, I enrolled in Beacon Academy's hero program. I made friends!_** **"**

 **The picture replaced showing Ruby alongside Weiss (dressed in a dress that seemed to swirl both with white on her left and orange on her right), Blake (dressed in a long cloak of some kind), and Yang (grinning ear to ear with a style reminiscent of a military style, complete with grenade-inspired gauntlets).**

Ruby smiled, "Team RWBY! Awesome heroes!"

The team all smiled. If they had the chance, they could just tell they'd become super heroes.

 **"** ** _But a world of heroes just has to have villains…_** **"**

 **The picture was swallowed by a swirling vortex of purple and black. The familiar form of Cinder (just dressed in a black, long-sleeve shirt and white pants) stepped through, followed by a hoard of villains of various forms.**

 **"** ** _And that about catches you up…_** **"**

 **The screen finally showed Ruby moving around alongside Blake. Separated from their fellow students by one of the villains, they were trying to get back to the entrance. If they could get out, they could get a message to All Might!**

"It's still weird that they don't use his name, don't you think?" It was starting to nag at Pyrrha.

"Maybe it's like a secret identity thing. Like… they don't know his real name?" Sun tried to offer.

To be fair, it was the best they had in the way of explanations. And it did make sense given the hero esthetic.

 **As they ran, something caught their eye. It was Professor Goodwitch, as dressed in black with a long grey scarf and yellow goggle set. She was still fighting the majority of the villains. She was a pro-hero after all, but she was starting to slow. Ruby could see Cinder in the background, watching the battle. Cinder motioned toward one of the larger villains, a behemoth of a man.** ** _I think…_** **Truth be told, he was more akin to a monster. He had to be easily over 7 foot and looked like he was on all the steroids he could find. His face, however, sealed the horror. The top half of his head seemed to be removed and his head was shaped more like that of a large bird.**

Mercury laughed a little seeing that, "That is one ugly motherfucker…"

Emerald, despite how much the idea appalled, had to agree with him.

 **Cinder snapped her fingers to get his (its?) attention. "Hazel… Get this annoying pawn out of the way."**

Cinder blinked in surprise. _That's supposed to be Hazel?_

She was unaware of a certain Headmaster having the same thought.

 **The creature, now confirmed as Hazel, made a sound that just… sounded wrong.**

Yang felt a shiver go up her spine, "Yikes… That just hurts to hear."

 **Hazel looked toward Goodwitch, who just beat three of the goons into the ground with a single action. Hazel took a step forward and suddenly charged toward her. Glynda turned toward him. The camera pulled toward her showing her eye, a strange pulse emanating from within. So long as Glynda kept the large man in sight, his Quark would be a non-issue.**

Glynda smiled to herself. That would certainly help in her day to day…

 **Hazel was in front of her in a moment and landing a heavy punch. He caught her before she could fly away and slammed her into the ground, all the while letting out a horrid, inhuman sound.**

 **Glynda coughed up a bit of blood. She felt Hazel's hand wrap around her head and lift her up slightly.** ** _I know I erased his Quark… He must just be this strong naturally… He's… almost as strong as All Might!_**

 **As if he could hear her thoughts, Hazel slammed her face-first into the concrete below, cracking the surface.**

Glynda recoiled seeing that happen. The amount of force it would take… Best not to think about that for the moment… Or at all…

 **Ruby and Blake ducked behind a low wall. Ruby took in a few deep breathed, "Okay! We need to figure out how to save Professor Goodwitch from that… thing…"**

 **Blake peaked over the wall, "Unless you have some crazy strategies, I don't see that happening. That guy looks like a tank. A creepy, bird tank thing…"**

 **Ruby started to think. There had to be something… Some way to…**

 **Hazel roared out, screeched more like, abandoning the unconscious body of Glynda Goodwitch.**

 **Ruby couldn't help but grin a little.** ** _That works._**

"I don't think that's a good thing…" Glynda scowled. She could tell something was off.

 **Hazel turned slightly and looked off toward Ruby and Blake's hiding place.**

Sun groaned, "Oh… that's not good."

 **Hazel started to charge toward the hiding teens with a screeching roar. He was interrupted by a loud burst coming from the nearby entryway. The doors had been broken in and a large man was walking through in the sunlight. A heroic score started to swell in the background.**

 **Cinder smirked, "I was wondering where you went…"**

 **Jaune stood in the entranceway in a white work shirt with a pair of yellow, pinstripe suit pants. He took a hold of his tie, loosening it as he spoke, "There's no need to fear children!" His voice was deep and imposing, a terror to villains and a comforting tone to the innocent. He ripped the tie clean off, "Because** ** _I_** **am here!"**

 **The students strewn about began to calm. The villains started to cower. This was All Might, the Symbol of Peace. The world's greatest hero.**

Eyes went wide seeing this version of Jaune. For once, Pyrrha and Velvet didn't blush. Their feelings were admiration. They looked up to this Jaune as a beacon of heroism, an inspiration. Pyrrha couldn't help but smile. It was everything Jaune wanted to be.

 **Hazel tilted his head. Not sure what to do next. He was engineered to kill All Might, but his mental capabilities were… lacking.**

Cinder couldn't help but smirk. She respected Hazel, but she still didn't like him. Out of the other three under Salem's power, he was the least annoying. Not exactly a feat, but she'll take it.

 **Cinder raised a finger toward the Symbol of Peace. "Hazel… Kill h…"**

 **A burst of wind flowed passed Cinder. Jaune had moved so fast that he was able to knock a small hidden skin mask off her face. All the while, getting Glynda to safety. Jaune turned back toward her and scowled.**

 **Ruby was shaking. She had every reason to. All Might, the Symbol of Peace, the hero who smiled no matter how horrible things got… wasn't smiling.**

Neptune blinked. "Oh… That chick messed up."

Weiss turned toward Neptune, "How so?"

Sun nodded and explained his friend's point, "Think about what that Ruby just said… thought… Whatever. Point is, this Jaune is supposed to be smiling no matter what. Imagine how pissed he'd have to get to make him stop…"

 **A shadowy figure, like a literal living shadow, walked over to Cinder and handed her a half mask/patch. She placed it over her face and scowled toward All Might, a small smile starting to form. "Hazel! Kill him! Kill All Might!"**

 **Hazel screech/roared and charged toward Jaune. Jaune crossed his arms and moved to meet the beast. When he reached the large mass of a man, Jaune unleased a powerful cross chop to his body,** ** _Carolina Smash!_** **, creating a shockwave and caused the flooring behind Hazel to crack and fly upward.**

Yang whistled in appreciation for the sheer strength. "Damn~! Go Vomit Boy!"

 **But Hazel was unaffected. He looked down toward Jaune and tried to lash out and wrap his arms around him. Jaune leaned back to duck under the powerful swing. As he swung up, he landed another powerful punch into the beast's gut, to no effect.**

Ruby clutched her chair, "I don't like where this is going…"

 **Jaune spun his body slightly to deliver another punch to Hazel's head. A few punches later, and he had to back away, "It doesn't matter** ** _where_** **I punch you does it?!"**

 **Cinder chuckled a little, "Of course… Hazel here has the power of Shock Absorption. The only way your going to beat him is to slowly gouge out his flesh. Not that he's just going to sit back and let you do that! Face it! You've met your match!"**

 **Jaune ducked another attack and flanked Hazel, wrapping his arms around the beast's torso from behind, "Thanks for telling me how to beat him! I just have to wear him down!" Jaune leaned back and delivered a suplex powerful enough to create a massive dust cloud.**

Weiss crossed her arms, "Why would she just tell him that…"

Neptune tapped his chair, "I know from Sun that villains in comics will be caught monologuing, but I don't think that's what this was…"

 **Ruby watched on during the fight. She clenched her fist, knowing what so many didn't. All Might could only use his powers for three hours at a time. He needed substantial rest before he could fight again. But this morning, he used his powers to stop small time villains. He'd already used up most of his time as it is. Not to mention…**

 **A flashback began showing Ruby standing opposite the almost skeletal version of Jaune slumped against a railing. He was showing off a truly nasty scar on his lower torso.**

Pyrrha felt a pained chill go up her spine. Seeing Jaune that badly messed up hurt her than she could articulate.

 **"** **Pretty gross, right? I got this in a nasty fight five years back. My respiratory system is pretty much gone, and I lost my whole stomach. All the surgeries wore me out and it's not getting any better. As a result, I can only do hero work for maybe three hours a day. Rest of the time, this is what I look like."**

 **Jaune sighed, "I'm supposed to be the Symbol of Peace with a fearless smile. But there's plenty of fear under that smile. That's just a brave face I use in high pressure situations… It's tough being a hero… You put your life on the line every day."**

Everyone (except the villainous group) all had varying reactions to that. Those who'd been huntsmen/military for a long period of time were all hanging heads slightly; having long since learned this lesson. Those of the younger generation had yet to learn this lesson, and thus that hurt to hear, but it would never deter them.

 **The flash back ended as Jaune spoke the last line, showing the larger, muscular form cough up a bit of blood. The camera pulled back to show that his suplex had sent Hazel through a portal and back underneath him. Hazel had his fingers digging into Jaune's sides, his left side (the injury) starting to bleed.**

Blake blinked, "That's not good…"

Sun recoiled seeing the bleeding, "Yeah, no kidding."

 **Jaune had to release his hold on Hazel and try to pry the fingers off his injury, but the hand wouldn't budge. "Shit!"**

 **Cinder chuckled. "Excellent work Watts."**

 **The shadowy figure let out a quick laugh, "Naturally."**

Cinder's eyes narrowed. _So that's Watts…_ If she didn't have more self-control, she'd have started to burn the chair. It was no secret she hated Watts more than any of her compatriots. Okay, it was kind of secret to everyone here, but not among those who worked under Salem.

 **Cinder grinned toward the scene before her. "Now, Hazel, pull him through. Only half way mind, we can't rip him in half if he goes all the way through~"**

 **Hazel started to pull Jaune into the misty portal beneath him.**

Ruby jumped up in her seat, "Come on Jaune! You can get out of there! Turn this around and kick their buts!"

 **Ruby clenched her fists, "We have to do something!" She jumped from her cover and started to charge, hoping to loosen the monster's hold.**

 **Blake cursed under her breath and followed soon after.**

 **Before they arrived, Jaune suddenly felt the pressure on his side lessen. He looked down to find Hazel's left side had frozen solid. This gave him the leverage to escape. Jaune turned to see Weiss, with a frozen path leading between her and Hazel, the ice emanating from under her left foot. Next to her Yang was running up to the group, propelling herself forward using an explosion from her hands.**

Ruby cheered, "Go Weiss!" She was happy to see her teammate save her friend like that, even if this Jaune was more a role model.

Weiss sighed with a smile. She was happy to know she saved someone, even in this world.

Yang grinned, "So that's my super power in this?! I can make explosions!"

Blake chuckled a little, "Don't you do that normally?"

"That's why it's perfect!"

 **Cinder growled, "Hazel…"**

 **The beast started to move through the portal again, lifting himself out from within with only his legs to support him. As he did, the strain caused his left arm and leg, both frozen solid, to crumble apart.**

Yang winced seeing that. "Yikes…"

Nora was, as always, looking on the bright side, "At least he's not a threat anymore."

 **Hazel seemed to flex his body and the ice broke away. After a moment, his muscles started to reform, followed by his skin. In a few seconds, it was as if nothing happened.**

 **Jaune, and all involved, was shocked to see this, "I thought you said his Quark was shock absorption!"**

 **Cinder cackled, "I also didn't say that was his** ** _only_** **Quark. He also has super regeneration. Hazel was specifically designed to fight you at a hundred percent. Think of him like a supped-up punching bag that hits back."**

Ruby wanted to throw something at the cinder on screen, "How is that fair?!"

Cinder, however, smirked, "Life's not fair. Get used to it."

 **Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang got ready for the fight, only to have Jaune place an arm out, "Don't attack! Get out of here and get to safety!"**

 **Weiss narrowed her eyes, but kept an eye on Cinder and her team, "If I recall, you'd have been toast if I hadn't stepped in. You need our help."**

 **"** **That was different." Jaune's hand clenched into a fist. "I can handle things from here."**

 **Ruby, however, wasn't so convinced, "But… You're bleeding! And you're…" She was able to stop herself from blurting out about his time limit.** ** _You're almost out of time!_**

 **Jaune just smiled back at them as his fist turned to a thumb's up. "Sit back and watch a pro at work~!"**

 **Cinder glared daggers toward Jaune, "Hazel. Watts. Deal with All Might. I'll deal with the children." She started to charge toward team RWBY as Hazel moved toward Jaune.**

 **Jaune took a breath and clenched his fists.** ** _I've only got about a minute left in this form. My power's declining faster than I expected. But even so… I have to stop these villains! Because I am…"_** **The screen became a starry landscape, a single star shining brighter than the others. It moved along a line to another star, and another, until it landed on a golden star. The scene returned to show Jaune's eyes, fueled by his sense of righteousness and purpose,** ** _"… the world's Symbol of Peace and Justice!_**

 **Jaune dug his foot in and flew forward to meet Hazel. Their punches collided with a massive shockwave, knocking everyone away. The students were pushed back to safety and the villains were knocked away from the fight.**

This got everyone to jump in surprise. Sun let out an impressed whistle, "Holy crap! Look at him go!"

Yang was wide eyed. She'd never seen someone punch with the force like that. Sure, she'd taken and delivered nasty hits, but nothing that powerful. It was, honestly, a little inspiring. Could _she_ pull off something like that?

 **Cinder laughed a little, "Weren't you listening?! One of his Quarks is shock absorption!"**

Velvet felt a chill, "Oh no! That's right!"

 **Jaune didn't seem to care, "Yeah?! What about it?!"**

 **He and Hazel started to trade punches, each colliding with one another. After a moment, their hands became blurs. The sheer force was creating torrents of wind powerful enough to push everyone back and keep them away.**

 **Watts' shadowy body was being blown back, "I can't get near them!"**

 **Yang had to cover her eyes from the wind to see what was happening, "They're so fast!"**

 **Ruby was watching on in amazement.**

Winter sighed, "Brute force won't work here. That _thing_ can take all his punishment and deal it back. Difference is, he doesn't heal as quickly."

 **Jaune took a step forward, into the swings, "She said your power was shock** ** _absorption_** **not nullification."**

This sparked a realization in some of the viewers.

Yang smirked, "You were saying?"

 **"** **That means there's a limit to what you can take!" Jaune landed a powerful hit and pushed Hazel back a bit. Then another hit forced him back again. "And if you** ** _really_** **were designed to fight me at a hundred percent of my power… then I'll just have to go beyond that and force you to surrender!" The blur of fists and impacts started to move further toward Hazel, no longer able to keep up with Jaune's assault.**

 **Cinder just laughed in the background, "Not fucking likely! He feels no pain! He's designed to kill you! AND HE WILL KILL YOU!"**

 **Jaune smirked a little, "In that case I don't need it to hurt. I just need him to stay down!"**

Nora raised a fist to the sky, "YEAH! Show him who's boss!" As she shouted, she made a mental note to remember that one for the future.

Ruby cheered on, happy seeing Jaune get the chance to be a real hero and beat down a bad guy. Velvet and Pyrrha joined her, as did many in the audience. This Jaune was an inspiration to so many in that audience, even Roman and Neo couldn't help but smile seeing him in action.

 **Jaune landed a powerful shot and sent Hazel flying backward. Jaune jumped after him and kneed him in the head as Hazel tried to charge again. "A real hero will always find a way for justice to be served!" They spun in the air and Jaune landed a nasty hit to Hazel's head. Hazel tried to attack, but Jaune blocked the punch, using the shockwave created by the attack to flip around him. Jaune kicked Hazel toward the ground at his head, causing him to flip into the air again. The camera spun with an upside-down Hazel, showing Jaune running along the ground toward him. Jaune grabbed the monster by the arm and started to spin around. With a roar, he launched the beast toward the ground, forming a small crater in the ground.**

"Holy shit!" Yang was just as wide eyed as Ruby. This version of Jaune was so badass!

Everyone cheered on as Jaune was beating the ever-living crap out of the monstrous Hazel on screen.

Even Velvet was getting in on things, "Come on Jaune! Send him flying!"

 **As Hazel started to rise off the ground from the impact, Jaune landed on the ground next to him, the heroic score truly taking off beneath the action. "Now for a lesson! You may have heard these words before, but I'll share with you what they truly mean!"**

 **The flowing stars returned, ending at a bright white light. Jaune's hand reached up to grab the light in his fist. "Go beyond!" A large cross formed around his fist as he punched into Hazel's gut. "PLUS! ULTRA!"**

 **The power built between and suddenly Hazel was gone. A shockwave from the attack ripped the ground apart. The camera flew up to follow the now flying Hazel as he slammed into the ceiling, which bent around him, unable to withstand the force. Hazel was thrown into the stratosphere, breaking apart clouds as flew threw.**

The crowd erupted in cheers and celebrations seeing that. Smiles abound in the room as Jaune had sent that big bad packing.

 **Cinder groaned. With Hazel gone, All Might in front of her, and the rest of pros likely to follow soon… She knew better than to stay. "Watts…" The shadowy man enveloped them both, warping them away to safety. "This is far from over."**

 **Ruby's voice over returned as the screen showed the group celebrating, "** ** _She wasn't lying. In a lot of ways, this was only the beginning. But, right now, we were all alive. Professor Goodwitch would recover, All Might's secret was kept safe when the other pros arrived to distract the others, and we all made it out in one piece. Today was a victory. That's all that mattered._** **"**


	25. Possibility 63

**King: Oh... my... God! I got fan art! My work here actually inspired someone to make an animation~! Big thanks to Trihexia on DeviantArt! It's a neat little animation of the Ace Attorney version of Jaune shouting Objection! That makes me seriously happy~ But enough of my gushing. You're here for a chapter. Well, for good old 25, we've got a fun one. You knew it was coming eventually! Hit it!**

 **Inspiration: n/a**

 **/\**

The only indication they had that King was still around was the occasional magical spark off in the distance of the theater. But, since he wasn't stopping the screen, it started to play the next round.

 **The screen sparked a moment, showing a title, [Possibility 63].**

"Possibility 63?" Ruby blinked in confusion. "What's that about?"

King suddenly reappeared, "63? Where did…?" He looked over toward the screen. "Oh. Oh! Oh dear."

"Is that bad?"

"Not bad. Just… Okay! 63 is a code used by beings like me. It's for rather… specific changes to the Possible versions."

Yang's eyes narrowed, "What kind of _specific changes_ are we talking about?"

"I can't say, that would ruin the point of all this. The hint I can offer is a lot of outcomes are flipped to the opposite." King disappeared and fixed the screen to play normally without the title or code hanging around.

 **This was it! Beacon Academy!**

"Another first day story?" Emerald sighed, "Aren't there better times for that?"

Weiss thought for a moment, "Perhaps… Perhaps not. Think about the sheer possibilities inherent in those events. Even if everything was the same, there are possibilities of the teams changing, partners never meeting, and so on. By sheer numbers, it makes sense that its more likely for this to be shown."

Nora popped up next to the heiress, "Plus it was so awesome! Our initiation was so crazy~!"

Ren sighed at his partner's antics, "Quite… Not to mention that, from a story telling perspective, it makes sense to show the most important moments in a story."

 **The students arriving at Beacon simply couldn't wait to step off the ship and start their training. Two such students were looking out over Vale. One was a taller blonde man with his hair tied back. He dressed in a brown leather coat with jeans and black boots. His purple eyes watching out over the city below them. "I have to admit, it's quite the sight huh?"**

This got a few blinks from the audience.

Ruby pointed toward the screen, her mind trying to make sense of things, "Is… is that who I think it's supposed to be?"

Yang was chuckling, "No way! No fucking way!"

 **Standing next to him was a shorter young man, likely younger as well, with black and red gradient hair. His wardrobe looked like a gothic version of the style worn by Qrow Branwen. "Yeah… It really is…" He looked away, unsure of his situation.**

 **The blonde wrapped an arm around his shorter compatriot, "Come on bro! It's Beacon! It's your dream, remember? Get excited!"**

 **The younger brother wrestled his way out of his brother's halfhearted head-lock, "Yang! Stop it!"**

Ruby ripped into a fit of laughter, "Oh my gosh! It was! That means the other one is me!"

Qrow started to chuckle. This version of Yang reminded him so much of Tai back in the day, all he needed was a bit of stubble. Of course, that led to what Ruby's name would be… He knew Tai and Summer had options picked out for either a boy or girl…

 **Yang chuckled at his brother's reaction, "Come on, Ross…"**

Yang started to laugh, "Ross! Really?!"

Qrow thought for a moment, "Rosso."

This got Yang to stop and look toward her uncle, "Pardon?"

"The full name would be either Rosso Rose or Rosso Xiao Long. I'm guessing Ross is just an easier way to say it in the day to day."

 **Rosso groaned, "You know I hate that. Makes me sound like a dork…"**

 **"** **You** ** _are_** **a dork." Yang started to count out on his fingers as he spoke, "And a weapon nut. And a…"**

 **Rosso placed a hand over his brother's mouth. "Okay… I get it."**

Yang was trying to hold back her laughter, "It really is the guy version of Ruby!"

Ruby was starting to notice the exact moment of the scene. "Isn't this when Jaune, or whatever the female version would be named, comes along to puke on Yang's shoes?"

Yang's laughing stopped, remembering that day. "Lovely…"

 **Rosso sighed and released his brother's jawline, "Just… Don't make a habit of calling me that. It's bad enough I skipped two years to go to Beacon and left all of my friends behind, I just want to get through this without looking like an idiot." He turned and immediately bumped into someone, knocking them both to the ground.**

Qrow smirked, "Lasted all of two seconds."

Ruby jumped to the defense of her alternate version, "Hey! It happens!"

 **Rosso shook his head before realizing he had just run into something. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to run into you! I just…"**

 **The girl opposite him was beating her chest, her cheeks starting to pale.**

 **Yang recognized the sighs and helped her up, placing his arms around at her stomach to issue a Heimlich maneuver. The girl coughed up a wad of gum and leaned forward to take some much needed breathes.**

"What's with the gum?" Yang asked to the crowd.

Pyrrha tapped her chin in thought, "I know some people use gum on flights for air pressure… and there's forms for motion… sickness…" Her eyes suddenly shot up toward the screen again.

Velvet blinked, "You don't think…"

 **The young woman on screen was a taller blonde, taller than the male version of Yang by a full foot! Unlike her male counterpart, this version of the loveable knight got to inherit her father's height, making her a solid 7 foot 3 inches. That, coupled with a body gifted by her mother, made this girl stand out in a crowd, putting it very mildly. She wore a simple black hoodie with the Pumpkin Pete mascot on the front, a pair of jeans, and a pair of boots. Her golden blonde hair was cut short, almost resembling a halo in the right light.**

"Damn that girl's tall." It was the only thing Nora could come up with to say. This amazon of a woman was supposed to be her fearless leader?

Coco went so far as to remove her sunglasses completely, in shock that this was supposed to be Jaune in an alternate world. She expected the female version of Arc to be just as much of a non-presence early on. She expected the kind of person that would be written off. Not this.

 **The 5'8 Rosso helped her up and had to crane her neck a bit to look her in the eye. This got the girl to chuckle nervously. "Sorry… I wasn't watching where I was going…" She scratched the back of her head as she spoke.**

Nora started to chuckle, "It _is_ Jaune! Just… girl-Jaune. What's her name?"

 **She cleared her throat and held out a hand, "I guess this is the part where we introduce ourselves. My name is Jeanne Arc. Nice to meet you~"**

 **Before his brother could get a word in, Yang placed an arm over Rosso's shoulders and grinned, "I'm Yang Xiao Long! And this is my brother Ross~"**

 **Rosso delivered a backhanded punch into Yang's nose. "Ignore him. My name is Rosso Rose."**

Ruby started to chuckle a little seeing her deck Yang like that.

 **Jeanne smiled nervously as a sweat drop fell. "Nice to meet you both…"**

 **Rosso sighed, "He just likes to mess with me. But, yeah. It was nice to meet you too." They all felt the ship lurch a little. Rosso glanced to the window, "Looks like we're landing. Come on, Yang! Let's get moving."**

 **Yang nursed his nose a moment but smiled, "Told you, you are excited."**

 **Jeanne watched them leave, a slight twitch on her face. She took a deep breath to ease her nerves and stomach until they landed. "This is going to be a long day… I can feel it."**

Ruby frowned, "Oh come on! We weren't that bad."

This got a few in the audience to chuckle to themselves.

 **The next day, the students were starting to arm themselves in the locker room. The camera showed a young man with fire-red hair arming himself with bronze armor. He picked up a familiar looking red sword and bronze shield.**

Nora shook the counterpart of the person of screen, "Pyrrha! It's you!"

 **His emerald green eyes held the experience of a champion. His smile one of a competitive spirit. This was Patroclus Nikos, Mistral's best, come to Vale to attend Beacon.**

Pyrrha thought for a moment, "Patroclus?" She blinked for a moment but smiled.

 **He finished his task by lacing up his boots and kicking his locker closed. He smiled and turned to make his way to the exit. But he was interrupted by a shorter boy with snow-white hair, "Excuse me. If I'm not mistaken, you're Patroclus, correct?"**

 **The young man was dressed in something that looked more akin to a military uniform than combat gear, all in white. A shallow scar was etched into his face over his left eye.**

Ruby laughed a little, "There's Weiss!"

Weiss smiled, _At least he seems normal enough._

 **The white-haired boy held out a hand, "I'm Walter Schnee. I pleasure."**

 **Patroclus took his hand and shook, having long gotten used to the needs of PR. "Nice to meet you." His smile was plastic. Patroclus wanted nothing more than a real friend, but when their first words are a recognition of your fame, it was hard to be hopeful.**

Pyrrha sighed. She knew his pain well. It was part of what drew her to Jaune to begin with.

 **Walter smiled, "I heard they were going to set up teams today. I was wondering if you had any plans for this."**

 **Patroclus shook his head, "I can't say I do." A half lie. His plan was to find someone who didn't know him. But that seemed very unlikely. Failing that, he'd just let the chips fall as they will.**

 **Walter's smile grew a little, "Then perhaps we could form a team."**

 **"** **I don't think we get to choose our partners…"**

 **Walter's smile hitched a little, "Of course! Right… Why would they do that…" He chuckled nervously. Walter was a sheltered child, his father's pride. But that kept his social skills… lacking.**

Weiss was incredulous to hear that, but also understood the situation. Her own father had tried to keep her under his thumb, but she was adamant to go to Beacon and become a huntress. It's likely, in this reality, her father kept her counterpart under more scrutiny, no doubt with an iron grip.

 **This got Patroclus to narrow his eyes, as if to will himself to understand why Walter would act like that. Unfortunately, they were forced to cut their conversation there when the clock blared an alarm. They were to get to the cliffs at least 30 minutes early to mingle and prepare themselves. Both young men moved quickly to make it on time.**

Ruby huffed a little in annoyance. "Why couldn't we get an extra half hour to talk to everyone…"

Yang grinned, "Would it have mattered to you?"

Ruby was about to be indignant, but remembered how she was before her team, "I… guess not…"

 **When they reached the cliffs, Patroclus wanted nothing more than to find someone he could call a friend. Unfortunately, most of the students had already separated themselves into their own groups based on people they knew before. He sighed, resigning himself to fate. Something caught his eye, though. A girl off to the side, a woman that towered over all others. She wore a flowing black dress and tall boots, covered by a shining white chest plate and gauntlets. Her golden hair almost glowing in the light. He took a breath and smiled.** ** _Looks like fate can shove it!_**

This got a good laugh out of the crowd.

 **Patroclus made his way toward the girl, "Hey! I'm Patroclus." He held out his hand toward her.**

 **She looked toward him with an eyebrow raised, she took his hand and shook. "Jeanne. It's nice to meet you."**

Nora smiled and smacked Pyrrha's back, "A chance meeting~! Right Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha was blushing a bit but nodded.

 **Patroclus smiled. No mention of his titles… A good start.**

 **Jeanne, however, crossed her arms. "So, what brings a Mistral Champ my way?"**

 **If he were made of glass, he'd have shattered the moment those words left her lips.**

Pyrrha winced at that. "That's not a good start…"

 **"** **I…" He took a breath and tried to see if he could still salvage this. He** ** _did_** **approach her after all… It would be beyond rude to just walk away now. "You were here by yourself and I figured… Why not walk over and try to strike up a conversation?"**

 **Jeanne smiled and sighed. "Well, I'd say mission accomplished."**

Pyrrha sighed in relief, "Oh thank goodness."

This got a chuckle out of Nora.

 **Patroclus's smile softened.** ** _Maybe this isn't going to be as bad as I thought it would._**

 **A loud clap got their attention and pulled it off to the cliff face. A woman in a green suit stood by the cliff, her grey hair and glasses made her seem wise and experienced.**

Qrow, Glynda, and Ironwood all started to chuckle seeing the alternate version of Ozpin. Ozpin just sighed, waiting to see how things go from here.

 **The woman cleared her throat. "Now, introductions were yesterday, but I feel it best to speak again. I am your Headmistress Dorothy Ozpin."**

Qrow raised a finger, about to say something, but paused. He turned toward the Headmaster, "Oz is your last name?"

Ozpin just drank from his coffee, not giving an answer.

 **The Headmistress continued, "First off, I want to offer a welcome to Beacon Academy. I'd also like to offer my condolences.** ** _Half_** **of you are likely going home by the end of today."**

Qrow groaned, "Damn… Doing things the old way…"

This got his nieces to turn toward their uncle, "Old way?"

Glynda pinched the bridge of her nose, remembering their own initiation. "The original initiation ceremony of Beacon Academy. It was… notorious for its difficulty."

 **Oz adjusted her glasses. "You have until sundown to find artifacts hidden in the forest below. There's enough for half of you all here. Lucky for you, each artifact is for a pair of teammates, which you will be making in the forest below. The first person you make eye contact with in the forest will be your partner for the next four years at Beacon." She paused, allowing the murmuring students to calm.**

"That doesn't seem all that different…" Ruby pointed out.

Qrow shook his head. "Didn't you notice something missing from that?"

"What?"

Weiss suddenly went wide eyed. "The northern ruins… She didn't mention the ruins."

Qrow snapped his fingers and pointed toward Weiss, "Bingo. Back when, the whole forest was fair game to find an artifact. It would take a day just to search the whole thing. You have to get lucky in that test…"

 **"** **Now, line up by the cliff and prepare yourselves. Initiation begins now."**

 **The students lined up on the platforms as Oz smiled. She raised an arm as a signal. When her hand fell, the students were sent flying into the forest.**

 **The camera flew off to follow Patroclus as he used his shield to barrel through the tree line and land on a large branch. He jumped from branch to branch to reach the ground. He readied his sword, shifting it into rifle form, and got ready to move. Only to jump a little when something came flying into the ground in front of him. A large, muscular, orange haired student, a few inches shorter than himself, was standing in a small crater. His white shirt was outfitted with a pink bandolier of grenades and a launcher on his back.**

Nora cheered, "It's me! Did you see that landing?! I'm so awesome!"

 **The young man stood tall as he let out a boisterous laugh. "See Li, easy as pie!"**

 **The man was carrying a young woman with black hair, complete with a pink streak. "I think that might be considered cheating." She jumped out of the man's arms and took a breath. She brushed off her green qipao "Catching me midair to ensure our partnership seems a little overboard, don't you think?"**

 **"** **It worked!"**

 **Li sighed, "Yes… yes it did."**

Ren sighed, knowing well the level of patience it took to deal with Nora in any form.

 **The camera pulled away to show Headmistress Ozpin standing next to a rather stern looking man. This man had a glare that could freeze water and a subterranean bar of tolerance for rule breakers. Even his attire spoke of authority. "The first partnership has been made: Thor Nordson and Li Ren."**

Glynda was surprised to see herself as a male. It was… jarring to say the least. That line about the glaring did sound about right though.

Nora was starry eyed. "Thor Nordson! That's an awesome name!" She stood up and placed a foot on the back of the chair in front of her, which Ruby vacated to avoid such a thing. "I am Thor! Son of the North! Lord of Lightning!" He placed her fists at her side started to laugh like her male counterpart.

 **Oz took a breath and then a sip of the tea in her mug. "We just had to run out of coffee today…"**

 **The man rolled his eyes and sighed, "I'll order more when we get back."**

 **Oz smiled, "Thank you, Galahad~"**

 **Galahad sighed again with a small smile, "Of course."**

Qrow chucked again. "Some things never change."

 **The camera panned over the forest and zoomed in to show Walter slicing his way through the forest with an ornamental saber, mumbling to himself. "Good going Walter… Try to make a friend for the first time in your life and you fuck it up…"**

Ruby let out a little cry and hugged Weiss, as if to comfort her. Weiss, in turn, pushed her off and just kept watching.

 **A large Ursa started to stalk over, attracted to his self-pity. Walter sighed and readied his saber for a fight. The Ursa roared, suddenly silenced with a scythe blade sticking out from its open mouth. Rosso was standing on the creature's back and ripped its head off using his mechanized scythe.**

 **Walter blinked in surprise. "Thank you… I suppose." He held out his free hand, mustering his best smile. "I'm Walter Schnee."**

 **Rosso placed his scythe over his shoulder, taking Walter's hand. "Rosso Rose. Nice to meet you, partner."**

Weiss smiled, "Certainly a better first meeting than ours…"

Ruby chuckled nervously. "Yeah…"

 **A camera run later, and they saw Yang ducking under a Beowolf swing while adopting a boxer's pose. His style was less brawler and more of a swarmer. He dodged through attacks and delivered weaker punches in rapid succession. Yang was light on his feet, thanks to years of training and his semblance. Rosso had his speed, but Yang had the control. No movement was ever a waste, no action was without reason.**

Qrow smiled. "Tai would be proud."

Ruby giggled and poked her sister's cheek, "How completely unlike you~"

Yang brushed her sister off and groaned.

 **A large Alpha Beowolf started to approach. Yang was a good fighter, but an Alpha was more challenging then the usual Grimm. The Alpha's range and size kept him on his toes. As the Alpha started to charge it froze. A young man in a black coat suddenly appeared between the two kneeling, his katana sword being returned to its scabbard. When the blade was returned to its home, it was companied with a metallic click and a bisected Beowolf.**

Blake was surprised but could figure out this was her counterpart. The coat was the spitting image of her father's, just in black.

 **The new face stood up and looked toward Yang. He had a face that was difficult to read. His style was very reminiscent of his home on Menagerie, a clear influence from his family.**

 **Yang smirked and crossed his arms, "I could've taken him."**

 **"** **Clearly." And like that, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long were the next pair to be formed.**

Yang grinned. "Hey~ Some things don't change after all."

Blake sighed and smiled, reminiscing a little.

Nora frowned, though. "But where's Jeanne? She needs to pair up with Patroclus!"

Pyrrha agreed but made no motions to show it.

 **Patroclus was walking along; Thor and Li having run off to find an artifact, despite his attempts to suggest a team up. He sighed and walked on, pointing his rifle forward in one hand. He fired a shot and a medium sized Nevermore fell out of a tree. Patroclus was always alone, left to himself for one reason or another. "Why did I think Beacon would be different."**

 **"** **Perhaps because this is supposed to be filled with people that can keep up." Jeanne was standing behind a tree and smirked as Patroclus passed. As he took a breath, Jeanne stood straight up again, now able to really see the giant sword on her back. "I suppose we're partners now, huh?"**

Nora had a small pennant with [Team JNPR] written on it. "Yeah! Go Team JNPR!"

 **Patroclus smiled, "So it seems. But… we might want to find an…" He caught something tossed toward him, a white king piece, "artifact… What?"**

 **Jeanne tapped the tree with her knuckle, showing a small hole in the wood. "These things are hidden around and hard to find on a first look. I got lucky and landed right on top of the thing."**

 **"** **Um… How?"**

 **"** **Got pushed into it by an Ursa, but that's neither here nor there."**

"She seems so nonchalant about it all." Weiss tapped her finger on her chair.

"How strong is she in this?" Yang was curious about what Jeanne can do.

 **Jeanne took a deep breath and smiled. "Guess our job is done."**

 **Patroclus thought for a moment. "I suppose. Guess we got lucky."**

 **A massive Taijitu head ripped through the tree behind Jeanne and roared toward them.**

 **Patroclus's eye twitched. "Bad luck…"**

 **Jeanne smiled. "Nah~!" She jumped forward and twisted around. She drew her sword and set herself up for an attack. The sword was a massive two-hand sword, easily six and half feet in length and half a foot wide. She swung the sword like it was nothing and slashed into the Taijitu, making a nasty cut into the snake's head.**

Ruby was starry eyed seeing the sword. "Oh my gosh! Look at that thing!"

Yang laughed a little, "Little overboard don't you think? It's just a sword."

Ruby, however, saw something different. "No way! That's not just a sword! That's a beast! It's a Type 0! It'll never need to be sharpened and it'll never rust! The amount of time and money to make something like that is bad enough, but to wield like it's nothing?!"

"Ruby…" Pyrrha tapped the younger student's shoulder. "The rest of us around as versed in weaponry as you are…"

"Oh! Right. Um… Type 0 is a special alloy that is super expensive and super strong. A short dagger would likely cost a thousand lien to gather the ore."

Everyone went pale. The sheer value of the sword was insane!

But Ruby continued to make it worse, "The problem with making it a sword is that it's super dense and difficult to wield. A sword that size would likely weigh 187 pounds, give or take depending on any internal effects or etchings."

Pyrrha was shocked to hear that figure, "187 pounds! For a sword?!"

"Yep. It's been thought to be too unwieldy to make a full blade out of the material, so it's usually just an accenting on the blade. It's so cool to see a full blade though!"

 **Patroclus blinked in shock. "That's… How are you…"**

 **Jeanne smiled, "Fight now, talk later!"**

 **"** **Right!" Patroclus fired a few heavy shots into the wounded Grimm.**

 **The two worked rather well together. Jeanne specialized at close quarters assault with her heavy weapon, while Patroclus's range allowed to break the Taijitu's concentration, allowing Jeanne to swing again. After a while, Jeanne buried her blade into the side of the Grimm, making it cry out in pain. Patroclus rushed next to Jeanne and kicked the blade further in, the impact allowing Jeanne to slice the creature's head clean off.**

 **Basking in their victory, Patroclus turned to his new partner, "Okay. Explanation time. That sword has to weigh a ton! How can you swing it like it's nothing?!"**

 **Jeanne just chuckled. "Lot's of training. A fortification semblance helps~" She swung the sword onto her back. "Shall we?"**

 **The two started moving back toward the cliff. Later that day, by collecting the White King piece, they were paired with Thor and Li, who found the White Queen.**

Nora clapped her hands together, "I was going to ask about that! Awesome!"

 **Together, they became Team JNPR, led by Jeanne. Meanwhile, the Black King and Queen were collected by Rosso, Walter, Blake, and Yang; forming Team RWBY. That night, Jeanne was sitting on the school's open balcony, "Beacon Academy~! I actually made it in." She took a deep breath and smiled, a small glow adorning her eyes. "Now, let's see how long I can keep** ** _that_** **secret…" She thought back to what her father told her when her grandmother passed away. The question he asked…**

Ozpin felt a chill go up his spine. He shook a little after, clenching his chair, but few among the audience noticed. Was it saying what he thought it was?

 ** _What's your favorite fairy tale?_**


	26. Be Their Shield

**King: I'm going to be honest. This one hurt to write. Not in a bad way, just... emotional. I suppose we should just get into it then. Live with honor...**

 **Inspiration: Overwatch**

 **/\**

The screen lingered in black for a while, but it started the next world soon enough.

 **The first thing they saw was an old tavern bar, falling apart as plant life started to grow up from the cracked floorboards.**

Qrow rose his flask, "A toast to the dried watering hole…" He took a sip from the flask and placed it away.

 **A large man in off duty, military-esc garb sat at the bar. He was old, if his silver hair was anything to go by. But he was a large man, muscular despite his age. His grey tank top showing a series of scars. The camera spun around to show his paling blue eye. The other eye broken, likely by whatever gave him that mean scar on his face.**

Weiss blinked, a hand reaching up to her own scar. She'd never thought about how lucky she'd been. If the blade had been just a little closer to her, it's very possible she'd be blind in one eye.

 **The man was looking down at a medallion adorned with the symbol of Beacon. The sound of a slamming door pulled him back to the world. He turned to see a woman in her early twenties. She wore attire similar to that of a mechanic. Her pale blue hair was tied back as her oceanic eyes glared toward him, "We need to talk…"**

"Who's that supposed to be?" Nora adopted a thinking position. "I mean… after last time… It could be Neptune."

Neptune narrowed his eyes toward the screen. "I don't think so…"

 **The man turned back toward the medal. "Not now, Skadi…"**

Yang folded her arms and leaned back. "Alright. New face again. Let's see how they're related to Jaune somehow."

 **Skadi marched forward, standing next to the man, "You can't just brush this off!"**

 **"** **I'm not brushing this off. I've already made a choice, and you can't change my mind."**

 **"** **Jaune! Listen to me!"**

Yang's mind paused in surprise. "The… the big guy is Jaune?"

"Then who's the girl?!" Nora wanted an answer, damn it!

 **Jaune sighed. He'd known Skadi since she was young. He'd always been something of a godfather to the youngest of Weiss and Neptune's children.**

Nora clapped once, "Got it!" She smiled, finally having an answer.

Weiss and Neptune were just surprised, not sure how to take what they'd heard. But… at least they could say that Jaune _would_ be a good godfather…

 **Skadi always wanted to grow up to be like her mother. To run the SDC and huntress. But she'd always go starry eyed when Jaune would tell her stories of knights and monsters. In time, she moved away from the SDC path and wanted to go off and help people. Jaune, in many ways, became an inspiring figure to her, and she followed him to become a squire.**

"What's a squire?" Ruby asked.

Ozpin was the only one that _could_ answer. "A squire is a young student to an older knight. They learn the skills of the trade and perform menial tasks while the knight deals with their duties to their land."

"Aw~! Weiss's daughter looks up to Jaune enough to be his squire!" Yang was laughing to herself. But, she had to admit, she could see it… Jaune seemed like the kind of guy that could be someone's hero…

 **And brings them here… to the once proud castle town of Eichenwalde. Skadi sighed and moved to his side, "Jaune… You need to think about this rationally. Ozpin's message wasn't meant for you!" She tried to look him in the eye, but he kept his eyes on the medallion. She slammed her hand onto the bar, "My mother told me about your work together! You gave the Huntsmen everything! And they tossed you aside! How can you just forget that and run back to them?!"**

The Beacon students weren't too sure what to make of what they'd heard. Surely this was just some crazy quirk of the world. After all, _the Huntsmen_ sounded like an organization rather than a profession.

 **Her voice became an echo. Jaune glanced to the side a moment. His name etched into the wooden bar. He looked back to the metal disk in his hand. The old, scratched steel became like new as it sat in a gauntleted hand.**

"What just happened?" Nora tapped Ren's shoulder, given he seemed to understand things like this.

Ren stopped Nora's hand before answering, "Likely a flashback."

 **The camera pulled back to show a younger Jaune. Well, younger than he was. He was in his prime. His hair was shoulder length and a glowing gold. Both eyes were still intact. He was covered in bronze and silver armor. He looked like a real knight in futuristic power armror. He smirked and looked toward someone off camera, "So… that's it? You're leaving us?" He flipped the medal toward someone.**

 **A man, likely in his late forties, caught the disk. He was an almost regal looking man. His bald head and mustache/sideburn combo made him stand out. His griffon patterned armor made others heed. "I have been called! I must answer."**

Neptune let out an impressed whistle. "That's some crazy looking armor. Question is, who is he?"

Ironwood glared toward the screen, "Baldric Schutzengel. He is…" He paused for a moment, a lump forming in his throat, "was… my friend."

Winter looked toward her commander. She'd never heard of this man before… "What happened?" She suddenly realized she'd just spoken freely to her commanding officer without permission. "Apologies! I didn't…"

"It's fine. Baldric passed away. Taken by sickness… He died peaceful."

"I'm… I'm sorry, sir…"

"No need. Let's just continue."

 **One of the non-armored soldiers laughed, elbowing one of his teammates, "Jaune's just jealous he didn't get picked."**

 **Jaune heard that and decided to get back at him. He took the man's beer stein and downed the drink in a single go.**

Qrow was actually impressed. "If the kid's that good at holding his drink, I might just have found a new drinking partner."

 **Jaune finished the drink and slammed the steel stein onto the bar. "Oh, please! The Crusaders are the immortal defenders of Germany! Why would I give that up for some secret project beyond our homes? They will sing songs of our legacies!"**

 **Baldric was getting exasperated. "Our legacies are in our deeds. You'll do well to remember that." Baldric knew Jaune well enough by now. He was a glory nut. A reckless man with a need be remembered in history. He was a talented warrior, but this made him cocky, over confident in his skills. He hoped one day, Jaune would get this lesson through his head.**

Weiss sighed. "Sounds like a handful…"

"No kidding," Ironwood glared. He'd dealt with enough of this version's type. He usually made it a point to get that attitude out of them during Basic Training. If it failed, he'd make their life a living hell. That usually gets them in line. The fact that this Jaune was causing his old friend grief didn't help.

 **A soldier ran in through the doorway. "Colonel Baldric! Bots to the East! They're marching into the city!"**

 **Baldric laughed. "You heard the man! They're playing our song! Stick with your dance partners! Let's crush those rush buckets!"**

 **Jaune walked over and held a large hammer toward the Colonel, "Here's your walking stick old man~!"**

 **This got a chuckle out of the Colonel. The two then recited the motto of the Crusaders, "Live with honor!"**

 **"** **Die with glory!"**

 **They heard a whistling sound before the screen changed to show Baldric and another Crusader moving forward with blue energy shields. Gun fire flew above the barriers, but the shields were tall enough and wide enough that it didn't matter.**

Ruby was getting giddy. "Oh my gosh! Energy shields! That's so cool! How to they work?!

 **The screen zoomed through the shields to show a series of robotic surface drones firing into the group. They were rather boxy, likely a mass production unit with a focus on armor. They were pretty janky as they moved. Baldric signaled with his free hand and one of the unarmored soldiers loaded a rocket launcher. One shot later, and the robot line was exploding. The explosion gave way to show Jaune charging through the bots laughing. He tore through their line like they were paper. He rounded a corner, shoving a small squad of bots off, shoulder checked another, and finally grabbed one of them and dragged it across the ground; propelled by a rocket system on his back. He tossed the robot into another group and swung his giant war hammer into the last of them.**

Nora jumped up in her seat. "YEAH! GO JAUNE! SHOW 'EM WHO'S BOSS!" She was a little more invested to see her 'hammer buddy' succeed and rip those bots apart.

 **Jaune chuckled, "I love the feeling of the wind in my hair~"**

Yang grinned, "Have to say I agree."

 **Baldric rocketed up next to Jaune, "Get back to the line!"**

 **"** **Can't break a line with a shield!" He decapitated another bot with his hammer. "Besides! They should be fine!"**

 **The camera snapped to a group of soldiers ducked under a stone wall, "Where the hell is Jaune?!"**

Ironwood felt his eye twitch. Leaving the unit pinned like that… If someone like that was his subordinate, he'd have them court-martialed so fast their head would spin.

 **The camera returned to Jaune and Baldric as something fell into the street before them. A large, centaur-like robot booted up and readied its large Gatling gun of a left arm. One of the soldiers shook, "What is that…?"**

 **Jaune got over the shock a little faster, "That… Is mine!"**

Weiss tapped her chair, "I have to be honest… This version of Jaune kind of reminds me of Nora."

All involved could only nod while Nora giggled. It was actually a rather scary thought that there would be two of them…

 **Jaune charged using the rocket system and slammed into the bot. However, the robot's four-legged system was more capable of taking the hit and compensating. It was able to halt his charge and push him off. Its other arm snapped to the side, revealing a sword of energy. It slashed at Jaune, searing his skin and burning his eye.**

This got more than a few in the audience to recoil. Yang's grin tried to stay on, trying to diffuse the thought… put on a brave face. "At least now we know how he got the scar…"

 **"** **Head's up!" A third Crusader unit called out, "More of those things!"**

 **Another centaur-esc bot landed on the ledge above her and let out something resembling a roar. It's movements certainly contextualized it as such. It slammed down on top of her and started to unload into the soldiers.**

"Why would a robot need to roar?" Glynda asked. She found the idea ridiculous. Surely there wasn't any real answer.

Ironwood would certainly try to answer though, "Likely intimidation. Think about it. What's scarier: a cold, emotionless, almost predictable machine or a bot that moves like a beast?"

While the cold machine was intimidating, the general had a point. It would be more predictable. If it could act like a beast, though… that would be harder.

 **Baldric had to make a call. "Fall back to the rally point! I'll get Jaune!"**

 **Jaune tried to stand, but one of the robot's feet pinned him down, ready to run him through. It looked up in time to see Baldric slam it into a wall with his hammer. The bot was able to recover and fired into the now deployed shield. Unfortunately, the center of the shield was not barriered and started to break down. When the shield fell, the bot moved in and stabbed the Colonel in the side. He wrapped an arm around the bladed arm and ripped the bot's appendage out of its body, followed closely by a slammed hammerhead to crush the bot like a tin can. Baldric lurched forward, leaning on his hammer.**

 **Jaune sped up next to the Colonel, not noticing the injury tucked under Baldric's breastplate, "I had this!"**

 **"** **Obviously…"**

"How does he not notice Baldric's injury?" Winter scowled.

Ironwood, however, was able to defend the action, "A result of the warzone they're in… Unless he lost a limb or lets him know directly, it's less likely he'll notice the injury. Especially when its between his armor's plating."

 **More of the drone robots started to march in. A few dropped and shifted into a turret system, unloading their rain of death into the Germans. Some even moved and fired like small tanks. Baldric grabbed his hammer and led Jaune back to the large castle. They pushed the large oak doors shut as Baldric's breathing started to get heavier, "That won't hold them for long… Get back to the unit… I will hold them off."**

 **Jaune turned to Baldric and laughed, "And leave you to get all the glory? Not likely! Come on! We can fight our way out of this together!"**

 **"** **Jaune…" Baldric removed his helmet to look his young friend in the eye. "I'm staying here…"**

Ironwood's eyes fell closed. He knew the kind of man Baldric was. He _would_ do something like this… And that made this hurt all the more.

 **Jaune now noticed the brake in Baldric's plating. His expression fell, uncertain… "What? But… without you we'd…"**

 **"** **Lieutenant! You took an oath to be a Crusader! Now… Keep it!" Baldric extended his hand toward Jaune, waiting for him to follow suit.**

 **Jaune refused to believe what he'd heard. His commander… his friend, the man that he would follow to hell's door if he needed it, had just told him to leave him behind to die. All the while, the bots were starting to break through the door. "I… I won't leave you here! We can still fight and…"**

 **"** **The team needs you. Be their shield."**

 **A new visage fell upon Jaune's face. A grim determination at the request of an old friend. He took Baldric's hand. They remained this way only a moment, as Baldric placed the medallion from before into Jaune's hand during the exchange.**

 **Baldric had only one thing he could say to the young knight, "Jaune… Live with honor."**

 **Jaune's eyes were forced to look aside. He took a breath and held his own hammer toward Baldric. Once accepted, he turned to rejoin the group, staying behind only long enough to say one final thing, "Die with glory… old friend…"**

 **As Jaune left, the bots broke through the door and started to march inside. Baldric stood defiant against them, twin hammers ready. His rocket charged, augmented by a boost from both hammers.**

Nora was wide eyed, "Rocket hammers! They were rocket hammers! Ruby! Figure out how to make that happen!"

"On it!" The weapon nut was already creating rudimentary sketches.

 **As Baldric charged, he ripped through the robotic line with both hammers. Meanwhile, the soldiers were in full retreat. As the robotic forces marched forward, intent on their extinction, a wall burst open as Jaune charged through the bricks. The world moved in slow motion as his barrier shield extended outward to defend his team.**

Ruby stopped her sketches to look up toward the screen in amazement. No… not amazement. It's something else. Something she couldn't explain. She was happy to see Jaune defending his team again. It was like the Jaune she always knew, her first friend at Beacon. The music during the moment didn't help. It was the kind of thing that would play during a last stand.

 **The screen returned to Baldric, who continued to break the bots into pieces. At one point, he threw Jaune's hammer to destroy one of the bots up on a balcony. With one hit, the camera retuned to Jaune as he shouted out, "Barrier failing!" Cracks started to form in his shield, eventually causing it to shatter. When it did, he spun around to act as a human shield for his team, bullets glancing off his armor.**

 **Suddenly they were back with Baldric as he charged a centaur type bot and leapt into the air. The rockets on his hammer burst and he broke the bot apart.**

 **A pass by German fighter planes dropped bombs that destroyed the bots outside. The explosions were given no sound. There was nothing but the music playing in the background. Then they saw Baldric, falling back into the castle's throne. His hammer fell to the side, unable to hold his grip. The shining blue lights of his helmet began to flicker and finally fade. Of the Crusaders stationed in Eichenwalde, only Jaune would survive.**

Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora all had to look off the screen for a moment. The idea of Jaune's whole team dying was a jarring idea. But to be left behind… alone as your friends were taken from you? It was horrible.

Ironwood took a breath to calm his nerves. Seeing his old friend die in battle was difficult. But he can say his friend seemed to have lived a full life of a kind. He died with glory…

 **Baldric never moved from that throne. The scene suddenly returned to the present day. The once shining golden armor was now dim and covered in moss. Eichenwalde was forgotten by time and left as it was after the battle, including Baldric's body, forever entombed on the old throne. Jaune stood before his old friend once more. He walked up to place the medallion on the armrest of the throne. He turned back toward Skadi, a look of determination on his face, a face filled by sorrow and knowledge that he must move forward, "I have been called… I must answer." Words once spoken to him, now a way of life. He placed a hand on Skadi's shoulder a moment before walking passed her, "Always."**


	27. Northern Raiders

**King: VALHALLA! (Translation: 100,000+ words of content! This is officially nuts! Hope you've all been enjoying yourselves so far and I'm seriously thankful for all of your views and reviews. Huh... Ever notice that the word review is supposed to convey viewing somethin again... It's like parkways (which are driven on) and driveways (which are parked on). But seriously, how did this all fit into one word? Weird...)**

 **Inspiration ( Very loosely): For Honor**

 **/\**

While many in the audience were happy Jaune survived the last world's events, they were still unnerved by the actions of Baldric. How he had to die to let Jaune live… It was hard… But they didn't get the time to grieve the man that was Baldric. The screen started to form again and start the next world.

 **The first thing they saw was a mist covered sea. They could hear the soft beating of drums in the distance as small lights seemed to form.**

"Well then…" Weiss settled in, ready to see how this goes. "That's an interesting start."

Yang sighed, "I swear, if this turns into an artsy thing after that last one, I'm going to flip."

Weiss just shook her head.

 **The lights seemed to brighten through the mists s the drums got louder. They were getting faster. A large, wooden ship started to cut through the mists. It was a simple boat with a massive white sail, the symbol of Clan Arc embroidered on the surface.**

Nora gasped, "Jaune has a boat!"

"A row boat?" Weiss asked.

Blake shrugged, "A very big row boat…"

"Not exactly impressive."

"Well excuse me!" Nora huffed, "We can't all afford yachts!"

 **Another boat cut through the mist, the same symbol was placed over a red and white sail. Then another. And another. As the ships started to approach, they started to see the people within. Every single one was a mountain of a human with blonde hair. What armor they had was minimal: just a helmet and maybe a shoulder pad. The rest was simply leather clothing without any real defensive capabilities. Most had rounded shields, but nothing more in the way of defense.**

"What on earth?" Weiss was unsure what to think of them. She looked to her associates to try to see if they had any insights.

Blake, Ruby, Neptune, and Sun were in a similar boat to her.

Pyrrha saw these men as warriors, a look of respect on her face.

Yang almost felt at home seeing them. Blonde warriors that look fucking awesome? She'd fit right in~!

Most of the adults and villains just kind seemed to be running with it. Save for one. Ozpin was wide eyed, shaking in his chair. This was something he wished to never see again.

Ironwood saw his shaking and immediately became concerned. "Ozpin? Is something wrong? Do you know those men?"

Ozpin took a breath to calm his nerves… He needed a few… "Those aren't men… They're monsters."

This confused everyone until they saw what happened next.

 **The boats hit the shore and the men rushed off the boats with weapons drawn and a chorus of primal roars. The men on the shoreline were easy pickings. A costal village was slaughtered and burned in mere minutes.**

Eyes went wide watching the hell unleashed on the shore. Weiss finally had words for them. "Holy shit…"

 **The men returned to their ships as quickly as they'd came. They left with gold and various other riches. There was little left in the village. Why leave anything behind in a raid? Such is the might of Clan Arc. The mists covered the ships again, fading to show the same men in a large hall, toasting their mead and enjoying a feast. Doors pushed open to show a large, dark haired man in a blue coat with a bit of armor.**

Blake blinked a moment. "Dad?"

 **Gira Belladonna scowled into the hall and marched in. They didn't seem to notice. Or if they did, they didn't care. Gira made his way to the end of the table to a large blonde man. His beard was long, braided, and held by a ring. He was a powerful man, adorned by a bear pelt over his head and shoulders.**

 **The man chuckled seeing Gira, "You've got** ** _some_** **balls to march in here!"**

 **"** **I've been sent here to deal with you. After what you did to Tensho village."**

 **"** **Tensho? Oh! The costal town from yesterday?" The blonde man started to laugh, "It's nothing personal! It was just a raid! Right?!" This got a cheer from the warriors in the hall. "And let me guess, you're here to stop us from raiding again? I can tell you, better men than you have tried. All failed~!"**

Blake balled her hands into fists, "Come on… Put him in the ground!"

Sun smiled and raised an eyebrow. "This is a new side…"

Weiss nodded. "To be fair, we just watched his men burn down a village and steal everything valuable."

"I know. But still."

 **Gira glared as the man laughed again, "I know I can't stop you." As he spoke, the camera moved around to show the blonde warriors smirking, "No army on this planet, living or dead, could bring you and your men to heel. You bow to no one. You believe your deaths are preordained, so you've no use for armor or fear. Your men are monsters. Your women are storms. Your king is said to be blessed by the gods…" Gira's eyes returned to the man with the bear skin, "That's why I'm not going to stop you. I want to hire you."**

 **This caught the pelt covered man off guard, "Pardon?"**

"WHAT?!" Blake stood up in her chair. She couldn't believe her father would ever associate with a force like that. They razed a village for the fun of it! Or at least, it seemed that way.

 **"** **I know** ** _I_** **can't stop you. It would take every soldier on Remnant to stand to a chance against you. So, I'm offering you targets and pay on top of what you take."**

 **"** **This is a first." The blonde man scowled, his opinion of his intruder slipping. "And why would you come to us for that? Making us fight your enemies?"**

 **"** **I'm not asking you to fight my wars. Just to fight a common enemy, Sienna Kahn. I know she's been harassing your people and she's been making my people's lives a living hell. If we work together, we can crush her forces and move on with our lives."**

Ironwood thought out loud for a moment, "That could work. One force to attack from land and the other to harass from the sea… Sienna Kahn is the leader of the White Fang in our world. And if this version is anything like her, it _would_ be best to work together against her."

Blake knew Sienna was bad… but she had her limits. The one to truly fear was Adam. If he ever came to power in the White Fang… She shook her head. She didn't want to think about that right now.

 **The man was now fully glaring toward Gira. "Do you know who you're talking to?"**

 **This confused Gira, "Montagne Arc. Patriarch of the Clan Arc."**

 **"** **Warlord. I am a Lord of Warriors! I fought to earn this position. You're not in Menagerie anymore. This isn't** ** _your_** **world. This is mine. And here…" he waved about, gesturing to what he ruled, "Here… we respect the will of battle. The might of the warrior! If you are proven a worthy fighter, then we will treat you like kin. Yet you ask me to fight in** ** _your_** **war for you!" The two glared toward one another for what felt like years.**

 **Gira was well aware he was alone here. He was surrounded, and his only way out was the way he came in. No backing down.**

 **Montagne scoffed after a while. "One week. You have one week to find a champion among your people. They will fight my champion. Succeed, and we'll fight with you as brothers and sisters. Fail, and our next raid may well find** ** _your_** **home next."**

 **Gira nodded. He didn't have much of a choice. After coming to them and after his bad impression, he'd painted a target on his back. He'd have to find his best warrior…**

Yang was tapping her foot, "So, where's Vomit Boy, anyway?"

"If I had to guess," Weiss replied, "I'd say he'll be Montagne's champion. After all, it _is_ his father. Or perhaps he'll stop his father and make a deal with Blake's…"

 **One week… Seven days to return home, find a champion, and return to the frozen north. But Gira knew who would be able to fight… Who could truly be a champion. He returned after the time was up and stood in front of Montagne before his hall. He was gestured to follow and the two were soon in a makeshift arena. Beside Gira was his champion… his daughter Blake.**

Blake actually felt rather proud. Her father selected _her_ as his champion? She was the greatest warrior of her people? She couldn't help but smile a little, knowing she was strong enough to represent her people…

 **Blake was dressed similarly to her mother. The key difference was her use of lacquered armor and katana sword at her side. Her hair was tied back to stay out of her eyes and fit into her helmet without issue.**

Ruby was wide eyed, "Woah! You look like a samurai!"

Blake sighed with a smile. It seemed like the kind of thing she'd have done… if not for her running away to the White Fang…

 **Montagne scrutinized Blake for a moment, "At least she looks like a warrior. Let's see if she can fight like one." He turned to face the crowd behind him, "My son! It is time!"**

Yang grinned, "Alright! Time to see this version of Vomit Boy~ This ought to be good."

 **The crowd parted as a tall young man walked through. Despite the frozen world around him, he was without a shirt or armor; dressed only in leather pants, fur boots, and a helmet adorned with ram's horns. His body was covered in light blue runic tattoos. He was clearly his father's son, a muscular man of the northern frost. He had a blonde beard just long enough to form into a small braid. He carried a large war ax in one hand as he marched into the ring.**

Yang blinked. Something about this version of Jaune just… got to her. Then again… a few of them had… She'd have a bit to think about when she gets back.

Velvet was openly drooling. Seeing Jaune like that was truly an incredible sight to a bunny faunas. Coco wanted to tease her, but she could tell Velvet wouldn't care in her current state.

Nora couldn't tell why… but she felt drawn to this version of Jaune. Something about him was calling to her. It was like the dragonborn one from before…

 **Jaune stepped into the ring and set his ax at the ready.**

 **Gira placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder, nodding. He trusted her with his life. He knew she'd find a way to beat him.**

Yang chuckled, "Spoilers, man. We all know Blake's got this."

Nora scoffed, "Yeah, right! Jaune's totally going to win this!"

The two were now all the more invested in the fight. In a way, it was four on four. Team RWBY versus NPR plus Velvet.

 **Now alone in the ring, Jaune and Blake stared one another down. Jaune brought his ax into both hands and lifted it into the air, parallel to the ground. All the while, letting out a primal scream into the frozen wind. His runic tattoos began to glow for a moment.**

 **Blake drew her sword and got ready for the fight at hand. Her stance was unreadable. Her breath was slow. She was ready for anything. Except the large ax barreling down toward her. She was able to duck to the side and roll away. She'd always fought opponents with stances. She'd never fought a wild man like an Arc. She'd have to stay on her toes.**

Nora fist pumped into the air. "Yeah! Go Jaune! Show her who's boss!"

Yang and Ruby cheered on the samurai Blake.

 **Blake's foot dragged across the snow. She was lucky her father warned her about the temperature here. Otherwise she'd be in straw sandals. That would not end well… She was caught off guard again when Jaune used his superior range to take a swing at her. She could duck under an attack like that. This was nothing!**

 **Jaune's shoulder was suddenly buried in her gut and she was lifted off the ground. He charged and tossed her off and back to the cold ground. He reared back his ax, fully intent on cleaving into her ribcage. She was able to roll away and get back to her feet.**

 **Blake winced a bit. "This guy's a monster!"**

 **Jaune placed his ax over his shoulder and slammed his fist into his shoulder several times, "I'm no monster. I am a Viking!" This got a cheer from his fellow Nords. "I am a proud warrior of the North! But that's enough about me…" He returned his ax to both hands, ready to fight, "Come on!"**

 **Blake narrowed her eyes and lowered her stance. She'd have to be careful. He was larger and stronger than her. So much so, that trying to block him would probably rattle her bones. She'd have to be smarter. She'd have to…**

 **Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud horn. Jaune's eyes went wide. "To the defenses!"**

 **Gira looked around as the Arc warriors jumped to their weapons, "What's going on?!"**

 **Montage glared into the distance. "A cur has come to tear us down. Seems they don't want our alliance to form."**

Ozpin sighed and tapped his chest in relief. This got a few eyes to looked toward him, confused. He thus, explained himself, "I've… studied similar men from our version of reality. They're ferocious beasts… A trial like that usually ends in blood."

Relief started to run through the Beacon groups knowing they avoided either Jaune or Blake dying. But they did wonder who would try to attack them if Clan Arc was so ferocious.

 **Gira growled and turned to his daughter, "Blake!"**

 **She nodded, immediately understanding her father's order, "Right!"**

 **Montage was marching along, being handed a rounded shield and a sword, "Jaune! Take the girl and move toward the southern ridge! Deal with anyone that gets in your way!"**

 **Jaune laughed and charged toward the southern region. Blake followed close behind. The two made their way through snow and over ice to an upper region of the battlefield.**

Weiss was wide eyed. True, winter was her favorite season. But this? The frozen region was… beautiful. It was like a painting made real.

 **Blake run up next to Jaune as he looked around, "What are we doing up here?"**

 **Jaune growled and set his ax into the ice, having it lean up from the round, "Waiting. Until the war horn sounds again, we wait. One long tone is a charge. Two short is a stand down. Three short is a retreat."**

 **"** **Retreat? I thought you were supposed to be these amazing warriors no one can beat."**

 **"** ** _We_** **can. But not all of my people are warriors. We have the elders, the mothers still feeding their young, the children unable to wield a real sword… A Viking may be thought to be unstoppable, but we are still human." He took a hollowed-out horn from his belt and uncorked it, taking a drink from the makeshift flask. When he was done, he offered the horn to Blake, "A drink to the war to come."**

 **Blake shook her head. "I need my nerves in tact to fight."**

 **"** **Suit yourself." He took the rest of the drink and wiped his mouth. A single, loud and long tone rang out over the ice. "To war." He pulled his a out and raised it over his head, "VALHALLA!" Jaune charged down the ridge and toward an approaching army.**

Nora blinked. "Valhalla? What's that?"

Ozpin adjusted his glasses, "It's… an old idea. Something akin to a warrior's afterlife."

 **Blake looked out over the ridge to see the army. The banners above their heads told her everything she needed to know. Sienna Kahn's general, Adam Taurus… He planned to wipe them out. Her eyes narrowed, and she followed Jaune to the battle.**

The Blake in the audience couldn't help but mimic her counterpart. But she also knew the army before them had to outnumber the small Viking force plus her and her father.

 **Jaune charged in toward the hoard of men in armor similar to Blake's. His foot dragged forward a bit as he reared his ax back. One swing knocked five of the armored men into one another, the first of them having an ax blade embedded into his armor as he started to bleed. He pushed the soldier off and swung the counterbalance back into another man. He knocked one of them up off the ground and swung his blade into the man midair. He slammed him into the ground as his blood spurted up into the soldiers around him. Jaune roared again and got more than a few around him to fall over themselves.**

Mercury chuckled, "Holy shit! This guy is nuts!"

The screen glitched, paused, sparked again, and a bolt shot out and into the seats. At the point of impact, a young man in a mask was upside down in one of the seats. "The hell just happened?!"

Blake was up in an instant and on guard, "Adam?!"

Adam smirked and righted himself. "Blake. I've been wondering where you went." Yang, Weiss, Ruby, and Sun shot up to help their friend. Adam just laughed, "Four more to die then!" He tried to draw his sword, but the glowing purple fireball appeared between them.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" He forced Adam off and away from the group. "I don't know what's up, but I don't care enough right now. You're here now and thus part of the madness. The screen needs fixed again, but I can't do that if you're going to fight if I'm not here. So, let me lay down a few rules. No weapons!" Adam's katana suddenly disappeared. "And no fighting in the theater! You sit and watch! Or you go home! GOT IT?!" The small fireball became a localized inferno. He was suddenly back to normal as the screen sparked again. "Now what?!"

A series of sparks forced new forms into the theater. The pile of bodies included Taiyang, Gira and Kali Belladonna, Bartholomew Oobleck, Peter Port, and Sienna Kahn. The bodies split among the groups as King explained the rules and purpose, using a bit of power to keep the screen from sparking again.

King sighed, "Okay… you've all got here half way through one… Just… sit down and if you have questions, ask the people that were already here."

Kali walked over and sat next to Blake, "I must say, this is a lovely theater." She noticed Sun and reached out to shake his hand. "And who might you be?"

Sun smiled nervously, Gira staring at him from behind his wife. "I'm Sun. Sun Wukong. I'm Blake's friend from Mistral! But… I'm more from Vacuo! It's kind of a long story…"

After a while, Kali chuckled, leaning toward her daughter, "I like him."

Blake tried to hide some form of embarrassment, but the damage was done.

Taiyang smiled toward Qrow, "Hey, Qrow! Haven't seen you in ages."

Qrow gave a small wave. "A few months. Give or take. How's Signal since I left?"

"The usual. Bunch of teens trying to act cool. Never lasts the year." Tai noticed Raven sitting nearby. He glowered toward her and spun around to sit with his daughters. He looked up to the screen, showing a glitching form of the Viking Jaune. "So, what are we watching again?"

Ruby smiled, "Another universe! The screen shows different versions of all of us where things are so crazy! But King says they all center around our friend Jaune."

"Then… why are we all here?"

Ruby shrugged, "No idea. People just kind of showed up after a while. King didn't bring everyone here."

Port raised an eyebrow, "King is the fireball, right?"

"Yep~!"

King reappeared and sighed. "Okay… I fixed the screen again, but the filter is well and truly shot. If I try to fix it, the screen glitches. So, you'll just have to live with it… For the new people, ask around. I need a nap…" He disappeared again as the screen had a loading symbol appear.

Adam crossed his arms and grumbled. "This is ridiculous."

Sienna sighed, "Perhaps, but it is our lot for now."

Blake had a realization. If things followed as they were… A grin spread across her face. "Don't be like that. Adam might actually make an appearance in this one."

This got the megalomaniac's attention. "Really?"

"In this one, you're a general in Sienna's army."

Gira glared. He never liked Adam, but Blake was acting oddly… Kali was concerned, but not to any major degree. Yang grinned, happy that Blake was picking up a few things in their time as a team.

 **The screen returned to form as Jaune roared out. He swung his ax and knocked more soldiers aside.**

Tai grinned, "Nice! This is like a movie or something."

Ruby tapped her chair in thought, "They do seem to follow movie-like systems…"

 **Blake leapt over a row of the soldiers and sliced her way through the line with her sword.**

Kali's eyes lit up. "Oh~! It's like my old armor!"

Blake turned toward her mother, "You used to wear armor?"

"Back when, yes. Oh… The good old days~"

 **Blake tripped one of the soldiers, who fell into Jaune's chest. The larger man grabbed the soldier by his face and lifted him off the ground, slamming him into the ice. Jaune grinned and leveled his ax again, his runic tattoos glowing brighter than ever. "Hey! Blake was it?!"**

 **Blake parried an attack and glanced toward him, "Yeah! Why?"**

 **Jaune laughed as several of the smaller soldiers tried to force him down, but he just shrugged them off. "I make it a point to know the names of many worthy warriors!" He picked one of the soldiers up onto his shoulders before dropping the armored man onto his knee, likely snapping his spine.**

Everyone suddenly had a pain in their backs seeing that.

Gira blinked in surprise. "That was quite excessive…"

 **Jaune laughed as another of Sienna's soldiers tried to charge him from behind. A spear head ran through the man and tossed him to the side. Gira marched forward and glared into the enemy army, causing many to flee.**

Gira froze in shock. Seeing himself on screen was jarring.

 **As the enemy started routing, Montage walked up, laughing, and slapped Gira's back, "Look at them run! You're quite intimidating, friend."**

 **As the foot soldiers tried to run, Adam walked through, katana at his side. He glared toward them as his soldiers started to get their spines again, seeing him march forward. Soon, he was at the front, staring down Montage and Gira, "I will give you one chance to surrender."**

 **Montagne gestured around him at the fallen warriors, all made up of Sienna's forces, "Are the bodies not a clear indication of how this'll go down?"**

Tai smirked, "I like this guy!"

Yang grinned, "Right~?!"

 **Adam started to draw his blade. "Then a contest of skill. Champion versus champion. You Arcs love your duels."**

 **Montagne went into uproarious laughter. "Sounds good to me! Jaune!"**

 **The young son of the warlord made his way between Adam and his father. He smirked and readied his ax.**

 **Adam's eyes narrowed, adopting a stance, ready for combat.**

Adam smiled, "This kid is a dead man. My stance is perfect, without an opening. He's doomed."

Gira glared toward the screen, "Unfortunately, he is correct. I don't see how your friend will get out of this."

 **Jaune raised his ax and let out a primal scream. His tattoos now started to glow permanently. He cracked his neck and smiled toward Adam. "Bring it on little man. Let's see what you've got!"**

 **Adam feigned to the side a moment before landing a powerful slash into Jaune's unarmored chest. He was too fast to dodge. Too powerful to fail. His face, however, was one of shock. A small thud had him pull his eyes to the side, the upper half of his sword was sticking up out of the snow.**

Adam's grin fell, and Blake's just spread further.

Gira could now see his daughter's train of thought. He couldn't help but smile. Small victories.

 **Adam looked back up to show Jaune glaring down at him, his tattoos no longer glowing. Jaune grinned and headbutted Adam hard enough to disorient him. Adam lurched back as Jaune knocked his feet out form under him and forced him to his knees. Jaune wrapped his arm around Adam's head and lurched upward, snapping the general's neck.**

Adam rose up from his chair, "Bullshit!"

Yang snickered.

 **Jaune let Adam fall. The forces he brought along abruptly turned and tried to run away in a mass panic as Jaune yelled out again.**

 **Blake blinked in shock. "What just happened?**

 **Montagne laughed, "His tattoos are a blessing from the gods. As he fights, he starts to build up the blessing. With it, he can block one attack without consequence." Montagne turned back to Gira, eyes narrowed, "But let's get back to business. You and your champion have proven your mettle today. We'll work with you in the future. But don't think for a moment there's going to be politics with us. If you visit us again…" His glare turned to a jovial laugh, "We drink!"**

 **A cheer from the Clan rang out over the northern snow.**

 **Gira let out a sigh of relief. "Then a toast to the future, then?"**

 **Montagne laughed as the screen started to fade.**


	28. Bad Times

**King: I feel this might be getting out of hand. Oh well~! I find it humerus. Tickled to the tibia toes~ But I ain't no bone head. Let's this going. Hope you have a skele-ton of fun~ Hope you all have a good time.**

 **Inspiration: Undertale**

 **/\**

Blake smiled to herself as Adam went on a tirade about the last reality. They couldn't fight here, so she was enjoying watching him squirm and be unable to do anything about it. Adam was a violent creature fueled by spite. It was nice to see his venom made useless and his fangs broken off.

Yang smirked toward her partner, "You can be pretty cruel, you know that?"

Blake returned to her usual expression, but it was hard not to smirk, "I have no idea what you mean."

Tai chuckled at their antics. "So, how does that screen thing decide what to play?"

Ruby shrugged, "King said they play at random. There used to be this filter thing that would sort through different versions and worlds, but it broke… Somehow… I have no idea…"

Tai just laughed again and tussled Ruby's hair, "Still, I liked that Montagne guy. Seemed like a cool guy."

Yang scoffed, "In that one…"

"Huh?"

Ruby had to explain it as Yang was still very much unwilling to bother with it, "There was a version a while ago where Jaune's dad was a real mean dude who used Jaune to get what he wanted."

Tai blinked. Then blinked again. "Well then… Wait, he was your friend's father?"

"Yep."

Gira tapped his chair and placed a hand at his chin in thought, "Montagne… Why does that name sound familiar…?"

Blake turned to her father, confused, but her thoughts were interrupted as the screen flickered to life again.

 **The screen opened to a familiar stained-glass hallway. This time, however, it was Adam making his way through the hall. He carried a bloodstained knife at his side as he walked.**

Adam smirked, "Seems about right."

 **How many had he killed on her way here? In a way, he supposed it didn't matter. He put down more than enough so far. All that remained was their king… He suddenly stopped glaring to something off camera. "And the jester…"**

 **The camera panned to the right to reveal a skeleton in a Pumpkin Pete's hoodie. His pin-point blue eyes seemed to glow beneath his skull as a golden energy flowed out of his head.**

"There's Jaune!" Nora laughed. "He looks so weird!"

Ruby smiled, "Okay. Yang was this character last time. So, I guess we get to see what's up with this version…"

 **Jaune placed his bony hands into his hoodie's pockets. "Turn around."**

Ruby blinked. "That didn't happen last time."

 **"** **Haven't you done enough? Aren't you satisfied yet?"**

 **Adam just smirked and held his knife tighter, ready for a fight.**

 **Jaune sighed. "Guess I can't keep that promise after all…" He took a deep breath… somehow… and the blue pins he called eyes disappeared into the darkness of his sockets. Memories flooded into his mind. So many deaths. So much suffering. "It's a beautiful day outside."**

Mercury raised an eyebrow, "That's a little weird…"

Cinder begged to differ.

 **"** **Birds are singing… Flowers are blooming…"**

Emerald couldn't help but feel something was off, "Is… is he okay?"

 **"** **On days like this… kids like you…" A bright, burning blue fire erupted from his left eye socket, forming something of an eye, "Should be burning in Hell."**

Sienna finally joined the conversation. "And there's the twist."

 **Jaune took a hand from his pocket and rose it upward. A mass of bones shot up through the ground and buried themselves in Adam's chest. Adam was caught completely unaware as his blood shot out from his wounds. His form flickered, a videogame-esc heart shattered in half, and he was suddenly back at the entrance to the hall. Adam growled and picked his knife up again. He wasn't about to let that… that - whatever the hell he should call him – win! He refused!**

 **As he stormed into the hall again, Jaune was tapping his foot. "How many times are you going to tr this? 100 deaths, 22 of them in this room alone. Just give it up…"**

 **Adam glared toward the skeleton, choosing to draw his knife.**

 **Jaune sighed again and cracked his neck. "Let's get this over with."**

Adam crossed his arms and groaned. "He'd be doomed if I had my sword."

"It's not actually _you_ Adam." Sienna replied. "This is a version of yourself, but not you."

 **Jaune raised his left hand out to his side, his fire-formed eye glowing brighter. Adam suddenly started to drag on the floor toward the wall. He fell against the stone and rolled up onto the surface as though it were a floor.**

Nora gasped. "Oh my gosh! How is he doing that?!"  
Ren tapped his friend's shoulder, "I don't think he is. See Jaune's hand? It's pointed toward the wall in question. It's likely Jaune is holding him there, in a way."

"Okay… but is Jaune doing that?"

"No idea."

 **Jaune's eye flickered as the wall beneath Adam started to crack. The murderous psychopath dodged as a series of bones shot up from the ground. Adam readied his knife and jumped off the wall and toward Jaune. A large, almost dragon-like skull came between the two. Adam kicked off the skull as it opened its jaw. It wouldn't catch him so easily. Then he noticed the inside of the skull was glowing between its jaws. A burst of energy shot out and the heart split in half again.**

Now it was Ruby's turn to gasp. "Was that a weapon?! How did it work?! TELL ME!"

Tai laughed a little, "Has she been like this through a lot of these?"

Yang nodded. "To be fair, there have been some pretty crazy weapons."

"How crazy?"

"Laser swords…"

Ruby was suddenly between them, "Lightsabers!"

"That… Rocket hammers, some weird sniper/assault rifle combo, dust canister gauntlets… Crazy stuff."

"Sounds it…"

 **Jaune sighed. "Let's get this over with." He flicked his hand to his side again.**

 **This time, however, Adam was ready. He rolled on the wall and ran as the bones rose up.**

 **Jaune didn't bother to watch him as he ran. He knew Adam's every move already. Jaune just sighed.** ** _How many times are we going to do this?_** **He swung his hand to the other direction and Adam fell across the hall to the glass surface, becoming his new floor. More bones shot out from the glass and another large skull started to fire lasers. Jaune groaned. Adam was starting to figure him out. His patterns… "Okay…"**

 **Adam eyed Jaune waiting for the next move.** ** _Next should be a swing to roof. I'm ready for you this time!_** **He'd died too often in this room. Jaune moved his hand and Adam braced himself for his upward climb, only to slam into the floor proper.** ** _What?!_**

The group wasn't sure what was going on, but they were able to pick on a few things. First, this version of Adam and Jaune have been fighting for a long time at this point. Second, every time Adam died, he reappeared back in the hall like it never happened. The key being that so did Jaune. Third, Jaune seemed to have been following a set pattern for a long time, and Adam was learning it. Finally, Jaune just defied that pattern.

 **Adam growled as he stood again, "That's not how it's supposed to go…"**

 **"** **I know. I was supposed to send you upward. Unfortunately for you, this isn't some video game where I have to follow a set pattern. I've been treating this like a game, but it's not. I finally decided to get my bony ass in gear." Jaune raised his hand again, this time outward. The blue flame surrounded his hand and he snapped it shut, releasing a magical shockwave of fire. Jaune was unaffected being made of magic and bones. Adam, however, was not so lucky.**

 **Adam fell back onto the cold stone, his body burning slightly. He was able to mitigate the damage, only for a pair of skeletal arms to shoot up from the ground and grab his wrists, holding him down.**

 **Jaune glared toward down toward Adam, finally removing his other hand form his hoodie. Interwoven between his bony fingers was a long black ribbon, one his sister would never be seen without.**

Yang blinked and turned toward Blake. Blake just started up to the screen, her ears twitching beneath her own ribbon. There was no confusion. It was the same piece of fabric.

 **Jaune's eyes, or lack thereof, was filled with hate and pain. "I know… that no matter what I do, you'll just die and reload over and over again until you figure out my patterns. But I'm not going to give you that curtesy. I have one job now. To keep you here and kill you as many times as it takes to break your Determination."**

Qrow paused mid-sip of his drink. "That's… that's messed up…"

Ozpin sighed. "No kidding…" Ozpin knew what it was like to die over and over again. The key difference being he would be reborn within another, to live their new existence as one being. This, though? This was twisted.

 **Jaune growled. He knew if he killed Adam again, he'd have to go back and recognize this situation again. He'd be stuck in his pattern long enough to only act on muscle memory. If that happened… the kid would find a way through his defenses or a way to wear him out first. Jaune closed his eyes, somehow, and started to think.**

"How does a skeleton close his eyes?" Yang asked.

"I swear to god, Yang…" Blake's eye twitched, "If this is a set up…"

"No. I'm serious! How is that possible?"

Her team was so used to her dumb jokes, they found this hard to believe.

 **Jaune needed to break Adam's spirit. But killing him would put him back at square one… He had an option, but he didn't like it. His hand gripped tighter around the ribbon.** ** _I don't care anymore…_** **Jaune's eyes reopened and burned with his undead fury. "Blake believed there was good in you, you know… That you could still turn this around. But you kept charging forward like the spiteful little brat you are."**

Sienna snickered a little. "Maybe it _is_ Taurus…"

Adam turned toward her, "Lady Kahn!"

"Oh, calm down. It's a joke you bullheaded pansy."

Yang and Tai had the biggest shit-eating grins right now.

 **"** **And you killed her… Her last words were how she knew you'd turn yourself around, move away from all this. But you didn't. You just kept going. Killing more and more of us. So, here's what's going to happen." Jaune used his powers to force Adam to a standing position, but one that left him restrained by the skeletal hands. "I'm going to make an honest man out of you. I'm going to make this hurt until you beg for Hell. You're going to leave this world and choose to never come back."**

 **Adam's sight suddenly filled by bone. As his health fell, he screamed out in pain. He knew this attack. He couldn't escape. He'll die soon enough and respawn. Adam's eyes went wide seeing his health bar. It was back at full, only to start dropping. As he got close to death, a green magic would heal him completely, so he could suffer longer.**

Adam only grew angrier. "I refuse to believe that he…" His thoughts were cut off by his counterpart screaming out in agony. It was a horrid, bloodcurdling cry that could come only from a tortured man. A man longing for the end.

Ruby shook in her chair, grabbing her father's sleeve. "Dad… I'm scared…"

Tai placed a comforting arm on Ruby's shoulder, "We're all scared, Ruby."

 **As Adam cried for mercy, Jaune simply glared into the mass of bone and blood, "You didn't spare my sister. Why should I spare you?" After a while, the screams went silent. Jaune waved his hand and the bones fell away, with no body to be found within. "Finally… I'd call it a rage quit, but I already said this wasn't a game… Guess the tale ends here." Jaune sighed. "Didn't even get to make a good joke… I hate being serious…"**

The screen fell black. After a moment, it turned to static.

Gira raised an eyebrow, "Is that supposed to happen?"

King suddenly reappeared, his crown off axis, "WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!" After a moment of static, he sighed. "You can't be serious… Know what? Fine!" King spit out three new orbs of magic. One was a light tan, another a bright hazel color, and the last was akin to industrial copper.

Kali looked up toward the orbs, "What are those?"

Blake's eyes narrowed. "How _we_ got here. Which means we have company."

"Oh! Any one you know?"

"Kind of hard to tell…"

To Cinder, however, a much easier tell. "Why…" The three orbs popped to reveal the rest of Salem's cohorts: Tyrian, Hazel, and Watts, respectively. "God damn it…"

Watts looked around at the theater. "I must say, this is a rather impressive set up. But I do wonder how we got here."

"Doesn't matter." Hazel glared at the Headmaster sitting in the stands. "Does it… Ozpin…"

Ozpin stood and walked out to the side, glaring back at Hazel.

The massive man was about to throw a punch at the headmaster but was caught off guard when a black liquid fell onto his shoulder. He looked up to he the form of King, leaking black ooze. King shot out the black sludge onto the floor and it started to pool beneath him. The sludge started to rise up and form into a tall woman with white hair and pale skin. Her skin was adorned by black veins and her eyes were bloodied pools in a sea of black death.

The students of Beacon felt a chill go up their spines. Many of the adults felt a similar emotion. Only a select few sprung into action. That is, until King burned brighter again. "NOBODY MOVE!" Once he had their attention, he began. "Alright… explanations first…"


	29. Chaotic Events

**King: This one took a little longer for a number of reasons. It was a fun write, though~ Oh! Before I forget, I have a note for you all. I went back and put in the inspiration for each world in the beginning notes. Anything labeled "Inspiration: n/a" are my personal ideas based on the RWBY world. I wasn't going to do that before because of far along I've been, but I had nothing to do yesterday and just decided to set it all up... Anyway~! We have a new chapter! IcySnowSage asked for this one and I wanted to get this one done~ Let's do this.**

 **Inspiration: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic**

 **/\**

The theater fell hush as King finished his explanation. He sighed, breaking the silence among them, "And you want to go back, the door in the back of the theater labelled exit. It's kind of hard to miss… You do what you want, but no fighting in the theater. I've officially made it a physical law. Any hostility will drain you of strength."

Tyrian groaned, "That's no fun…"

"I'm not here for _your_ fun. The screen acting out is bad enough, I don't need any more headaches. You do you, I don't care…" King dissipated, leaving them alone with each other.

Enemies stared one another down for what felt like an eternity. No one dared to move. Well, that's not quite true. Someone tried. Hazel was blinded by his hatred of Ozpin and tried to lash out, laws be damned. He was currently face down on the floor, having only made it one step.

Salem, for her part, took things rather well. "I say we stay. I'm interested to see what other worlds may look like."

Watts nodded, "I have to agree. I've read up on various theories, but to see it? It's incredible."

Hazel just groaned, still feeling his punishment in full force.

Salem and her group took up their seats, not far from Cinder. It was clear her cover was blown long before this. Why bother hiding it now?

The screen started to form the next world.

Salem smiled to herself, "Let's see what we find in this new world…"

 **The screen opened to a throne room adorned with stained glass windows of various times and individuals. Standing before one such window was Grand Prince Ozpin, dressed in his white and gold regalia. His hair was cut at shoulder length, seeming to glow in its silver form.**

Glynda blinked in surprise. "Prince… Ozpin?"

Ironwood sighed as his head fell back.

Qrow couldn't help but laugh. Port and Bart joined him after seeing Glynda's blush, though they remained discrete enough to avoid repercussions from the disciplinarian.

 **Ozpin sighed. "I fear our options have run thin…"**

 **"** **That may be putting it lightly." Behind the prince was the Lady of the Midnight, Salem. This version was very much human and dressed in dark blue dress as her hair fell away, seeming like the night sky.**

Salem raised an eyebrow. "So, that's supposed to be me then?"

Ozpin took a sip from his mug, "So it seems…"

 **"** **I fear our spell may be fading…"**

 **"** **Then just gather the Maiden Stones and let us put that monster back into stone. Simple."**

This caught Salem's attention. "Maiden _Stones_?"

Cinder remembered this one, "We've seen this reality type before. In this version, the Maidens are powerful gemstones that can accomplish great feats of magical abilities."

"Interesting…"

 **"** **It's not quite so simple. We can no longer wield the Maiden's power. We have lost their connection…"**

 **"** **Then what do you propose?"**

 **Ozpin turned back toward Salem. "Oh, ye of little faith. If I remember correctly, there just so happened to be a group of young ones that were able to wield those powers and return you to normal."**

 **"** **Do you think they can handle it?"**

 **"** **They handled you."**

 **"** **And I was a very different beast, dear brother."**

Qrow would have done a spit-take but trained himself to never to waste good booze. Once he could speak again, he coughed. "Brother?!"

Ozpin and Salem had a very similar set of reactions. Neither could ever even begin to imagine such a state. Then again, they _were_ in the same room at that moment, so anything was possible.

 **"** **I'm aware… But we don't really have any other options."**

 **The doors swung open as the familiar faces of RWBY, plus Pyrrha and Nora, ran into the throne room. Ruby was front and center, "You needed to see us, Prince Ozpin? Oh! Hi, Lady Salem!"**

 **Salem waved rather nonchalantly.**

Ozpin's mind blanked. The very idea of all this was starting to get to him.

 **Ozpin sighed. "Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie… I fear that Vale must call upon you all once again."**

 **All of the girls had a look of determination. "We'll do whatever we can to help!"**

 **Ozpin looked back up to one of the glass windows. "I fear one of our old enemies has returned from his millennia-long prison. One that my sister and I can no longer combat…"**

 **The glass before him showed Ozpin and Salem on either side of the lower panes. Above and center to them was a man in a throne. His entire form was a hodge-podge of weird. His coat was a patchwork of browns, reds, greens, and blues. His trousers were separated by pantleg: his left being plaid and the right being yellow and red stripes. His shoes were mismatched, and he wore a glove on only one hand. His eyes were just as odd, one being blue while the other was a bright pink. Atop his blonde head, a crown of sorts was adorned by a ram's horn on one side and an antler on the other.**

Coco passed out, foaming at the mouth. The sheer fashion travesty before her was too much to fathom. Velvet was freaking out, trying to revive her partner.

Neo, on the other hand, found him rather interesting. The single pink eye _did_ help, but she was totally bias.

Ruby was wide eyed, "Jaune?"

Blake sighed, "Looks like this one's a psycho-Jaune…"

This got her mother's attention, "A what?"

"A version of Jaune that's seriously messed up in the head." Sun's head fell back, "Assassins, murderers, pyromaniacs, and the sort. It's happened enough there's a term…"

"Oh dear…"

 **Ozpin's eyes narrowed toward the glass. "Discord…"**

 **The glass work's smile seemed to widen. The panes moved, allowing the visage to stand, "In the flesh."**

Salem blinked in shock. It was an… odd sensation. "What?"

 **All but Oz and Salem recoiled. Ozpin just continued to glare. "Did you think I didn't know you were here?"**

 **"** **No. But I** ** _do_** **know that I moved your precious Maiden Stones. Can't be too careful, you see. After all, a thousand years stuck in the gardens, watching people come and go as they pleased and being unable to interact was difficult for me. But you wouldn't know what that's like would you? After all," Discord's tone held a real venom within it, "** ** _I_** **never turned anyone into stone…"**

 **Salem ran to the display holding the Maidens. Sure enough, they were gone. It was supposed to be impossible to take them away from it. She growled. After all, impossible means nothing to him, does it?**

 **Discord chuckled. He placed a hand on his chest, faking insult, "You didn't believe me? I'm hurt." He moved from his pane to the next window. "But I'm sure I'll get over it~ Allow me to introduce myself for the new lackies and the people in the seats, "I am Discord. Lord of Chaos and Disorder. Once, I was a man by the name of Jaune. If that's easier to remember, you just use that. I really don't care."**

Coco blinked and suddenly shot back up. She looked up to the screen, "That's… Huh…"

Velvet was still shaking, "Coco! Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine. Strangely… Truth be told, if he's supposed to embody Chaos, then the outfit works…"

Velvet just hung her head and sighed, long used to her team leader's antics.

 **"** **But I'm a fair man. So, I'll give you a riddle. Solve it and you'll find your gemstones."**

Watts sighed, "It would be more useful to _not_ tell them where to find it…"

Tyrian chuckled, "But that's no fun! Give them their chance as see their eyes fall when its too late. See their heart break when they realize they weren't smart enough!"

Watts blinked toward his compatriot, not expecting that kind of answer.

 **Jaune cleared his throat, "Follow my riddle and your find your stones. Then these little ones can return to their homes. The twists and turns of my master plan, you'll find your Maidens back where you began." He laughed, and the panes faded as he disappeared.**

 **Salem placed her index finger over her mouth in thought. Her eyes widened after a moment. "Oz… Where did you keep Discord when he was a statue?"**

 **The Prince hit the same realization. "The garden labyrinth…"**

 **"** **Twists and turns of his plan… where we began…"**

 **Ozpin turned to the girls, "Hunt down Discord! Find the Maiden Stones! Act with caution, however. Discord is a dangerous foe with near limitless abilities. Be careful."**

 **Ruby saluted, "We won't let you down, sir!"**

 **The team made their way to the entrance to the labyrinth with heads held high. Ruby stretched her arms when they arrived, "The way I see it, we can have Yang and Pyrrha fly over the maze and lead us through the hedges. Worse comes to worse, we can use a spell to rip our way through."**

Weiss let out an exhale with a smile, "I must say, that's a rather apt plan given the situation."

Ruby grinned, "Thanks, Weiss!"

 **"** **Yeah… no." Jaune walked up from behind them with his arms behind his back. As they jumped back, he turned toward them. "That's not going to happen because that would ruin the spirit of the game. There will be two rules in this maze. Rule one, no flying." With the snap of his fingers, Yang and Pyrrha started to glow, part of their aura seemingly pulled away. Two miniature pairs of auric wings appeared in Jaune's hand. "Rule two, no magic." A wave of his hand had the same effect on Ruby and Weiss, pulling two symbols from them (a rose and a snowflake, respectively). "If any of these rules are broke, then I win our little game. You can only use your physical attributes from here on out. Good luck little ones~!" He disappeared with a cackling laughter.**

 **Ruby's eye twitched, but a deep breath calmed her. Not that it helped. She was still clearly unhappy with having her magic stolen away. "Okay! Doesn't matter! We can still do this! As a team, we're unstoppable!" The ground shook beneath her. Her eye twitched again as she heard the cries of her team, now separated by thick hedgerows. "Why do I say things…"**

Weiss sighed. "A sentiment I know too well…"

Ruby chuckled nervously. She knew what her team was like. Voicing something out loud was usually an invitation to tempt fate.

 **Weiss groaned, "As much as I love the gardens, I'd prefer to have done sooner rather than later… What's the new plan?"**

 **Ruby took a deep breath, "Okay… We'll move through the maze and meet up in the center area. Be careful everyone!" With plan set and emotions high, the six made their way into the maze.**

 **Blake moved through the maze easily enough. Her path seemed fairly straightforward up to this point. After a while, she found the first of the internal rooms in the maze. She walked in, investigating if there was another entrance. If she was lucky, they could all just meet here instead. Luck, however, was not on her side as the room had only one way in. She cursed under her breath and made to leave the internal garden. Something up a tree, however, caught her eye. She looked up to find a black cat just lying there, staring at her.**

Blake's eye narrowed. "Okay… Where is this going?"

 **Blake was about to leave when a voice caught her, "Do you think what you're doing is right?"**

 **Blake froze and looked around. She didn't see anyone.**

 **"** **Up here."**

 **This only made her thought processes worse. The only thing above her was the…** ** _No…_**

 **The cat was staring down at her, "How long until it all comes crashing down?"**

Nora gasped. "Oh my gosh! A talking cat! Ren! We need to get a talking cat!"

Ren sighed, "I don't think they have any in our reality."

"Phooey…"

 **Blake glared up toward the cat. "I must be losing it…"**

 **"** **No more than usual."**

 **"** **Quiet you…"**

 **The cat stood on the branch. "I'm not saying anything you don't already know. It's simply the all too painful truth. They will abandon you, if they learn what you've done."**

 **"** **Shut up!" Blake glared toward the tree-bound feline, "I've moved on and chosen to do something with my life! Live a life worth living…"**

 **"** **I'm aware. You've made friends and started to new life. But what would happen if your old life returns? Can you keep lying or will you run away again?"**

Blake's eyes fell. She asked herself that question a lot before coming to Beacon. But she moved on and found real friends. Even when they learned about her past, they stuck by her side. But that didn't mean the questions ever really left her mind.

 **The cat jumped down from its branch and reformed as the Chaotic lord, Jaune. Blake didn't seem to flinch seeing that. In fact, her eyes seemed to be blanking. Jaune's eyes, however seemed to glow slightly as he spoke, "You'll simply run from your life again. You ran from your home, your people, and your cause. What's stopping you from running from them?"**

 **Blake's speech was lazy, listing, "They're… my friends…"**

 **"** **We're your comrades back when not? Were they lesser than these new girls in your life? How long before they find out? How long before they toss you aside? Guard yourself and your secrets… They must never know…"**

 **Jaune's words rang in her ears as her colors seemed to mute. She was shaking. Could she tell them? Would they leave? Would she run again? Never… They must never found out! They can't find out! No matter what!**

 **"** **Blake?"**

 **Blake jumped around and adopted a fighting stance, only to see Ruby.**

 **"** **Are you okay?"**

 **"** **I… I'm fine."**

Ruby blinked in surprise, "Why didn't she tell me about Jaune being there?"

Weiss thought for a moment, "I'm… almost afraid we're going to find out."

 **"** **O-kay. Have you seen anyone else yet?"**

 **"** **No… No, I haven't."**

 **Ruby sighed. "Alright. Let's get moving. Let's see if we can find the others and solve this dumb maze…"**

 **Blake followed close behind, always looking behind her shoulder. Always on guard.**

Watts smirked, "On guard, huh? More like paranoid. I have to admit this Discord fellow is quite the villain."

Hazel groaned in his seat.

Watts sighed, "Hazel… You'll have to put your grudge aside. Otherwise you'll just end up a vegetable for our time here."

Hazel sunk in his chair again, much to the disappointment of his pears. Okay, just Watts. Cinder and Salem didn't care, Emerald and Mercury were too scared to speak up, and Tyrian found it funny.

 **The next person to be shown by the screen was Weiss, walking along with an exasperated sigh. "If it's not one thing, it's another… Now, I just need to find…" Her eyes went wide as she passed a turn in the maze. Set soon after the turn was a massive black monolith of stone with a brilliant, shining pattern of diamond set within in the shape of the Schnee family symbol. The diamond within had to be the size of a person!**

Mercury let out a whistle, "That's a hell of a gem. But why is it in a shrub maze?"

 **Weiss blinked at the hidden gem within. The sheer size would make a jeweler drool. Geologists would have a field day! The sheer value could set up a company and then some! More than enough to get out from under the thumb of her father…**

 **Weiss felt a chill and shook her head. "Calm down, Weiss. Eyes on the prize. Find Discord."**

 **"** **Then why would you look away?" Jaune was hidden away in the refection of the diamond sticking out from the stone.**

 **"** **You!" Weiss tried to use a spell, forgetting her powers were taken away.**

 **"** **Careful~ Try that again and your little friends will game the game because of you."**

 **Weiss glared into the diamond. "What's your game?!"**

 **"** **I think I explained the rules quite well. But we have a more pressing question. What will you do with this diamond?"**

 **Weiss was caught off guard. "W-what?"**

Ruby's eyes narrowed, "What's he talking about?"

Weiss shrugged.

 **"** **Think about it… A gem this size. You could do so much with it. You could have anything you could ever want~"**

 **Weiss's eyes set with indignation, "How dare! I don't care about things like that! All I want to help people!"**

Ruby smiled, "Yeah!"

Weiss had a small grin, agreeing with her other self.

 **"** **A noble cause. But how long before the well runs dry?"**

 **"** **What are you…?"**

 **"** **Think about it. You want to help people? How can you do so without resources? Nothing is free, not even helping. A helping hand costs your time. A charitable donation costs your money. Even a shield has a cost, Weiss. How long before your father cuts you off and your resources run dry? How can you help them if you can't even pay for a shield?"**

 **Weiss was shaking in place. Could that happen?! How long did she have? Wouldn't it be better to stockpile now and help those who can't keep up? Weiss's eyes tuned back toward the diamond. She looked to the side and found a pick, supplied by Jaune ahead of time. She took hold of the tool and turned back to the stone with a smile on her face. So many people needed her help, after all.**

No one among team RWBY, NPR, Sun, or Neptune were really ready for that. This version of Jaune was playing on their natures to twist their thinking subtly. It was rather scary how powerful simple words could be.

 **Back within the maze, Nora ran along into a room of her own. Within was a garden of glass sculptures. Nora walked through, careful not to touch the statues. She needed to get to the other side to reach the others. She saw one of the statues was in the form of Jaune and she scowled. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and started to move again.**

 **The glass Jaune started to laugh on his pedestal. "Something wrong, Nora?"**

 **Nora spun around and glared toward the statue. "Back off!"**

 **"** **Or what? You'll shatter me? Break my legs? What's stopping you?"**

 **Nora took a step back, "I…"**

 **"** **You're holding yourself back. Why not go ahead and break me?! Stop restricting yourself!"**

 **Nora's anger boiled over hearing him talk and kicked the statue over, having it shatter on impact with the ground. She moved to leave, only to find he was in front of her as another statue.**

 **"** **That couldn't satisfy you, surely… Come on! You can do better than that!"**

 **Nora punched the glass, having it break under her force.**

 **Jaune reappeared again in a new place, "Is that all you've got?!"**

 **Nora yelled out as she started to mow down various glass versions of Jaune.**

Nora's fists clenched. It was hard to watch this for her. She knew that breaking someone's legs was a go to for dealing with jerks, but it was always a joke! Kind of… Okay, she kind of meant it from time to time… But only for people who deserved it!

 **The next target of Jaune's manipulation was Pyrrha, as she made her way through the maze. She moved along the left walls of her section, intent on figuring this out. As she moved, Jaune was watching her nearby and out of sight. She smirked and decided to let the red head hear his whispers on the wind, "Don't you think it's time to stop letting them hold you back?"**

 **Pyrrha fell a chill on the back of her neck. "W-what?! Who's there?!"**

 **Jaune rolled his eyes. "Who do you think?"**

 **Pyrrha took a breath, "Fair point…"**

 **"** **Now, my question?"**

 **"** **Hmm?"**

 **"** **You know they're holding you back, right? Those friends of yours. You could be so much more than you are. You could be a champion again."**

 **"** **I've no intention to return to the championships. So, I'm happy."**

Pyrrha smiled and nodded. She wouldn't go back to that… Not anymore. The fame was overrated. She had real friends and she planned to stay.

 **Jaune blinked in surprise.** ** _Okay… A new angle then._** **He smiled to himself as his whispers flew off to her again, "Do you think those friends would care about you if you weren't a champion?"**

 **"** **I know they would because they did. They didn't know who I was when we became friends."**

 **Jaune's eye twitched as he groaned, his whispers picking up volume. "How kind… But surely you must be burning up inside knowing that they…"**

 **Pyrrha, however, interrupted him, "Hardly. My friends are more than I could ever hope for~ I'm so happy to know them."**

 **Jaune flailed in frustration and blinked into form in front of her, "I wanted to do this the fun way, but I'm only so patient!" He flicked her forehead, causing her colors to mute like the others, "Enough of your kindness! Time to be cruel!" He growled and disappeared again.**

Watts blinked, "So… it wasn't a subtle working into their minds to twist them…"

Ironwood growled, "It was… But its just a game to him. He could have just snapped his fingers and change them, but he chose to manipulate them instead."

Cinder wanted to smirk. She could appreciate a good twist like those, but that was… To have the power only to not use it? Why have it, then?

 **When Pyrrha was able to move of her own volition again, she blinked and looked around. She watched as an exasperated Ruby, followed by the others already seen, ran up toward her, "Pyrrha! Thank goodness I found you! Everybody's acting crazy! Blake is acting like someone's going to attack us 24/7, Nora's breaking everything that can, and Weiss is acting like a total snob! I still haven't found Yang! Please! For the love of all things sweet, tell me you're not crazy!"**

 **Pyrrha turned back toward Ruby, "Can't say I've gone crazy."**

 **Ruby sighed in relief, "Oh thank goodness!"**

 **"** ** _You_** **clearly have."**

 **"** **W-what?"**

 **"** **Blake's always been paranoid, Nora's obsessed with breaking things like people's legs, and Weiss was always a snob. The only difference I've seen is your finally whining about it."**

 **"** **Whining?"**

It was a little surprising to hear Pyrrha talk like that. There was legitimate venom in her tone. She didn't say that because she believed it, it was only to tear Ruby down.

 **Pyrrha moved passed Ruby and toward the others. She saw Blake looking over her shoulder again and decided to kick out her legs. Blake went into a panic attack and fell into a huddled stance. Weiss laughed and offered Blake a hand, all the while her smile showed condescension rather than friendship.**

 **Ruby got over her shock and turned back to the group, all bickering in some form. She had to find Yang. Now!**

 **Off in the maze, Yang was rushing her way through the tall shrubbery. She hated mazes like this. She roared as she hit another dead end, "This is getting ridiculous!"**

 **"** **Oh, but that's the point~" Jaune's voice followed over the wind.**

 **Yang spun around and readied her fists. "Who's there?! If you think I'm weak because I don't have my wings anymore, you've got another thing coming!"**

 **"** **Take the next right in the maze. Two lefts. I'm in the room on the right."**

 **Yang growled and ran, following the directions.**

"Why the hell would she listen to him?" Adam scoffed at the other Yang's decision, "It's obviously a trap. And if it isn't, what can she do alone?"

Yang wanted to knock Adam's head off, but a yawn reminded her she couldn't anymore. Instead, she just groaned. "Whatever pal. You don't know was I'm capable of."

"As if a human would be capable…"

"Why you little…!" She clenched her fists but couldn't move to fight him.

 **Jaune just laughed on screen. He was waiting for Yang on a hammock made of clouds. "Ah… the petty squabbles of mortals. Always hilarious to see in this or any world~"**

Weiss took in a breath, about to say something, but stalled. "Can… can he see us?"

 **"** **Maybe~"**

Weiss jumped in her chair. "What in the world?!"

 **Jaune just laughed again. "Adorable little creatures, aren't you?"**

Adam's temper flared a bit, "Don't lump me with them! They are just…"

 **Jaune turned toward Adam from his place on the screen, a smile across his face. "Go ahead, bull boy! Tell me! What are they?! News flash little man, you're all mortal. You're all equally screwed in life and in death! Sucks to the be the both of you! You are all weak and beneath me! I AM A GOD! CHAOS INCARNATE! CAN YOU CALL YOURSELF** ** _MY_** **EQUAL?! I AM NOT ALONE! IN YOUR WORLD, THOSE LIKE ME ALSO EXIST! IMMORTALS BEYOND COMPREHENSION! WALKING DEAD! MEN WITH TWO SOULS! AND CREATURES SO OLD, THEY'VE GROWN BEYOND WHAT THEY WERE! CAN YOU SAY YOU'RE THEY'RE EQUAL? YOU ARE A BEING TOO BOLD FOR YOUR STATURE. YOU BELIEVE YOU DESERVE IT ALL! YOU DON'T. You are scum beneath my foot…"**

Ozpin and Salem recoiled hearing him say all that. Both recognized their places on that list, but not the first one. That scared them. Whether they realized it or not, they were afraid for the implications that held.

 **As Adam went into an existential crisis brought on by a being unreachable to his spite and desires, Jaune burst out into laughter, "That'll keep him up for years in a cold sweat~! It's all true, though. Just not my style to say it like that. Funny to see his face, though."**

 **Yang stormed into the room where Jaune was waiting, "There you are!"**

 **Jaune spun around to face Yang, resting his hand on his hands as he lied in his hammock. "Here I be~! But what took you? Seriously… I gave you directions and everything."**

 **"** **Shut up!"**

 **"** **I'm thinking no." Jaune jumped down from his hammock and crossed his arms with a smirk. "Now, why don't we get to the part where you threaten me, only to have me run that back on you and make you see a part of yourself you don't like. Thus, sparking an inevitable spiral into what you hate about yourself. Sound like a plan?"**

 **"** **What? No!"**

 **"** **Shame. It was doing so well with your friends."**

 **"** **What did you do to them?!"**

 **"** **Exactly as I told you. Just cranked up their issues up to eleven. Made them act in ways they hate about themselves. The paranoid with the past, the snobby rich girl, the violent hell beast… I had to improvise with the red head, but I managed. Your sister should be close to cracking, herself."**

 **Yang growled, her anger starting to boil over as her hair started to glow slightly.**

 **"** **Careful, firebrand~ Get too mad and you might accidently blow a gasket. That happens, and you might regret it~ One of your friends already used your get out of jail free card. Mess this up, and you'll all lose."**

Sun's eyes narrowed. "I see where this is going…"

"You do?" Blake sounded rather surprised by this.

Yang sighed, "He's going to turn me into a rage monster…"

Sun shook his head, "Not quite…"

 **Jaune smirked.**

 **But this just made Yang angrier. "I swear, I'll…! I'll…!"**

 **"** **You'll what?!"**

 **Yang was eye level and rising up to force him to lean back, "I'll put you in the ground! I'll…!"**

 **"** **Fly?"**

 **Yang's face fell for a moment, trying to figure out what he meant. After a while, she remembered he was taller than her. Her eyes went wide as she turned her head to see her auric wings spread out behind her, lifting her off the ground. "Oh no…"**

 **"** **Oh yes~"**

 **The maze started to shake and fell away. Jaune went into a fit of maniacal laughter. "I win~! Yes!"**

 **Ruby ran up to Yang, happy to see her, but started to slow down when she saw she was airborne, "Yang?"**

 **Yang was still stunned, slowly descending back to the ground. "I…"**

 **Jaune smiled and moved in behind the two sisters, scooping them up into a hug around the back of their necks, "Ruined your friends' chances to win our little game! You let me win, even after I warned you~ Oh, you are** ** _too_** **kind!"**

Sun pointed to the screen, "That… That's what he was up to. He made Yang boil while Ruby was cracking. He didn't need to make Yang break…"

 **Ruby wrestled her way out of Jaune's grasp, "You WHAT?!"**

 **Yang followed soon after, "Ruby! I-I didn't…"**

 **Jaune cut in again, "Oh! But you did~ You've given me everything I need to bring this world to its knees! I'll never have to be bored again!" He went into another fit of laughter. "I feel like celebrating! What to do~! What to do~!" He smiled and clapped his hands. "Oh! I know!" At the snap of his fingers, Remnant became a multicolored mad world. "Oh! Look at it! It's so beautiful! My testament to the weird and wacky!"**

 **Ruby was shaking as her colors started to fade, "But… we… The Maiden Stones!"**

 **Jaune cackled, "Were never here! I never said they were here! You tried to solve my riddle and guessed wrong! Anyway, I'll leave you all with that. Have fun~!" Jaune disappeared in a blink of light.**

"But… If they weren't in the maze… where are they?" Ruby asked, to no one in particular. Someone had to have _some_ idea, right?

Neptune thought for a moment before his eyes went wide, "They're back at home."

"What?"

"Think about this Jaune's riddle. The exact words."

Weiss recounted the wording, "Follow my riddle and your find your stones. Then these little ones can return to their homes. The twists and turns of my master plan, you'll find your Maidens back where you began."

Neptune nodded. " _Where you began_. Their journey would have started from home when they were called by Ozpin. He even specifically mentions sending RWBY, Nora, and Pyrrha back home."

 **He reappeared off in the distance, thinking out loud, "Now… what to do about them… My spell won't last forever, especially if they find the Stones. I need a backup plan. A way to escape sooner rather than later… What I need, is someone on the outside who can spring me out." Jaune smirked, "What I need is my own little screwball~! Can't be too random, though… One thing in the mortal body goes down the whole thing falls apart. Can't risk that. I'm thinking… a weird combo of colors. Something just out there!" His stomach growling made him sigh, "And its going to be a weird combo, indeed, since I'm hungry… I could go for some…" He hit a realization and smiled. "Now there's an idea…"**

 **The screen faded to show Jaune sitting atop a throne in the middle of a pink and yellow checkered field. A pink, cotton candy cloud rained chocolate milk to the area next to him, so he held out a glass to collect the drink.**

Nora gasped, "That's so cool! It'd be better if it rained pancakes~"

 **Jaune heard her through the screen and sighed. "Next time~"**

 **Ruby and her friends ran up toward him, back to normal and with gemstones floating by each of them. "Discord!"**

 **"** **Hello again~! I see you finally solved the riddle. And everyone's back to normal~! Good for you!"**

 **Ruby glared toward the Chaos Lord, "I hope you're ready to go back to that stone prison!"**

 **Jaune laughed. "Go ahead! I can't stop those stones, anyway!"**

 **Ruby scowled. This could be a trick, but it was their only option to stop him. All six gems started to glow in a bright rainbow of colors. A spell charging to seal the embodiment of chaos away again.**

 **Jaune just sat in his throne.**

"Why is he just sitting there?" Nora tilted her head as she asked.

 **Jaune knew that no matter what he did, the Maiden Stones were the one thing he could never overrule. The Stones were the most powerful force in all of Remnant. Even trying to run would be fruitless.**

"Oh…"

 **But Jaune didn't care. In a bright flash of white light, he was a stone statue, sitting atop his throne. The world was back to normal. All was right with the world again. As Ruby and her friends celebrated, he laughed to himself within his granite prison. They were all unaware. Unaware of the bright pink and brown eyes that stared down at them. An unfurled lace umbrella and she was gone. His little screwball was loose on the world.**

Neo's head tilted. She was the screwball? She knew she looked a little odd to more people, but nothing too weird. Though, being an agent of chaos did appeal to her.


	30. Tired Season 3 Joke

**King: This one is short. I left you all hanging for the last chapter a little longer than I wanted. I could have chugged through and gotten this out yesterday, but anyone playing Destiny 2 should know why that wasn't going to happen~**

 **Inspiration: Destiny 2**

 **(Side note: I'm coming back to this one. With Forsaken going live, I kind of have to. It'll take a bit to do it justice, especially as I play the game... I'll get it out as soon as I can, though. Hope you enjoy~!)**

 **/\**

Salem took in a breath, "I have to admit, this is quite interesting."

Watts nodded, "It is. But I wonder if it's worth remaining…"

Hazel groaned, still unable to move.

Salem waved them off. "If you've the notion, you may leave."

Watts stood and bowed. "Movies were never my forte and Hazel remains idle…" He grabbed Hazel and had to drag him across the floor to the back. "Tyrian, some help?"

The mad man laughed and joined the other two. After a few minutes of dragging, the three walked through the door.

Weiss blinked seeing the white light behind the door, "I've been meaning to ask… What's going on in our reality?"

King reappeared. "Did I forget to mention that part? Sorry about that. Your world is in a state of stasis. I plucked you all from a specific point and you'll all return to that point as though nothing happened."

Many in the audience sighed in relief.

King floated around. "Anyone else want to go home or are we chugging on?" When no one made to move, King bounced in place and flew back up to the screen, "Alright! Let's go!"

 **The screen started to glow and showed a scene of Ruby walking through a bustling city. She was dressed in a red hooded cape and a form-fitting, black armor style; the attire of a Hunter.**

Ruby was starry eyed, "I'm a huntress?! Yes!"

Tai just chuckled and smiled at his daughter's antics.

Ren's raised an eyebrow. "Something's off…"

Yang leaned her head back to look at him, "What do you mean?"

"The story addressed her as a Hunter. Not a huntress."

"So?"

"So… I think we're missing some context to this."

 **Ruby ran along and passed a few others in various sets of armor. Some looked like hers, others were vastly different.**

Ren tapped his chair's armrest. "Okay. There seem to be three types of sets. One is streamlined, like Ruby's. One is a flowing robe resembling a mage. The last is the bulky armor reminiscent of a knight."

 **Ruby ran up to a white-haired woman with pale violet skin. Her eyes were glowing an ice blue. Her long white robe fell down her body, almost resembling a dress. Ruby walked up and hugged the girl from behind, "Hi Weiss~!"**

Weiss blinked. "That's me?"

Nora's face scrunched. "I wonder…"

 **Weiss sighed. "Hello, Ruby."**

 **"** **How'd the mission go?"**

 **"** **Well enough. Unfortunately, it was terrible enough that I can't help you on your strike."**

 **"** **But you promised! We need a Warlock!"**

"Warlock?" Ozpin took a sip form his mug. Being an ever reviving sorcerer, he found himself pulled in for some reason.

 **"** **I'm sorry Ruby. But I can't… I wish you luck, though." With that, Weiss walked away.**

 **Ruby groaned and threw up her hands, "Great! That's just great… Okay Ruby… Think. Who else do you know that's a Warlock?" She started to go through a mental checklist of everyone she knew not on the roster, thinking out loud, "Yang's a Titan…"**

Yang tilted her head, "Titan, huh?"

Ren thought for a moment before replying, "Likely the knight. The mage seems to be the Warlock given that's what Weiss had."

Yang grinned, "I can dig it. Wonder what I'm like, though…"

 **Ruby continued as she walked through the streets, "So is Coco, Neptune, Penny, and Pyrrha. Ren, Sun, and Velvet are all hunters…"**

Velvet blinked, "Does this mean we all have capes?"

Ruby jumped up in her chair for a second, "Capes for everybody!"

 **Ruby groaned. "Who else is there?" She wasn't watching where she was going and bumped into someone.**

Coco chuckled, "I've heard that happens to you a lot."

Ruby huffed, "I can't help it! I'm faster than most people! So, if I trip up, people can't get away fast enough to keep up!"

"Sure… Sure…"

 **Ruby groaned, "Sorry. I wasn't watching where I was…" She locked up for a moment.**

 **Standing before her was a young exo, or robotic human. He stood at around 6 foot while his eyes were a bright, glowing blue. He had a silver plating with gold painting resembling war paint.**

Ruby gasped, "Robot Jaune~!"

Yang smirked, "Well that's different."

Ironwood started to take more notes. He never knew what Dr. Polendina will find helpful.

 **What Ruby noticed, however, was his robes. A long, golden cloak wrapped around his body. It was a style reminiscent of the Warlocks of Mercury. Ruby cleared her throat, "Sorry about that…"**

 **Jaune chuckled, "Don't worry about it. "Are you alright, by the way? You blanked out for a bit."**

 **Ruby blushed in embarrassment before trying to move passed the situation, "I'm fine. I know this is kind of out of nowhere, but are free for a mission in an hour?"**

 **Jaune thought for a moment before nodding, "Yeah. I should be clear."**

 **"** **Awesome! We're all meeting at the Cathedral at Trostland in the EDZ! See you there!" Ruby ran off, waving back to her new squad mate. The hunt was on again!**

Nora's head tilted to the side, "What's an EDZ?"

All she got were shrugs.

 **An hour passed, and Ruby paced in the decaying cathedral of the central EDZ. She sighed. She heard stories about the area now called The European Dead Zone. Stories from the Golden Age… Now it was all a ghost town… ghost planet, more like. Humanity only had one last bastion to fend off the darkness. A long time ago, they reached to the stars and had colonies across the solar system. Now they had one city.**

Salem smirked, "Sounds like quite the predicament for you humans."

Ozpin growled under her breath, unable to fight her directly.

 **Blake was sitting on one of the remaining pews, carving something with her knife. She was dressed in black armor with a matching hood. She looked up toward Ruby, "Would you stop pacing? This place can't handle a rut."**

Ruby grinned seeing her friend in a style like hers. Blake just smiled and rolled her eyes.

Kali giggled, "Oh! That's so cute!"

Blake groaned, "Mom…"

 **Ruby groaned, "He said he'd be here!"**

 **Nora jumped around her. She was dressed in a white and pink set of bulkier armor. "Hey! No worries! If he can't make it,** ** _we_** **can beat this mission on our own!"**

Nora grinned and slammed he fist into her hand, "Yeah! We got this!"

 **Blake finished carving a fish out of wood, "It would be better to have a Warlock with us, though."**

Yang snickered, "It would be a fish…"

Blake chucked a small wooden fish at Yang's head.

 **Jaune jumped through a hole in the wall, dodging gunfire. He took a breath to calm his nerves before he started to talk, "Sorry I'm late."**

 **Nora looked Jaune up and down. "So, what kind of Warlock** ** _are_** **you, huh? You look like a Dawnblade."**

Without any context, many in the audience couldn't help but agree.

 **Jaune chuckled nervously, "Stormcaller, actually…"**

 **Blake turned to him in surprise, "Really?"**

 **Nora had a giant grin.**

 **"** **Yeah. That was a fun meditation…"**

 **Ruby stepped between them and to the center, "Alright! We've got a job to do! Blake!"**

 **Blake stood up from her seat and pulled out a holographic wanted poster, "Savun Mir. Fallen Lord of the House of Grimm."**

 **The light-poster showed something more a creature than a man. It was almost insectoid with four angry eyes and a hinged set of jaws on either side of its head. Its head had an odd shape as well, unlike anything the audience watching had ever seen.**

Ruby felt a shiver run up her spine. "Ew ew ew! That's discusting! What is that thing?!"

Salem's eyes narrowed, "Horrid. For one…" She knew many Grimm under her command looked just as awful, but at least that was solely because she based them on humans' fears.

 **Jaune nodded toward the poster, "A Fallen Lord? That's our target?"**

 **"** **That's the idea. We only need to take him down. But the problem is his troupe of Fallen… followers. We have a small army waiting for us down there."**

 **Nora laughed, "Then it's a good thing we're here! We can handle a whole army of Fallen!"**

 **"** **We may have to if worse comes to worse…"**

 **After a few minutes of prep, the four make their way to an underground cavern. They made headway into an open ravine hidden within. The world before them was one twisted by various pieces of technology and creatures with multiple arms walking along, holding rifles. Each resembled the creature on the poster in small ways but were all clearly his lesser. One of them turned toward the camera and roared.**

Yang took a breath, "Ew… That just looks wrong."

Tai nodded, "No kidding…"

Qrow took a swig from his flask, "Kind of looks like a bug… Moves like 'em too…"

 **Ruby leveled her sniper rifle toward the hoard while hidden up in the rocks. She spoke low, through the team comms. "Thirty-nine confirmed targets. Fifteen Dregs, two Captains, rest are Vandals."**

 **Jaune came in through the comms, "** ** _Seven unseen. Hidden in the lower levels._** **"**

 **"** **How can you tell?"**

 **"** ** _The Eye of Another World._** **"**

 **Blake chimed in, "** ** _The helmet? You have that?_** **"**

 **"** ** _Yeah._** **"**

 **Nora asked, confused, "** ** _What's it do?_** **"**

 **Ruby moved her sight to find a few Fallen in close proximity, "It's a scary piece of armor. Thing can track anyone or any thing without fail. Supposedly, you'd have access to see the whole of the universe at your whim."**

Cinder wished she had something so useful. "That would certainly have its uses."

Salem shook her head, "Unless it cannot be controlled. If it goes beyond you, you'd see everything. More than the mortal mind can handle."

Ozpin groaned. He agreed with her. He actually agreed with Salem! That's not supposed to happen.

 **Nora gasped, "** ** _Seriously?! That's so cool! Ooh! How many fingers am I holding up?!_** **"**

 **Ruby sighed, "Nora, he's right next to you and you can't see his eyes. What would that prove?"**

 **"** ** _Good point… Um… Oh! I've got it! What color is…_** **"**

 **Nora's voice fell off as the world slowed a moment. Ruby's finger was on the trigger of her rifle; and one pull later, the bullet was loose. A second later, a Dreg's head exploded along with an impact detonation claiming the two beside it.**

Ruby went wide eyed, "Explosive rounds! The sheer impact without using Dust is incredible! What kind of ammo is that?"

 **Blake jumped down holding a sidearm pistol and shot five of the Fallen in a little over a second. Nora and Jaune followed suit; Nora carrying a grenade launcher and Jaune with a hand cannon. Jaune shot three more to clear a zone as Nora fired three shells to rip through the line of Fallen. Those left alive scrambled away to stay that way.**

 **When the coast was clear again, Ruby jumped down from her perch and smiled, "Alright! Scavenge the area for ammo. Power ammo goes to Nora first."**

 **Jaune picked up a purple ammo clip off the ground and tossed it to Nora. Nora grinned and tapped the clip onto her launcher. The clip morphed into a grenade as she loaded it into the weapon. She spun the drum and smiled.**

Ruby smiled, "That's so cool! Imagine if we could do that! Any ammo of certain types could interchange with every weapon!"

Tai and Qrow chuckled at Ruby's shenanigans, but both actually did agree with her. It would certainly be helpful…

 **The camera moved around to show Jaune's helmet-covered head. The piece was like a network surrounding a clouded faceplate. The 'clouds' beneath the plate even moved around. It gave off the vibe of always watching everything. As if the universe itself conspired against you. It was unnerving, to say the least.**

 **Ruby turned to Jaune, "So, is Savun in the next room?"**

 **Jaune nodded, "He is. But he's also got a few friends with him."**

 **Blake cracked her neck as she reloaded, "Shouldn't be too hard if it's only a few."**

 **The four looked to the entryway and smiled. Ruby swapped her sniper for a three round pulse rifle. "Alright… Eyes up Guardians!" She giggled, "I always wanted to say that!"**

 **The four burst through the doorway to find Savun sitting atop a throne of parts and bones. To either side were two honor guards of similar form with four arms and a set of spears. Savun stood and picked up a massive scorch cannon. He growled, complete with little insectoid clicks weaved inside it.**

Tai shivered a little, "That's disgusting…"

Port laughed, "That's nothing! It's no different to anything we can handle!"

Bart smirked, "Says the man afraid of rats…"

"THEY'RE BAGS OF DISEASE AND FAMINE!"

 **Savun gestured and the guards charged toward the group. Nora seemed to crackle with electricity and jumped into the air. She slammed back down with a bolt of lightning erupting from the point of impact.**

 **Ruby followed suit by forming a gun of flames. She fired three powerful shots into hidden Fallen warriors. This unnerved Savun, but bolstered the team thanks to Jaune's helmet.**

 **Savun roared again and leveled his cannon. Only to have Blake jump into the air and shoot him with an arrow of shadowy energy. Jaune followed up this jumping over the Fallen lord and unleashing his electrical force into the alien creature. In moments, the Fallen Lord was disintegrating from the force leveled against him. All four would go home with loot to spare and a mission complete.**

Nora was bouncing her seat. "That… was… AWESOME! Did you see us out there?! We ripped that guy a new one!"

Ruby chuckled, "Yeah! I want to be able to make gun out of fire! It looked so cool!"

Blake nodded lightly, thinking the bow was rather impressive as well.

Yang crossed her arms, "I'm a little annoyed I didn't get to see what I get in this, but I'll live."


	31. Intermission

**King: I'm thinking, from now on, I'll be adding a few intermission chapters now and then to mix up the flow. That damn screen isn't helping... I'm hoping if I give it a break now and then, it won't act up. Fingers crossed, I guess. Or... fires crossed? Whatever... Have a Kit-Kat, cause it's break time.**

 **/\**

King didn't reappear this time and no one made any motion to leave. As a result, the screen returned to life. Only to show a picture of a Jaune in a movie usher vest bowing with a message reading, [Intermission: Please take this opportunity to stretch your legs. Thank you for your patience.]

"Intermission?" Tai chuckled. "How many of these have you all seen that there's an intermission?"

Pyrrha thought back over the list, counting them out in her head. "Thirty. Including the last one."

Tai nodded slowly, picking up speed over time, "Okay. That makes sense. At least as much as anything else here."

King reformed for a moment, "Okay! Time for a break! I've created a series of lounge areas, a bar, a training arena, and a library containing any information from the worlds we've seen so far. Enjoy~!" He disappeared into a warp and left them to their devices. He popped back after a second, though. "And no fighting outside the arena! Your weapons can be found in the lockers arena-side. Lethal force will be made a nonissue. No one can die here. But don't go overboard…" King disappeared again.

Ruby grinned. "I want to check out the arena!"

Yang stood and stretched her back, "I'm game. Let's see what's up. Anyone else?"

Ren shook his head, "I'd like to see what this library is like. Find any relevant information that might explain a few things."

Qrow took the last sip from his flask. "I'm going to hit the bar."

Winter rolled her eyes, "Of course you are…"

The groups started to divide themselves. The Beacon teaching staff, Neo, Ironwood, Winter, and the Belladonnas moved off to the lounge. Qrow and Roman visited the bar. Salem and Cinder, along with Cinder's underlings, left to discuss something away from the others. Ren and Blake made for the library. Adam… just kind of sat there out of spite. The rest went to visit the training arena.

Ruby ran up to the set of large lockers to the side and threw one open, finding Crescent Rose within. "There you are~!" She picked the rifle/scythe up from the locker and her face turned confused. "What the…"

Tai looked over Ruby's shoulder. Contrary to what most expect, Tai was a weapon nut in his own right, he just prefers hand to hand in actual combat. "What's up?"

"She feels… different." She looked over to a small lever near the trigger. She moved over to a firing range. She unfurled the weapon into scythe form and targeted a dummy in the distance. She fired a shot and frowned. "My weapon's not this weak… What happened to my baby?!"

Tai moved beside her, "What's with the lever?"

"No idea…"

Yang looked over Ruby's other shoulder. "Why not try it out?"

Ruby shrugged and moved the small lever with a click. The weapon didn't seem to change in any way. She groaned and decided to fire another round to test it. When she fired the weapon this time, it unleashed a massive burst of magnetically propelled death, ripping the steel dummy apart like it was tissue paper.

Eyes went wide seeing that. Tai turned back from the target to his daughter. "Was… was that supposed to happen?"

Ruby quickly shook her head.

Yang looked down toward the weapon, "Wasn't that a…"

Ruby just as quickly nodded.

"Like… From that one world…"

Tai turned to Yang, "What do you mean?"

Ruby's eyes widened further. "In one of the world we saw, I wielded a version of Crescent Rose complete with a high-powered railgun…" She looked down to the weapon in her hands.

"Seriously?! That's insane!"

Nora moved along various lockers and found one labelled [Jaune Reinhardt]. She opened it to find an ornate rocket hammer.

Weiss looked over a handful of other lockers, "It clearly isn't just _our_ weapons in here."

Ruby walked over to return the parallel Crescent Rose to the locker. "This is incredible… But I can't help but wonder how they got here."

Pyrrha walked down the lockers, eventually finding one labelled with Jaune's locker number from Beacon. Opening the locker, she found a modified version of Crocea Mors. The shield was framed by a bronze and the hilt of the blade was redesigned. "What is _this_ version supposed to be?"

Ruby ran up to see the blade but slowed as she approached. "Um… Pyrrha…"

"Hmm? What is it?"

"The bronze. That's the same metal as your shield and circlet."

Pyrrha's eyes went wide as she slowly turned back to the weapon. There were implications as to why that metal would accent Jaune's weapon and shield. She blushed at one possibility, but another made her pale. "Is there a way to find out more about it?"

Tai moved up to the locker and started to slide his hand on one side, "If memory serves… There it is!" He clicked something on the side and a small paper slid out. "One manifest. Back when these were supposed to house lien with your weapon when needed."

Ruby grabbed the paper and read it out loud,

["Possible Future: Category S-4. Crocea Mors, weapon of Jaune Arc paired with modified shield utilizing bronze re-forging formerly owned by his partner Pyrrha Nikos. During the Vytal Festival, the forces under the evil being called Salem attacked alongside the White Fang. During the fighting, Pyrrha Nikos was…"]

Ruby stalled. She looked up toward the redhead, seeing someone who knew what was being implied by her silence. Pyrrha just nodded for her to continue. After a deep breath, she complied.

["During the fighting, Pyrrha Nikos was killed in action defending Beacon. After this, Jaune Arc re-forged his weapon and shield with her bronze metals and adopted a red sash around his waist. A gesture to have her live on in some way."]

The room was quiet. No one dared to say anything. How could they? What could they say after that?

Pyrrha took a breath and reached out to take the weapon in hand. She smiled, a small tear starting to fall. It hurt to hear that. It was good to know he lived on, though. Good to know he took her with him in some way. She held the weapon close as her tears started to well again.

Ruby patted Pyrrha's shoulder for a moment before turning to the others. She made a silent motion to have them give her space. Time to mull over what she'd learned. No one said anything as they left the arena.

\/

Back at the bar, Qrow walked in to find a fully stocked gold mine of booze. He grinned, "Nice~" He made his way up to the bar and looked around to see if it had to be self-serve. Surprisingly, there was a bartender. Standing behind the counter was a man made of purple fire dressed in a suit. Qrow raised an eyebrow, "Um… Whiskey on rocks?"

The bartender had the drink ready within seconds and slid the drink down to him.

Roman walked up behind Qrow and took a seat next to him, "How does a guy made of fire serve drinks, let alone hold ice?"

Qrow shrugged and took a sip from his glass. "I ain't exactly complaining."

Roman laughed, "Fair enough." Roman gestured toward the bartender. "Hey! One Broken Goliath!"

The Bartender started to mix drinks.

Qrow turned to Roman, "Broken Goliath? First I've ever heard of that."

"You have to know where to get one." Roman held his hand up again, "Make it two!"

Two drinks slid up to them both. The liquid looked alright. Nothing too out there. Qrow picked the glass up and took a tentative sip. He loved booze, but he wasn't about to drink it if it tasted like shit. To his surprise, it was alright. Nothing to write home abou… _There it is!_ His whole body shook as the after taste and alcohol finally kicked him in the gut. "The hell is in this?"

"It's the kind of thing with different mixes depending on where you go. The only thing connecting them is the base of rum. After that, it's a mystery. It's like a game in a way. Keep going until you find one you love."

Qrow let out a little chuckle and held up the glass. "Now that's a game I can get behind."

Roman held his glass to Qrow's and the two enjoyed a good drink.

\/

Back at the lounge, Gira was sitting with his wife in a stereotypical round table you'd see in a jazz club. There was even a space for a stage, not that anyone was using it. His arms were crossed and contemplation was plastered on his face.

Kali placed her hand on his shoulder, "Something wrong?"

"No. Not wrong. Just elusive. I know I've heard the name Montagne Arc before. I just can't place it."

"You'll figure it out. But not if you try so hard to. Take a break and just enjoy yourself. And maybe, just maybe, it'll come to you."

Gira took a breath and sighed. "You're right. I should just relax. But its not the kind of memory that you try to find. It's somewhere in the back of your mind and it won't leave you alone until you figure it out."

Kali groaned, "Oh! I hate those!"

"I just can't place it…"

"Maybe. But I mean… Come on. Montagne? How do you forget a name like that?"

Gira froze for a moment, "'Come on. Montagne.' Come on… Montagne…"

"Dear?"

Realization hit Gira like a truck. "COMME LA MONTAGNE!"

Kali just blinked in confusion, "What?"

Ozpin, who was sitting at the table next to theirs along with the other teachers placed his mug onto the table, "It means 'like the mountain.' It was Montagne's catchphrase of sorts and how he got his said nickname."

Kali looked toward her husband for an explanation.

"I met him a long time ago, in the latter years of the war and the rise of the original White Fang. He fought alongside the Faunas for their rights and proved himself to be a powerful warrior and a truly good man. I only met him directly once… A part of me wished I found a way to keep in touch."

A voice came in over an intercom through all the rooms. " _Please make your way back to the main theater. Intermission will be ending in five minutes. Thank you._ " And like that, it was business as usual.


	32. Sweet Shop

**King:** ** _Oh~ You know. You know. Life can be beautiful~ My friends, my friends, I say~ Hope you enjoy! Maybe the world's not fair, but that's not a care. In here it's beautiful. LET'S MAKE THIS BEAUTIFUL~!_**

 **Okay. I've indulged. I won't subject you to my singing any more. This chapter. Any who... Today, we have a musical episode~ As in, it's based on a musical. Which was based on a dark comedy movie from the eighties. Be warned, it is not for kids. You have been warned should you need it. I'll put the actual track name at the bottom for anyone who gives a shit. Also... this one had a weird formatting issue before, so it may appear twice in your feeds... Sorry about that.**

 **Inspiration: Heathers: The Musical**

 **/\**

Everyone gathered in the theater together, minus the library group. Blake and Ren were held up and ran in a minute after. Well, neither really ran. Blake had an accelerated pace, but not a full run. And Ren… was Ren.

Ren sat down in his seat next to Nora and paused. Something was off. He turned to Pyrrha, who's eyes looked dulled slightly. "Um… Pyrrha?"

Nora placed a hand on Ren's shoulder and shook her head.

Pyrrha took a breath before speaking, "Nora… It's fine. Well… not fine, but I'll manage."

Ren was still lost. "What's going on?"

Pyrrha had to take another breath to calm her nerves, "Down in the lockers… We found a locker with a version of Jaune's weapon from a possible future. It was reforged using metal from my weapons after I died…"

"Oh… That's…"

Nora placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Should we ask King for a longer break or…"

Pyrrha shook her head. "It stings, but it's like everything else here. Even if it _is_ a possible future. And when we get back…" Pyrrha's eyes filled with a determined passion, "I'm going to do everything in my power to keep it from happening."

King reappeared. "Keep what from happening?"

Pyrrha shook her head, "Don't worry about it. Can we start the next world?"

"Sure. I wonder what we'll…" King flared, temporarily looking like a red and white mint. He shivered and was back to his normal purple. "Oh… This can only end well."

Yang chuckled nervously, "Is it _that_ bad?"

"Um…" King disappeared without answering.

After a moment and the screen starting to form, Ruby spoke, "That's not a good sign."

A small letter fell from the sky and landed on Ruby's lap, [Just don't expect too much action in this one. -K]

"Okay?"

 **The screen came into form, showing a crowded high school hallway. It was a world without Grimm or monsters. Students merely going about their day.**

Ozpin sighed with a smile, imagining a world without Grimm. But his smile fell after a moment. _But would that be a paradise, or would we simply lack a common enemy. Our wars still rage with the threat of those monsters…_

Ruby groaned, "This is going to be so boring…"

A world where everything isn't a gun.

Ruby suddenly jumped up in her chair, "BLASPHEMY!"

 **That said, in a world without monsters, humans will fill their place. People can be cruel. Teenagers even more so. These were the worst years of a person's life for many. When everyone around you treats you like children but expect you to act like adults.**

Roman groaned and leaned his head back, "So glad I don't have to deal with that anymore… Good riddance to bad rubbish!"

This got a few affirmations from the adults. The students knew they were still on the tail end of that.

 **"** ** _And that brings us to me…_** **"**

Blake froze up. "Ilia?"

Yang turned toward her partner, "Friend of yours?"

Blake's hands clenched around her chair.

Yang was able to read this rather quickly. "Got it…" She could tell this had 'White Fang days' written all over it.

 **"** ** _My name is Ilia… And the take away from all of this? High school sucks._** **"**

Qrow rolled his eyes, "Teenagers. Always over dramatic."

Ruby frowned and turned toward her uncle, "Hey! We're not that bad!"

Glynda adjusted her glasses, "Your team alone has been responsible for 1,524 Lien in damage. Not to mention Ms. Valkyrie's… tendencies."

Nora let out a hardy laugh, proud of her destructive capabilities.

 **"** ** _I look around at these faces I've known for most of my life and it's… I don't know what happened. One day we're all around campfires singing stupid little songs. Next day? We're at each other's throats like a pack of rabid animals. Everyone's backstabbing each other and burying their friends to get ahead in life._** **"**

Roman chuckled, "That just sounds like life to me."

Kali turned toward the criminal with a smug smile, "Then it's a sad existence you lead, isn't it?"

Yang snickered, "Now we know where Blake got that from."

Weiss groaned, "Perhaps, but he has a point. Seems the fewer problems people have, the more they make with others. The Atlas elite act like that all the time."

"Seriously? You're going to defend Torchwick?"

"I'm not defending him. It's a sad existence no matter where it's coming from. I'm just making a statement."

 **"** ** _But, for every rule, there's an exception. In this case three. The quote-unquote Beautiful People that basically run the school._** **"**

 **The screen showed the forms of three girls in rather high-end blouses and skirts: one in red, another in green, and the last in yellow. The screen flickered to show the one in green. Her dark skin, mint hair, and red eyes gave her away rather quickly.**

 **"** ** _Emerald Sustrai._** **"**

Emerald blinked. She used to dream of looking like that. Someone above it all without a crippling need for food, thus resorting to theft.

 **"** ** _Head of the Yearbook committee… No discernable personality beyond that._** **"**

Mercury went into a small laughing fit.

 **The screen swung to the girl in yellow. She had long brown hair and a scowl that could make a man bleed. This chick had bitch written all over her.**

Nora laughed, "Who's that supposed to be?"

 **"** ** _Carmine Winchester…"_**

The Beacon crew all went cold hearing that. That was… That was supposed to be Cardin in female form? After a moment, they had to admit… they could see it.

 **"** ** _Head Cheerleader… Her dad is_** **loaded** ** _. He sells engagement rings to the high and mighty like the Schnee family up state._** **"**

Yang's face scrunched a little, "Okay… that terrifying case out of the way… Who's the third one?"

 **The screen moved slowly to show a blonde filing her nails. Nonchalant about her surroundings, she was above everything. Her oceanic eyes seemed bored by the world. She the kind of girl that ruled every situation.**

 **"** ** _And last… but certainly not least… Jeanne Arc…_** **"**

"Jeanne's back!" Nora grinned.

Kali turned toward the bundle of energy, "Who?"

Blake sighed, "Jaune as a girl. There was a world not too long ago that had everyone flipped around for being a boy or girl."

 **"** ** _Seriously… she is such a… mythic bitch._** **"**

 **Jeanne looked up from her nails and raised an eyebrow. She looked down on the camera and scoffed.**

Yang had to. It was too easy. "So, Weiss on the first day of Beacon?"

Blake shrugged, "Seems like it so far."

Said heiress just groaned. She'd come to terms that she'd been… difficult. Doesn't mean she liked hearing it all the time.

 **The screen changed to show Ilia in a blue variant of the outfits worn by the three. "** ** _But I guess I can't complain about it anymore. I used my skills at forgery to get them out of a detention. Ever since, Jeanne's taken me under her wing, so to speak. Now…_** **I'm** ** _one of the beautiful people! No harassment! No assholes! Nothing! It's incredible! It was… beautiful._** **"**

Blake's eyes fell. She knew Ilia well enough, or at least she thought she did. Surely, as a Faunas, she'd have gone through something similar. What would she give to have that kind of power? To be above it all?

 **"** ** _Then I learned what it costs…_** **"**

 **Ilia was rummaging through her locker before it slammed in front of her, the hand of Carmine Winchester being the culprit. "Hey! Ilia~"**

 **"** **Uh…"**

 **Emerald leaned over from the other side, almost as if to cut off her escape. "We were looking for you."**

 **Ilia turned to find the mythic one herself. Jeanne smirked down toward the shorter girl.**

Velvet's eye twitched. "So… Jeanne… is the bully?"

This got the Beacon crowd to go silent. The first sound made from them was Nora, "Well that's different…"

 **Ilia chuckled nervously, "Hey, Jeanne. What… uh… What are you…?"**

 **Jeanne shushed Ilia, "I have a job for you."**

 **"** **Um… Okay?"**

 **"** **I need a letter. From Blake Belladonna to you little friend Sonia."**

 **Ilia felt a chill run up her spine. "W-what?"**

 **"** **Did I stutter?"**

 **"** **No! It's just… I don't see the reason to…"**

 **"** **Because I wasn't done." Her venomous tone made Ilia shrink. "It's like this. You're going to pen a letter from our resident football star to Sonia. You're going to make sure she attends the big homecoming party this weekend. She'll be so head over heels, she'll make a fool of herself in front of everyone."**

Weiss growled a bit, "A sickening tactic…"

Winter sighed. "Almost Atlassian-elite levels of twisted."

Ironwood nodded. He never cared for the high-end side of Atlas. Most never earned their fortunes, getting it handed to them as they all pissed it away to show off to the other supposed elites around them.

 **Ilia shook in place and tried to find what nerve she had left, "I… You don't understand. Sonia's had a crush on this guy for… years! If I did this and she…"**

Kali's head tilted toward her daughter, "Guy? So, you're a boy in this world?"

Blake shrugged, "Apparently. It wouldn't be the first time."

"Oh~ I bet you'd have taken after your father."

Blake sighed, "Mom…"

 **Jeanne cut her off, "That's the point, remember?"**

 **"** **I get that! But this is just… cruel! Can't we just… I don't know! Just…!"**

 **Jeanne cut her off by getting in her face with a smile. "Are we going to have a problem?"**

 **The world cut by a sudden musical tone, a crashing wave of a single note.**

Ruby tilted her head, "So, another musical sequence?"

Weiss shrugged, "To be fair, I liked the last one."

"You were also half of it."

Cinder rolled her eyes at their foolishness.

Salem, however, was rather enjoying herself. Humans were tearing each other apart _and_ she gets a bit of musical theater? A good day. She didn't get out of the Grimmlands much, so she takes what she can get.

 **"** **You've got a bone to pick?"**

 **A repeat of the note.**

 **Jeanne ran her hand over Ilia's cheek to her collar, causing her to blush, "You've come so far," Jeanne suddenly grabbed Ilia's shirt and slammed her back into the locker behind her, "why, now, are you pulling on my dick?!"**

This time the tone was paired with some shocked coughsand a few laughs.

 **"** **I'd normally slap your face off."**

 **Another cutting tone.**

 **"** **And everyone here could watch~"**

 **Final tone.**

 **"** **But I'm feeling nice." Jeanne dropped Ilia, who fell into a sitting position. "Here's some advice." She leaned down to the sitting girl, her grin fueled by a twisted sense of superiority. "Listen up, bi-otch!"**

 **Now the music kicked in full swing.**

Salem grinned, "I rather like this version."

Cinder blinked and had to agree. She was positively ruthless, using the girl for what she needed only to threaten to take away what she gave.

 **As the music started to really swell, Jeanne stepped away and snapped her fingers. Emerald and Carmine grabbed Ilia off the floor by the locker and tossed her into the fray before her, like tossing bait to a shark. All the while, the two joined in the moment, singing together, "** ** _I like!_** **"**

 **Jeanne looked down toward Ilia with a smile, "** ** _Looking hot. Buying stuff they cannot._** **"**

 **"** ** _I like!_** **"**

 **"** ** _Drinkin' hard. Maxin' dad's credit card._** **"**

Now it was Raven's turn to grin. "I like her."

Qrow rolled his eyes. "Of course you do… You have so much in common."

 **"** ** _I like!_** **"**

 **"** ** _Skippin' gym. Scaring her. Screwing him~_** **"**

 **"** ** _I like!_** **" The two moved in again and pushed Ilia back against the lockers and to the ground.**

 **"** ** _Killer clothes._** **"**

Coco nodded slightly, agreeing with that _single_ sentiment.

 **Now all three sang in unison. "** ** _Kicking nerds in the nose!_** **" Jeanne slammed a foot down against the locker and leaned forward onto her now elevated knee.**

Weiss held a hand up as if to halt the events on screen (not that any of them would realize it works). "Hold up! She's in a skirt!" The sheer scandal of it all was unimaginable.

Coco just shrugged, "Some people just kind of do that. They don't care. Besides, from what we've seen, this Jeanne seems like the kind of girl to use her body to get what she wants."

 **Jeanne leaned down with a smirk, her eyes seeming to glow with pure malice and condescension. "** ** _If you lack the balls, you can go play dolls. Let your mommy fix you a snack._** **" Jeanne stood straight again and crossed her arms.**

 **Emerald and Carmine grabbed Ilia's arms and forced her up again. This time keeping a hold of her arms. "** ** _Wo-oah!_** **"**

 **Jeanne's face seemed to soften, her threats fading for a new option, "** ** _Or you could come smoke, pound some rum and coke, in my Porsche with the quarterback!_** **"**

 **Emerald and Carmine tossed Ilia forward again as Jeanne grabbed her arm and swung her around in a sort of dance. "** ** _Honey whatchu waitin' for~! Welcome to my Candy Store! It's time to prove your not a loser anymore! Then step into my candy store._** **"**

Salem sighed, "Humanity in a nut shell…"

Ozpin took a sip from his mug and shook his head. "If humanity was _really_ like that, you'd have won a long time ago. We may be divided at times, but we _can_ be better."

 **Emerald and Carmine separated from the line and flanked Ilia, "** ** _Guys fall!_** **"**

 **Emerald leaned forward, placing her arm over Ilia's shoulders, "** ** _At your feet. Pay the check~_** **"**

 **Carmine popped in over Ilia's other shoulder, "** ** _Help you cheat~_** **"**

 **"** ** _All you!_** **"**

 **Emerald grinned, "** ** _Have to do_** **…"**

 **Jeanne stepped in again, "** ** _Say goodbye, to Shamu._** **"**

Ruby scratched her head, "Sha-who?"

She was only met with shrugs, but they were all pretty sure it was supposed to be an insult of some kind.

 **"** ** _That freak's…!_** **"**

 **Carmine leaned her arm onto Ilia's shoulder, "** ** _Not your friend. I can tell, in the end…_** **"**

 **"** ** _If she!_** **"**

 **"** ** _Had your shot…_** **"**

 **"** ** _She would leave you to rot!_** **"**

Emerald's eyes fell a little. She knew that, in a way, she was like this friend to Cinder. She'd be dropped once her usefulness ran dry. She owed Cinder everything, but it was clearly all one way…

 **The Emerald on screen jumped around to face Ilia, "** ** _'Course if you don't care, Fine! Go braid her hair. Maybe Sesame Street is on!_** **"**

 **"** ** _Wo-oah!_** **"**

"Sesame Street?" Mercury raised an eyebrow, "That some kind of kids show?"

Emerald shrugged, "Maybe? Could be one in this world, at least."

 **"** ** _Or forget that creep!_** **"**

 **Emerald stepped around them, "** ** _And get in my jeep._** **"**

 **Jeanne clenched her fists and adopted a stance of power, "** ** _Let's go there up someone's lawn!_** **"**

 **All three voices unified again, "** ** _Honey, whatcu' waitin' for? Welcome to my candy store~! You've just gotta prove you're not a pussy anymore~! Then step into my candy store!_** **"**

 **Jeanne traded every other line with the duo of Emerald and Carmine. All the while, they could see a letter forming in the background.**

 **"** ** _You can join the team._** **"**

 **"** ** _Or you can bitch and moan!_** **"**

 **"** ** _You can live the dream~_** **"**

 **"** ** _Or you can die alone!_** **"**

 **"** ** _You can fly with eagles._** **"**

 **"** ** _Or if you prefer…_** **"**

 **"** ** _Keep on testing me._** **"**

 **"** ** _And end up like her!_** **"**

 **A blonde girl in a white shirt and jeans ran up to Ilia, who was now alone. "Ilia! Oh my gosh! You won't believe it!"**

Blake blinked. "So… Sonia… was Sun?"

Sun shrugged. "I guess that makes sense…"

Kali turned to Sun and Blake, "So… She has a crush on the male version of Blake… Do you perhaps~?"

Blake was able to stop her, but barely. "Mom!"

Gira glared toward Sun, keeping him quiet.

 **Ilia looked troubled but was able to hide it well enough. "What happened?"**

 **"** **I got an invite! A real letter from Blake! This is amazing!"**

Yang felt a shiver run up her spine. "Wait… Wasn't that what…"

 **In the background, Jeanne and her cohorts were watching the scene. Jeanne had her arms crossed, waiting for Ilia's answer.**

 **Ilia shook a little, but ultimately smiled. "Color me stoked!"**

Tai chuckled. "I haven't heard people talk like that in years…"

Qrow groaned. "It's making a comeback, for some reason."

Ironwood glanced toward the two, "Seriously?"

"Yep… Teenagers are weird as hell."

Roman nodded, "A-fucking-men."

Sun's eyes narrowed toward the screen, "Isn't this scene implying she forged the note? Siding with Jeanne?"

 **Jeanne grinned as the music flared again.**

 **Emerald moved up beside Ilia, "** ** _Honey, watchu waitin' for~_** **"**

 **Jeanne smacked the back of Emerald's head, "Shut up, Emerald!" Then she suddenly returned to the song, "** ** _Step into my candy store~!_** **"**

 **As she held the note, Emerald and Carmine flanked Ilia again, "** ** _Time for you to prove you're not a lame ass, anymore~!_** **"**

 **"** ** _Then step into my Candy Store~!_** **"**

 **Ilia had sold her soul to the Demon Queen of Signal High… She just tossed her friend… The girl she's known for as long as she's been alive! She just tossed her to the pits just to advance her own station in the school. She's stepped into the candy store.**

 **"** ** _It's my candy sto-ore~!_** **"**

 **The music cut, and Ilia was left with only a single thought.** ** _Is this still beautiful?_**

Salem started to chuckle, "I rather enjoyed that. Seeing that, without the Grimm, humans will become the monsters in their place."

 **/\**

 **King: The track is called Candy Store. (Shocking, I know...)**


	33. Ace's Fall

**King: Whelp! This was a tear jerker and a half. I did say it was coming, and here it is. I won't hold you all here... I don't think I can. I'm coming home Ace...**

 **Inspiration: Destiny 2**

 **/\**

Ruby groaned, "I hope the next one isn't that bad…"

Cinder smirked, "Speak for yourself. I certainly had my fun with that version."

The screen flickered again, and King reappeared, not saying a word.

"Um… Is it broken? Again?" Pyrrha asked the sphere.

King floated for a bit. "Don't you think we have enough of them?"

"What?"

The flickering top of King seemed to wave her off, telling her he wasn't speaking to her. "I'm serious. We have… No… Okay."

Mercury leaned toward Emerald, "Is… he talking to the screen?"

King groaned, "Three more. To fill the emptied seats, but that's it! After that, no more! Who's the lucky few?" After a moment, King sighed. "Seriously? Do you know how many laws that'll break?" A pause. "Fine. You win. Last three, so making it count… Lovely…"

After a moment, King spat out a tan ball of magic. After a second, the ball started to fade into other colors. Moments passed as the ball floated, only to pop, and a girl with a long ponytail to fall from the sphere. Her skin flickered between various colors as her gaze fell upon the crowd.

Nora gasped and jumped up toward the girl, "Oh my gosh! How do you do that?! That's so cool~!"

Ilia took a step back, uncertain of the girl before. Only to be even more confused when Ren dragged her back to the seats. Ilia turned to see Blake and her blood started to boil, seeing her ears hidden beneath a bow. She wanted to lash out, but felt the energy leave her body.

King floated into her field of few and shook his 'head,' "Play nice, now. No fighting in the theater."

Ilia fell to the floor in shock, "What the hell is that?!"

"I'm right here… Whatever. I've got physical laws to violate." He released a new sphere from his body.

This sphere was a double-toned sphere of magic: half an earthly brown, half a glowing emerald. After a moment, a boy around 14 fell from the bubble and onto a seat. He looked around in a panic for a moment, but he froze once he saw Ozpin. He was about to speak, but King cut him off.

"Everyone! This is Oscar. Oscar, this is everyone. Oscar is someone that won't be important to any of you until certain events in your future. As a result, he won't be giving any spoilers~ Right, Oscar?"

Oscar nervously nodded and was led to a seat. All the while, he would occasionally glance toward Ozpin. Oz took notice but wasn't going to ask here. He had a suspicion but needed to ask without so many eyes and ears around.

Nora frowned, "But then what about the sword in the lockers?"

King showed a shiver run up the fire ball. "Pardon?"

"Jaune's sword. In the locker. It was a possible future thing with Pyrrha's metal forged in."

"… WHAT?!" King flew off toward the back. After a moment, he returned just as quickly. "Fuck it… I don't care anymore. Everyone! Meet Ozpin 2.0! Or… 23.5? How many lives have you lived old man?"

Ozpin felt his eye twitch. It was official, his cover was now blown.

Oscar laughed nervously. "Um… Sorry? I'm a little lost."

"You and me, both…"

The students and parents all blinked and started to address the issue, "Um…"

"Later."

King shook his head. "Whatever. Now…" King flared, and various metal parts fell from the sphere. After a moment, he had the pieces fit together. In a few seconds, Penny was looking around the room.

Ruby jumped up, excited. "Penny!"

Penny turned and smile, "Salutations, friend Ruby! May I ask where we are?"

King took a breath and leveled himself before them all. "That would be because of me. Now… explanations."

(One explanation later.)

Penny had taken a seat near Ruby. "So… This screen can show us different versions of reality?"

"That is… exactly what I said, yes. But _apparently_ , it's decided to break time timelines as well… Welcome to the future, I guess. And the past… My head hurts… Whatever. I don't have the patience. Next show's starting soon. Take your seats and I'll…" He suddenly flared a pale white with a black spade under his crown. "You're a twisted screen… Alright! Let's do this!" King disappeared, and the screen started to form the next world.

Penny leaned toward Ruby, "Does that happen often?"

Ruby nodded, "A few times recently, yes. It's kind of weird."

 **The screen opened to a crumbling interior of some kind. It was difficult to tell. All they could see was ruble and a man in a hooded cape lying on the round. His bright blue eyes looking up to the sky/ceiling. One notable piece of information being he was an Exo, a human consciousness living within a robotic body. In this variation, he was known as JAUNE-6.**

Penny smiled. But she didn't dare voice anything. Ruby knew her secret already, but the others would have to remain in the dark. It was difficult, but she would manage.

 **He let out a cough.**

Yang smiled slightly, "How does a robot cough?"

Penny clasped her hands together, about to answer, but the reminder that she was supposed to be a secret kept her silent.

 **He started to lean upward, "Well… This is awkward…"**

Nora smiled, "It's Jaune!"

Penny turned to Ruby, who smiled and explained, "Our friend back at Beacon. He's kind of the central theme to all of these so far."

"Why is it awkward though?"

Weiss groaned, "Please tell me this isn't another one that can see us…"

 **Jaune coughed again, "Hey… You, uh… You got a gun I could borrow?"**

 **The screen turned to show Mercury walking forward, a rather distinctive hand cannon in… hand. A sleek white cannon with gold accenting, a golden spade adorned on the sides and on the grip.**

Ruby let out a whistle, "That's not a bad weapon. Good design… nicely put together. I wonder what it can do."

Penny blinked, "Um… friend Ruby?"

"Yes?"

"If I am reading this world correctly, I must ask, why does that man have friend Jaune's firearm?"

Ruby was silent. Her face started to pale as she looked back to the screen.

 **Mercury took a step forward, "No. But I do have a bullet." He pointed the gun toward Jaune, "With your name on it."**

 **Jaune groaned, "Any second now… My partner is going to roll in here… and kill every last one of you!" He started to sit back up, only to fall back again. "And you! My man…"**

 **Mercury shushed him, "This is going to hurt. A lot. Any last words?"**

 **Jaune coughed and leaned himself up again, "How's your sister?"**

Qrow clapped for the young man on screen. "A kid after my own heart."

Tai rolled his eyes.

Winter scoffed, "You _would_ say that…"

 **Mercury took in a breath to calm her nerves again. Queen Cinder was a… touchy subject.**

Cinder blinked and let a small smirk pass. _Queen?_

Emerald's eye twitched. _Why does Mercury get to be Cinder's sibling?!_

Mercury… just kind of shrugged it off.

 **Mercury closed his eyes and screen went black. After a moment, a gunshot rang out around them. After a second, the words [Prison of Elders: Sometime earlier] appeared on screen.**

Pyrrha tried to think about how Jaune would survive, if he did. "He mentioned a partner! Maybe they're the one that shot the gun to save him at the end! And now we get to see how that happens."

As nods passed along, Ilia turned to Blake. She wanted to confront her but couldn't find the strength to. She didn't care about this other world stuff. But here? Blake couldn't run from her. She would have her time to confront her soon.

Oscar's eyes occasionally glanced around the room. So many faces he'd seen, and some he'd never known. One in particular was rather… How to put it… He didn't really have a word for how weird it was.

 **Two ships flew overhead. As they passed, two bursts of light dropped Jaune and his partner onto the gangway outside the prison. Walking next to the exo was a young woman in garb similar to his, except in an pink, white, and brown. She removed her helmet and revealed herself to be Neopolitan.**

Emerald blinked. "Why… on Remnant, do she need a cape?"

Ruby smiled. "Because in this world, everybody gets capes!"

Ren glanced toward Ruby, "I think it's just the Hunter class."

Emerald groaned, "Doesn't matter!"

 **The two walked up to Pyrrha Nikos, the Queen's Wrath. Personal bodyguard to the Awoken Queen Cinder and the strongest warrior outside the Last City. Jaune smiled, "Pyrrha Nikos! Long time no see. So, what're ya packing for this party?"**

 **Pyrrha smirked, "Oh… the usual." She took out a curved knife from its sheath.**

 **Jaune got excited, "Ooh! Do the thing!" He leaned toward Neo, "Seriously, watch this."**

 **Pyrrha used her power to levitate her knife and spin it around in the air before returning it to her hand.**

Pyrrha smiled. She could easily do that, but she got the feeling that it wasn't quite the same idea as her polarity semblance.

 **Jaune shuddered, "That'll never not freak me out." He suddenly smiled, "Do it again!"**

Yang snickered seeing Jaune act like that.

 **Pyrrha rolled her eyes. "Later. Maybe. Unless you've forgotten, we have a job to do. The main arena and upper levels are still on lockdown. The lower sections are in a full riot. We need to keep the central core systems online or containment will be… difficult." Pyrrha turned and started to make her way inside.**

 **Jaune smirked and drew his personal weapon, the sleek hand cannon known as the Ace of Spades. "Alright, partner! This is a Jaune riff in 6. Watch me for the changes and try to keep up~"**

The reference was lost on all involved. They didn't have Back to the Future in their world, after all.

Neo smiled a bit. This version reminded her a bit of her partnership with Roman.

 **As he loaded his cannon and spoke, he moved around and turned toward Emerald. "Now… Let's go to prison!" He held up both arms and jumped back and down a ledge. "WOOHOOO!" Beneath the walk, they could hear Jaune firing and shouting "Got you!" every now and then as he tore his way through the rioting prisoners.**

Neo would laugh if she could. She could easily see Roman pulling something like that.

"Oh gods!" Weiss whole body shook, "Another Nora-esc version…"

Nora laughed at Jaune's antics, further proving the point.

Adam let out a condescending breath, "Big surprise. Just shooting his way through. Just watch. That prison will be full of faunas."

Blake turned toward Adam, "Do you _really_ believe that?"

 **As Neo charged in, the screen fell below to show a giant creature of chitinous form. It was a giant beast waving a similarly sickening sword. Jaune shot the creature a few times. He had no remorse for them, because they'd have none for him. Everyone in the prison was the worst of the galaxy: murderers, psycho-cultists, you name it. Everything that wanted all life dead or subjugated: Fallen, Cabal, and Hive.**

Blake grinned, "You were saying, Adam?"

 **Jaune jumped over a few and continued to tear each of these creatures a new one, or five. He continued to make his way through the compound and along a walkway. He had a large Knight-class Hive in front of him. He created his Golden Gun, a hand cannon of pure fire, and unleashed three powerful rounds, causing the creature to dissipate. He noticed Neo shooting her way through the lines. Jaune chuckled down toward her. "Not sure about you, but I'm having a great time~"**

Nora chuckled, "I like this Jaune!"

Ren rolled his eyes and smiled.

Salem was getting rather bored with things as they were going. But, she had to admit, these creatures were giving her some new ideas for some Grimm.

 **The two tore through the area and made their way into the central hub. Jaune was behind glass as Neo defended the control room. Neo's Ghost, a mechanized form of Light that heals their respective Guardian, was hovering near the glass separating them. "Alright! Now hit the red buttons."**

 **Jaune turned to the paneling behind him. "There all red!"**

 **"** **Then push all of them!"**

 **Jaune scrambled to push all of the red buttons. After a while, they were all green. "I cannot believe that worked." He pulled a lever and the defense systems were back online. "Alright! Get out there and bring it in!"**

 **Neo nodded and ran off with her Ghost.**

 **Jaune stretched his back and made his way topside. He took a breath and smiled. "Alright gang! Good work! Ramen's on me."**

Velvet thought for a moment, "Do you think that one guy sells the ramen in this world too?"

Coco shrugged, "Probably. Guy sells pretty much everything in our world."

 **Pyrrha's voice came in through the group chat system, "** ** _We've got a problem! He's loose, Jaune! This isn't a prison riot! It's a prison break!_** **"**

Roman smirked, "Nice plan. And it must work, given the start."

Nora jumped up on her chair, "You shut your mouth! Neo will storm in and save Jaune at the end!"

Emerald looked at Nora like she was crazy. Which… she might be.

 **"** ** _The airlock on level zero! It's the only way out this far down!_** **"**

 **Jaune turned toward the large cables and wires, which were all barely holding the structure up. "Alright…" He leveled his gun. "Going down."**

Velvet groaned, "He wouldn't…"

 **A gunshot rang out as the screen snapped to Pyrrha standing on a lower block of the prison. She ran over to the railing to see the central hub falling from the sky. As it passed, she saw Jaune holding onto a snapped cable to keep himself steady as the giant chunk of metal fell from the sky.**

Roman started to laugh seeing that. Neo silently chuckled alongside him.

 **The hub hit the ground with an explosion. There was no way Jaune** ** _could_** **survive that. In fact, he didn't.**

Oscar joined the conversation for the first time, "Then… how does that scene from the beginning happen?"

 **A sphere of light was shown above rubble. Pieces of Jaune's Ghost were flying around the sphere before reforming and releasing a burst of Light. Jaune pushed off a slab of concrete and chuckled, "Never felt better." After he brushed himself off and reacquired his weapon, he shouted, "You see that Pyrrha?!" He was met only with silence. "Pyrrha? Neo?"**

Roman groaned, "So that Ghost thing can raise him from the dead? Then what was the point of the scene earlier?"

 **Jaune started to stand again, seeing no one around him. "Must have knocked out the comms with my awesome landing…" He looked up to see a large creature step forward on a catwalk on the upper wall. "And, cue the ominous music." He stepped toward them and put on his usual smile, "Alright! Back to your cages!"**

 **One of the creatures stepped forward and slammed a staff onto the metal beneath it, the crystal on top glowing for a moment. As if by command, smaller creatures started to move into frame, moving like animals rather than sentient creatures.**

 **Jaune growled and spun his cannon into his hand, "I said! Back in your cages!"**

 **As the creatures swarmed him, Jaune shot the first of the strange beings over his shoulder without looking back to it.**

Yang smirked, "Show off."

 **He spun around, reloading his weapon, and shot another in front of him. Their 'blood' was an ethereal mass of glowing blue. Each kill would splatter the mass out and it would disappear into mists.**

 **One of the creatures charged toward him. He blocked the oncoming beast and fired a round into the creature's jaw. He chucked the creature off and threw a knife into another one running toward him. Jaune stepped to the side as one of the creatures charged again, reloading his weapon with a spin, and unloaded three shots. One into the charger, one into a nearby creature, and the last shot through a creature and into a red barrel, causing it to explode and burn a few of them away.**

 **As one of the creatures flew toward him, he bowed to the side with one hand to guild it passed, as though inviting it inside his home. This had it crash into another creature and he was on the move again.**

Yang grinned, "I have to agree with Nora. I like this version."

Coco nodded. "Capable, stylish, in control of the situation. What's not to like?" She readjusted her sunglasses, "Pretty much the opposite of the Arc we know."

Velvet punched Coco's shoulder, which prompted the team leader to laugh.

Neo blinked at the screen. In some ways, she could see Roman fighting like that. However, Roman did have his limits. Primarily his situational awareness. Or rather, the lack thereof. In a one on one fight, he was an unstoppable force. Gang up on him or keep someone hidden away, and you could get the jump on him. That's why she was here, to watch his back. But this kid? He was like a better Roman.

 **Jaune jumped back and used a skill to jump again mid-air. He landed on a precarious stack of metal plating and looked to the side to see some of the beasts crawling up the plating. He placed a trip-mine and shot a few to keep them back long enough to get to a safe distance. He jumped down to another plate and slid down while shooting back. Unfortunately, he ended up in the arms of a waiting creature, which threw him into a nearby slab.**

 **Jaune shook his head, "Okay. That hurt." As the creature pulled up a small slab of metal, Jaune was launched into the air. He hit a hanging piece of catwalk and dug his knife in to keep himself off the ground. He looked down to see the creatures swarming around him. He shot the hinge holding the piece up and used it to crush several of his enemies. He landed and looked back to them. "Sorry!" He turned forward again, "Not sorry."**

Nora tapped Pyrrha's shoulder, "You know… you say 'sorry' a lot. Maybe you could use that line~"

Pyrrha chuckled, "We'll see."

 **Jaune ran forward and shot another of the creatures. He slid beneath another as it jumped at him, shooting it through the head on his way. All the while, the larger beasts were watching. One in particular, with a wedged face and a strange crossbow-like weapon started to move in the shadows. Jaune fought off the creatures, but they just seemed to go on forever. There were so many, he was tackled before he could fire his Golden Gun.**

 **The creature with the crossbow was above him, waiting. A sniper at heart and in practice. He readied his gun and waited, silent. Patient.**

Weiss glared toward the creature. "I have a feeling _that's_ not a good thing…"

Yang winced, "Yeah… No kidding."

Penny's head tilted. "I don't understand. If the Jaune-unit on screen can be revived by that little Ghost, why is this a problem?"

 **One of the creatures grabbed Jaune and slammed his head into a metal surface, denting his head and breaking a hinge. Jaune fell to the ground and the creatures started to kick at him while he was down.**

Yang growled, "Cheat shots you little…!"

Tai tapped his daughter's shoulders and pointed to the screen.

 **Jaune started to glow and jumped off the ground, throwing blades of flames into the creatures around him, burning them to dust. Jaune growled, "That's it!" He picked up gun, "Now, I'm pissed!"**

Nora cheered her leader on, "Yeah! Go get 'em Jaune!"

Ozpin glanced toward Oscar, speaking low so no one else could here him, "I die in the future, don't I?"

Oscar nodded.

"And my soul binds itself to you?"

Another nod.

Ozpin sighed. "I _am_ sorry. _I_ didn't get the choice for this process either… We can discuss this later if you wish."

Oscar nodded. "It might be a good idea…"

 **One of the creatures charged him and pinned him to a steel siding. Jaune groaned and tried to point his gun toward the creature, but its grip was too strong. Instead, he had to stab the beast in the side with a knife and headbutt him to knock him away. Jaune staggered off the plating, "That all you've got?"**

Yang's grin was back in full force. "Yeah! Go Vomit Boy!"

Penny turned to Ruby, confused.

Ruby sighed, "Yang's nickname for Jaune. Don't use it, it's kind of just her thing now…"

"Okay then. I will refrain from using that name when referring to friend Jaune."

 **Above him, the sniper waited, unseen. His sights were on Jaune, his weapon charged. A single shot to make all the difference. A finger on the trigger, ready to end a life.**

Weiss was getting a little concerned now. Everyone was. Even Neo was getting a little nervous. That may have been the similarities she saw with Roman. Who knows…

 **Jaune held up his hand and his Ghost appeared, "Gonna need your help here, buddy."**

 **The sniper's sights snapped to the side. A life would indeed end. One shot rang out and a burst of light erupted from the area.**

 **The screen flew up to show Neo running up to a large alien creature (a Cabal Centurion) and plunging a sword into its head. She snapped to the side and jumped over the large being as the light eruption passed her. Her Ghost spoke to her through their shared comms, "** ** _That was… That was Ghost… She's dead! We need to get down there! NOW!_** **"**

 **Neo nodded and took off in a full sprint. She wasn't far. She had to get down there and keep Jaune alive. Without his Ghost, he wasn't coming back if he died this time!**

Roman's eyes fell slightly, "Oh… then…"

Neo took a breath and clenched her hands into her chair.

 **Neo charged forward. She reached a large room blocked by a large abomination. The creature turned to look at her, its face covered by a solid metal mask. It roared out to her and lightning crackled out of its hands. Neo ducked behind a pillar as electricity tore out toward her. She swapped her sword for a high caliber hand cannon and leapt out from her hiding place to unload ten rounds of explosive ammo into the creature's head. She charged forward as her hand started to glow. A moment later, her own Golden Gun appeared, and she fired two of her three shots to put the abomination down.**

Yang didn't want to admit it, but Neo was kind of cool in this. To be fair, if she wasn't on the receiving end of her, she would admit her fighting style was rather stylish and effective. She hated the girl, but she couldn't hold that against her.

 **Neo ran up to the door and forced it open. She charged in and held her gun up toward Mercury, walking away and into an air lock. Mercury turned to face her and held up Jaune's gun, "He didn't feel a thing." As he spoke, the blast doors closed. He was gone.**

 **Heterochromatic eyes went wide as she looked down to see Jaune on the ground. With Mercury having escaped, she ran over to Jaune.**

Pyrrha had her hands covering her mouth. She was trying to hold back tears again. It was always difficult seeing Jaune die in these things. It would always hurt, because she would always see _her_ Jaune in their place.

Many in the room shared this sentiment. Strangest of all, however, was Neo. She saw Roman in place of that boy. Roman took her in when she had nowhere to go. What would she do if she was forced to be alone again?

 **Neo placed her gun to the side. Jaune chuckled and coughed at the same time, "H-how's my hair?" He tried to diffuse the situation, but he knew he couldn't. "Speechless. Typical."**

 **Neo tried to have her Ghost heal his wounds, but it was a fruitless effort.**

 **Jaune's breathing was raspy and pained, "Listen, kid. This… ain't on you. This is what I get for playing nice." Jaune went into a coughing fit as Neo tried to think of a way to fix this. Jaune took a few breaths before speaking again. "You go back and tell…" A cough cut him off. "You tell Weiss… and Ren… You go back and tell them… the Vanguard… was the best bet… I ever… lost…" Glowing blue eyes faded. Though robotic, the soul within was very much human. There would be no rebuilding. No way to bring him back. Jaune-6, was killed in action in the Prison of Elders.**

 **The screen faded to black. The scene of the prison ending.**

Yang's eyes fell. "Damn… that was…"

Tai took a breath, "Heavy?"

"Yeah. That's a good way to put it."

Neo lightly slammed her fist into her chair. She failed…

Penny felt strange. Seeing someone like her, a soul in a mechanical body, really die was… it was scary. Despite their robotic frames made of crafted pieces, they would die like anyone else.

 **The screen reformed to show a body resting beneath a silver banner. Standing next to the elevated form, Weiss had a hand resting on the table. Ren was off to the side, finding it difficult to look toward Jaune's body beneath the banner. Neo was leaning against the wall in the background.**

"Oh?" Ruby blinked, "It's not over?"

 **Weiss took a breath. "He had the worst jokes… Even worse timing. I wanted to laugh… I really did." Weiss's hands clenched into fists, "We should've been there." She turned her head toward Neo, "This is not your fault. This… in on the head of Mercury Black. And if he thinks this is the end, he's wrong! This is just the beginning! We are going to fight him." She turned toward Ren, the strike leader and the lead of her fireteam. "You hear me?! All of us! Every Titan! Every Hunter! Every Warlock! We will descend upon the Reef like a storm and make him pay for what he's done!" Weiss turned back to Jaune's body, as if trying to hide herself after her outburst. "And then… we will mount the head of that son of a bitch on his precious throne.**

Weiss closed her eyes and took a breath. In so many ways, she could understand this outburst. If someone took her friends from her… If they ever got hurt like that… She wouldn't rest until she made them pay…

 **After a moment of silence, Ren spoke up for the first time in a while. "No."**

 **Weiss slowly turned back toward Ren, "What?"**

 **"** **No. We are not an army, Weiss. We are not conquerors. We are** ** _Guardians_** **. We need to keep our focus here, on the city. We need to focus on our people and their safety. The Reef was lost the moment it lost its queen. If Mercury wants a stretch god forsaken, lifeless rocks in the middle of space, then let him have it."**

 **Weiss's anger started to boil again, "This is Jaune we're talking about! To just sit back and do nothing is…"**

 **Ren looked her in the eyes, daring her, "Say it."**

 **"** **Cowardice."**

 **Ren's eyes fell to the body beneath the banner, "Weiss… I refuse to bury any more friends…"**

A single line. A single moment. It all crashed and hurt. They'd seen Jaune die. They just witnessed his funeral of sorts. Now, they learned his team would do nothing. They could understand Ren's reasons for holding back. If the name Last City wasn't just a moniker, then they simply didn't have the resources to pursue this. It still hurt.

 **"** **You won't have to." A new voice, one unfamiliar to them all, chimed in. It was a voice that exuded power, despite a stature.**

Qrow leaned forward toward his nieces, "Who the heck was that?"

Yang shrugged.

Neo blinked. She'd never heard the voice before. But, the only other person in the room was… Could it be? Could she hope?

 **The two turned back to Neo, who kicked off the wall. "Stay here if you have to. Mercury Black is mine."**

Neo grinned. _So that's what I sound like~_ She'd been curious for so long. Now, she had an answer. She sounded rather nice, all things considered. The kind of voice she wished she could hear from her mouth. She didn't feel bad that she wouldn't. But at least her thoughts had a voice now.

 **Ren turned toward her, "You realize that we can't commit to this. If you wage this war, it's a war you'll fight alone."**

 **Neo turned her head back for a moment, "Good." Neo walked out to begin her hunt. Seven escapees. One forsaken prince. This was her war to wage. And she would make them all pay.**


	34. The King of Darkness

**King: This one's a little weird. Perhaps a little wild. But if you're from 'round here, enjoy this dimension~!**

 **Inspiration: Star vs the Forces of Evil.**

 **/\**

The screen was alone again. Without King to stop it, it started the next world, just to be like that.

 **The world was a beautiful hall of crystals and stone. So many crystal spires reaching up through the caverns. A figure stood in the hall, a man in a blue-green, almost crystal-like armor, tapping his foot with arms crossed. Ironwood groaned and tilted his head back. "What's taking so long?"**

Ironwood blinked, "Okay? So, I'm opening this one. Question is, where does this go now?"

 **Ironwood perked up hearing a portal open. Stepping through was a young woman with white hair. Her deep blue dress gave a sense of regality. One oddity was that she had a pair of purple diamonds on her cheeks.**

Ruby smiled, "Weiss's turn!"

 **Ironwood bowed, "Welcome, my queen."**

 **The white-haired girl shook her head. "Stop Ironwood… Please… I need to speak with you."**

 **"** **What do you require Lady Willow?"**

Yang raised an eyebrow, "Willow?"

Weiss took a breath, "My mother."

Team RWBY heard the stories about the Schnee family, straight from the source. It was not a nice story.

 **Willow took a breath. "I need to speak to one of your prisoners."**

 **The camera focused on one of the crystals, revealing a man sealed within.**

 **"** **I…" Ironwood held his tongue. Willow had just lost her mother and became a Queen at only 17. With the war going on, she had too much on her shoulders, "Which one, my queen?"**

Ruby's gaze fell slightly. She felt this Willow's pain. Especially now that she was a leader.

 **Willow looked over to one particular crystal in the background. She walked up, allowing the audience to see the man beneath. A blonde in his thirties, sealed beneath crystal. His blue eyes were blank within his prison. He dressed in a dark purple regalia with dark accenting, long sleeves, and gloves. His cheeks were adorned with pink spades.**

Nora laughed, "Oh my gosh! Look at Jaune! Those little spades are adorable! Ooh! Maybe they should be hearts! That would be even funnier!"

 **Ironwood's face paled, "No! No no no no no! No!"**

 **"** **James…"**

 **"** **With all do respect, your majesty, no God damn way!"**

 **"** **James."**

 **"** **Do you know who that is?!"**

 **"** **Of course I do."**

 **"** **Then how could you ask me to let him out?!"**

Ruby shrunk in her chair a little, "I don't like where this is going…"

Mercury grinned, "I'm having fun, at least."

"Oh! Good for you!"

Emerald rolled her eyes, "You people make this too easy."

 **Willow turned back to the crystal. "Then just free his head. I need to speak to him."**

 **Ironwood groaned, "Fine. You** ** _are_** **the queen now, so I have to take that into account. But I will step in if I think things are going badly."**

 **Willow nodded.**

 **Ironwood swiped his hand and a section of the crystal started to melt away. He backed away so as to not interfere with their conversation.**

 **Jaune was free. Well, his head was. His eyes fell down toward Willow, who had a wand raised and pointed toward Jaune. Jaune took in a deep breath and collapsed forward.**

 **Willow jumped a little. "Oh my gosh! I killed him!"**

The way she said that got more than a few of them to chuckle. They doubted that h was dead, so it was funny.

 **Jaune groaned, lifting his head up slightly. "B… 4…"**

 **Willow raised a brow, "Before? Before what?"**

 **Jaune motioned to something behind her with his chin.**

 **Willow turned to see a vending machine. "Oh! You want a…"**

 **Jaune nodded quickly.**

Yang chuckled, "How long was he in there?"

A few others laughed as well.

 **Willow got him his requested snack, a chocolate bar, and walked back. She freed the candy from its wrapped and held it up toward him, "I'm sorry if this seems out of nowhere, but I needed to talk to you."**

 **Jaune grabbed the bar in his mouth and lifted it up. He struggled a bit and freed his left hand from within its prison. This ended up leaving his glove behind, revealing his extremely dark purple hand.**

Nora recoiled, "What happened to his hand?"

Pyrrha looked around, as if to find an answer among the others, "I… don't think we're supposed to know yet."

 **Jaune used his newly freed hand to snap a section of the bar off from his mouth and ate the small chunk left in. He let out a satisfied sigh, "Terribly sorry about that. I've been craving one of these since they put in the machines." This time, Jaune sounded more sophisticated, adopting an accent similar to that of Velvet.**

Velvet blushed a little, but not nearly as much as usual. It was interesting to hear Jaune speak like that, all thinks considered.

 **"** **You… could see? The whole time?"**

 **"** **Nope. But I never got to try one when they were put in. Speaking of, how long have I been…" He looked around his crystal prison, "Crystalized? Oh! How** ** _is_** **old Ironwood? Is he still fighting with Glynda? No! No. I'm getting off topic. Timelines. How long have I been in here?" Jaune waited for her answer, taking a bite into his bar.**

 **"** **Um…" Willow considered lying but decided against it. "Three hundred years."**

 **Jaune's eyes went wide and he nearly dropped his snack. "Three hun- Really?"**

 **Willow nodded.**

 **"** **Huh…" He was silent. After a moment, he just took another bite from his chocolate.**

Glynda was able to repress a chuckle, "He's taking that rather well."

Ozpin was about to respond, but was cut off by Oscar, "On the surface. It's likely he's freaking out on the inside."

 **Jaune swallowed the last of his chocolate and crumpled the wrapper. He tossed the foil into the trash bin by the vending machine. "Nailed it." He turned his focus back to Willow. "Now, you said you needed something from me." He paused, noticing that Willow had a wand in hand.**

 **The wand had a sleek handle with a crystalline heart set at the top. It was a symbol of the Atlassian royal family and a source of powerful magic. With each hand, it would change form. Jaune thought back to his own version of the wand; a dark metal staff with a spade at the tip, making it resemble a spear, with a thorn-covered vine wrapping around the form.**

Nora chuckled, "So, she has magic! That's so awesome!"

Ruby smiled as well, "Jaune's version of that wand looks pretty cool."

Penny nodded, "It _is_ rather esthetically pleasing."

 **Jaune looked into Willow's eyes, "If I may… Why do you have the wand? If I remember correctly, that is only supposed to be wielded by the rulers of Atlas. And, unless you were able to perfect an anti-aging spell, you seem a bit young to be a queen."**

 **Willow's hand shook, "My mother… she…" She couldn't find it in herself to continue.**

 **Thankfully, she didn't have to. Jaune picked up on this rather quickly, "Oh… I'm so sorry young one."**

 **Willow shook her head and wiped away forming tears, "It's fine."**

 **"** **Far from it, child. But I understand you wish to move on. You said you wanted something from me. Let's start with that."**

Coco leaned back in her chair and propped her legs up on the back of the seat in front of her, "This version of Arc kind of reminds me of… How do I put this?"

Tai chuckled, "Your father?"

"Yeah! That's it! Why is that? My dad was never like that."

"He's acting kind of like the universal father figure." Oscar pointed out, "Or, I guess, the ideal King."

Weiss blinked. "Wait… He had that wand _before_ my mother in this world. A wand that is supposed to be a symbol of royalty."

Ruby turned to her partner, "So… Old King Jaune?"

Yang was in a laughing fit, "More like Grandpa Jaune, right Weiss?!"

Weiss's eye twitched. "My 300-year-old ancestor… That seems to be where this is going… I don't even know why I try to understand any of these worlds."

 **Willow took a breath before looking back up to him, "I need a spell. One that can kill something immortal."**

 **Jaune raised an eyebrow, "You realize what your asking for, right? That kind of magic is considered the darkest of dark magics."**

 **"** **I don't care."**

 **"** **A vengeance mission then… Alright. I'll help you. But the magic you seek is too powerful to be simply learned. It requires a magical contract to pass on."**

 **"** **I'll do whatever I need to. What do you want?"**

 **Jaune smiled, "Isn't it obvious? My freedom."**

Weiss's eyes narrowed, "I've a feeling that there's more to this than meets the eye."

 **Jaune held his free hand down toward her, "Do we have a deal?"**

 **Willow nodded and shook Jaune's hand. A light emanated from their grasp as a purple ribbon appeared and wrapped around their arms. After a moment, the ribbon disappeared, absorbing into their skins. Willow released her grip and looked down to her hand. "So… what now?"**

 **Jaune chuckled, "All you need to do, is point your wand toward your enemy and recite this incantation. '** ** _I call the darkness unto me, from deepest depths of earth and sea._** **'"**

 **The screen faded as the words continued, now showing Willow standing before a rather angry looking Sienna Kahn, "** ** _From ancient evils unawoken, break the one who can't be broken! To blackest nights I pledge my soul and crush my heart to burning coal! To summon forth a deathly power! To see my hated foe devoured!_** **" The world echoed in that moment.**

 **In a flash of light, the scene became a tapestry. Upon the stitching was the scene of Willow wielding her wand against Sienna. A spell cast against the immortal being.**

Sienna smirked, "Immortality sounds rather interesting actually."

Ozpin and Oscar went deadpan. Neither said a word. Both knew of the immortals' curse.

 **But this would be a wound that would never heal. A hand ripped from the woman who killed her mother, Willow be forever immortalized in this moment. So much so, that her tapestry's accompanying plaque read as follows, [The immortal monster will be forever haunted, by the darkest spell of Willow the Undaunted].**

 **The camera pulled away to show Ozpin in a golden robe. He took a deep breath, looking up to the tapestry.**

Ozpin raised an eyebrow, "Okay? Am I important in this somehow?"

Oscar shrugged.

 **Ozpin started to walk to the right on screen. A new tapestry came into view, this one adorned by the image of Weiss with her snowflake-themed wand in hand and ice blue snowflakes on her cheeks. Ozpin stopped and read out her plaque, [Weiss the Underestimated was Queen for all of four days. Her only act while on the throne was to give it all away].**

Weiss's eyes fell. She considered giving up on the SDC and devoting completely to being a huntress. But she couldn't leave her grandfather's company as it was, nor her family name.

 **Ozpin shook his head. "You showed real promise. Still do. Probably the most talented of the Royals I trained. But in the end, you gave it all back to him…"**

 **The banner hanging at the end of the hall was a portrait of Jaune sitting in a throne with a woman to his side. A true monster, her ashen skin and midnight hair held a real contrast, but her piercing amber eyes seemed to burn into the soul.**

Cinder raised an unimpressed brow. She supposed it only a matter of time given how so many in the audience were already paired alongside the boy. And it was interesting as she resembled Salem in this world, just slightly more human and less Grimm. But she couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding. Something that made her skin crawl.

 **Ozpin looked down to the plaque accompanying Jaune's banner, [Jaune, King of Atlas, to a human queen was wed, but took a monster for his love and away from Atlas fled]. Ozpin remembered those years. When Jaune ran away from this throne to pursue a love no one believed could be possible. Then he remembered how things became after his return.**

 **Scenes began to flash on screen.**

 **The first was of Weiss meeting Jaune in the castle garden. The two were like family within minutes. They laughed together. Jaune offered Weiss advice for her troubles. "** ** _I can't speak for what you should do. All I can say is walk with your heart and have no regrets._** **"**

Qrow sighed, "Sometimes, that's the only advice you _can_ give."

Yang smiled, "Oh? So, Uncle _Qrow_ , you're saying we should just… wing it?"

Cue set of groans and one parental high-five.

 **The scene swapped to an underground bunker. He walked along with Willow, who now seemed a few years older than him. They searched through records, Jaune becoming desperate over time. "** ** _There has to be something here! There just has to, Willow!_** **"**

"What do you think he's looking for?" Coco asked.

"I don't know. But it must be important." Velvet felt sorry for this scene. She couldn't quite tell why yet.

 **Finally, a court scene. Jaune's hands were bound. He glared up to his judges: Willow, Ironwood, Glynda, and Leonardo Lionheart (as seen through a crystal ball). Jaune's eyes were filled with sorrow, anger, and a demand for answers, "** ** _What happened to Elizabeth? WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY DAUGHTER?!_** **"**

Eyes fell on those involved as angered glares, though only for a moment.

Cinder was unmoved. She personally never cared for the idea of attachments.

 **Ozpin opened his eyes an took a breath, looking to a second plaque. Because of a tangled web of subterfuge and insanity, Weiss felt it best to return the throne and wand to the old King. He now had a new banner for his second rule.**

 **[Returned from the past, he set upon Atlas in hate, truly heartless. So began the second reign of Atlas's King of Darkness].**


	35. Shadows in the Moonlight

**King: Alright! A new one out and new world. Let's get this going!**

 **Inspiration: Assassin's Creed**

 **/\**

As the next reality started to form, Oscar turned slightly toward Ozpin. "Um… Can I ask how everyone is so… calm? You know… given the circumstances?"

Ozpin took a sip from his mug. "We don't really have much of a choice. King, the fireball that brought you here, has effectively made it a physical law that we can't fight each other. It's likely also calming our emotions slightly."

Oscar nodded. "I guess that makes sense."

The next world finished loading in and started its journey.

 **A church bell rang out over the city of Vale. The sun was descending in the distance as night began to encroach on the world.**

 **Jaune's voice filled the silence after the tone, "** ** _My father always told me that our place is in the shadows. Our lives were to be lived in darkness._** **"**

Nora snickered, "Sounds like another ninja Jaune~"

Yang groaned, "Please… for the love all things good, Blake… Please! Tell me this doesn't happen in one of your books."

Blake shook her head. "The series doesn't take place in a city like Vale."

"Oh, thank gods!"

 **The screen showed Jaune standing in a black and gold cloak with a hood pulled up over his head. The hood's design was rather different, made to resemble a beak or something similar. Jaune's blue eyes seemed to glow in the darkness beginning to consume the world. He was well equipped, complete with rapier at his side, a crossbow on his back, and a strange apparatus on his left arm. After a moment, the camera zoomed out to reveal Jaune was standing atop one of the taller church buildings in Vale. He was atop the spire and down toward the world below, perched like a gargoyle.**

Ilia scoffed, "That's hardly that difficult."

Blake rolled her eyes, "For us, maybe. Consider if anyone else tried that. The amount of balance and personal strength it would take to stay up there like that is actually rather staggering."

 **Jaune took a breath and stood on the spire. He leaned slightly and kicked off the spire to fall to the world below.**

Pyrrha was freaking out, "Jaune! Why on earth would he jump?! What's going on?!"

 **After a moment, the world began to slow. A hand outstretched. Fingers wrapping around a metal flag pole. Jaune swung up off his course and onto a lower building.**

Ilia blinked. "How did he…" She was skilled at parkour, but that was just insane. He jumped off a church spire and just _knew_ about the flag pole, where to be, how to move… Everything was fluid, expert. He was on another level.

 **Jaune ran along the buildings with a purpose as his voice continued. "** ** _I was trained from young age in swordplay and marksmanship. I learned to traverse the city by the rooftops and my reaction time is at peak human ability. Beyond it, really._** **"**

 **Jaune jumped from roof to roof with an almost inhuman level of dexterity.**

 **"** ** _Though I guess_** **human** ** _is the wrong word for it…_** **"**

 **When Jaune landed, his hood fell off due to wind pressure, revealing a pair of feline ears on the top of his head. The ears twitched in the cold night as he pulled his hood back over them.**

Blake was frozen. Thoughts were failing out of sheer surprise.

Kali giggled at that sight, "What's with the face?"

Blake glanced from her mother back to the screen. "We've seen a few of these and Jaune has never been a faunus in any of them. It was surprising is all."

Adam smirked, "At least _this_ version is watchable."

This got a few in the audience to roll their eyes. Say whatever you want, Adam was at least blunt about his prejudices.

 **Jaune jumped up to another roof and rolled in behind someone else standing on the surface. The man was dressed in a grey uniform with a mask placed over the top half of his face. A White Fang agent perched to watch over the region.**

Adam raised an eyebrow beneath his mask.

 **Jaune stood and moved toward the White Fang.**

Velvet started to get worried. "He's not a White Fang in this, is he?"

Sun groaned, "Gods I hope not."

Ilia turned toward the two, "And why not, huh?"

"You kidding? The White Fang are a bunch of holier than thou assholes intent on making all faunus look like psychopaths."

Sienna raised an eyebrow. _Is this how our actions are seen? We've much to think about… And I clearly need a tighter rein on things in a future._

 **Jaune walked up behind the man. The White Fang started to turn around and nearly jumped in shock seeing Jaune. He was about to sound an alarm before Jaune's left hand shot up to his mouth. A muffled cry was the best he could let out. A terror-fueled scream caught before it could echo. Jaune spun the man around and held him in a chokehold. After a while, the White Fang's resistance faded as he lost consciousness.**

Velvet let out a sigh of relief, coupling as a way to calm her nerves after the scene, "He's not White Fang…"

 **Jaune dropped the man onto the roof's surface. He was unconscious, but he'd live. Jaune stepped over the man and kneeled down to observe the area below. White Fang had gathered in the area and planned to burn the district to the ground. Jaune scowled down toward the cult-like group below him. Too many innocent people would die if he allowed this to go through. Jaune stood up again and took a breath.**

Sienna was furious, "AND WHO THE FUCK WOULD APPROVE A PLAN LIKE THAT?!" Sienna was willing to use violence to get what she wants, but she had her limits. She was strategic. An act like this wouldn't result in equality. It would make things worse!

Adam felt a shiver run up his spine. _He_ would do something like that. And with a smile on his face. But here, with Sienna directly adjacent to him and with his coup still in its early stages back home? He didn't dare say anything.

 **The camera moved down to the White Fang as they gathered the tinder and flint stones for their pyre. Soon the district would be a raging inferno. The Vale council will be too focused on trying to save face, that the White Fang will swoop in and turn the people against them.**

 **A hooded figure in black dropped from the rooftops and ran up behind one of the White Fang. A knife buried into the grunts back as the figure rolled him onto the ground and back up to a standing position.**

Ilia groaned, "Well… he has good form at least…"

 **The White Fang scrambled to their weapons as the figure stared to run off. One of the on-site leads shouted, "After him!" With the order out, the White Fang scrambled after. They needed to ensure no warnings were out in the world.**

 **** **One of the grunts ran along the alleys and charged into the streets. He looked around to try to find the interloper. He screamed and ran off to his right. The world faded until the White Fang was a white silhouette running through a red world. The viewers could still see the masks details on the silhouette's face. As he continued to run, the world slowed to show another white silhouette, slight shading used to show their hood, leaning by a wall next to a pully system. As the White Fang ran by, the hooded silhouette cut a rope by their hand and the crates held up by the pully fell to earth. The camera was splattered by red from the bottom up.**

Nora jumped seeing that. "Oh my gods, why?"

Ren groaned, "While the esthetics were nice, that _was_ rather surprising."

Pyrrha took a breath to calm her nerves, "So many of these with Jaune as a killer…" She sighed, knowing it was all random.

Ozpin heard something strange. He turned slightly to see a rather strange twitch on Salem's face. This got him to thinking. "Wait a second…"

 **The world returned to normal to show another White Fang climbing a ladder to try to track the intruder from above. When the world slowed and returned to silhouettes, the camera revealed a hooded figure on the building opposite the grunt's, with a crossbow leveled toward the ladder's top. After a moment, as the grunt's head came into view on the roof, the sound of a bolt released, and the blood splatter returned to the screen.**

 **The screen divided in three and showed three scenes in the silhouette style. One was the hooded figure sitting on a bench, head down, as a White Fang ran by. The second was a pair of hands stretching out from a hay stack around a White Fang nearby. The last was of a White Fang grunt getting her neck snapped by the hooded silhouette behind her.**

Ren's eyes narrowed. "Hold on…"

Nora turned toward her partner, "What is it, Ren?"

"The way this is shot seems to insinuate that each of these events are happening simultaneously."

"Seriously? But how? There's only one Jaune, right?"

Pyrrha shrugged, "Maybe the others were his sisters?"

Neptune turned to the group in surprise, "Wait. You mean to tell me that Jaune has four or five sisters?"

"Seven, actually."

"Do his parents not have a hobby?!"

Ozpin was certain he saw something off with Salem. She shook at the accusation toward Jaune's parents. Question was, why? He glanced back toward Oscar for a moment before looking back to the screen. _It would explain why she's been so docile…_ Ozpin relaxed in his chair for the first time since Salem arrived.

 **The White Fang's leader was stomping his foot, "How hard is it to catch** ** _one_** **prick?!"**

 **"** **I don't know." Jaune jumped down from the roof opposite the leader and stood tall. "Let's find out."**

 **The leader grinned and grabbed a heavy maul. "Let's."**

 **Jaune smirked and cracked his neck. "Too easy." He raised his hand and lowered it after a second.**

 **The leader lurched forward as a crossbow bolt embedded in his back. "What the hell?!"**

 **Above them both was a young man with a golden monkey tail. He was dressed in a long white coat with a hood, with a golden crown etched around the hood. A sash over his waist resembled that of a tiger pelt. The face beneath the hood reveal himself to be Sun Wukong.**

Sun grinned, "Aw yeah! Nice!"

Sienna felt a little unnerved by the sash.

 **The leader tried to turn, only to have a knife fly into his leg. Another hooded figure was standing in the nearby alley. Her cloak was a light tan and her piercing red eyes matched the blood flowing down the leader's leg. Emerald Sustrai walked out of the alley and smirked as she tossed another knife in hand.**

 **The leader's eye twitched as he looked around. More and more hooded figures started to gather around and above him. "What the hell** ** _is_** **this?"**

 **Jaune folded his arms and smirked, "You have your brothers and sisters. And I have mine. Jaune held his hands out to his sides, palms facing the leader. As he walked forward, a hidden blade extended from within the apparatus on his arm. A small knife flew into his other hand from his sleeve.**

Ruby gasped. "Oh! That's so cool! A hidden blade you can call up whenever you want! I have to know how it works~! How does it extend without collapsing back inside? How does it retract when not in use?!"

 **The leader growled. He grinned, an idea forming. "You call this a fair fight? I know your type. Going out of your way to help people. You have a sense of honor that blinds you!"**

 **Jaune's knife was embedded in the leader's upper shoulder and his hidden blade was at the man's throat. "You must have me confused with someone else. We are Assassins. And you got in our way." A snap of his wrist and the man collapsed onto the ground. Jaune retracted the blade and returned his knife to his sleeve.**

 **Sun dropped down and placed his crossbow on his back. "Alright. Another cell down. How many left?"**

 **Emerald pulled her knife out of the leader's leg, "Too many."**

 **Jaune took a breath. "Focus. We need to get out of here. With this, we just declared war on a shadowy organization intent on causing as much death as possible."**

Sienna felt her eye twitch. The White Fang was supposed to be a faction to fight against inequality! True, her methods were heavy-handed and violent, but always to those that truly deserved her ire. Scare the humans into realizing… Her thought interrupted with a sudden realization. "Son of a bitch, we _are_ terrorists…"

Gira turned to Sienna, having never heard of what happened to his creation. "What?" He knew about her preferred course of action, but never the scale.

Sienna growled into her hands. "I can fill you in later… I need a drink after this one…"

Adam's eye narrowed beneath his mask. His plans may have to escalate when they get back.

Ilia was just in shock. Her leader, Sienna Kahn, had just called her own organization terrorists. Not even trying to sugar coat the idea by calling themselves 'freedom fighters.'

 **Emerald walked up next to Jaune, "Aren't we intent on death and murder?"**

 **Jaune pointed toward the dead leader, "Would you call** ** _him_** **an innocent man?"**

 **Emerald looked back toward him and nodded, "Fair point."**

 **Sun picked up a manhole cover and slid it out of the way. Jaune and Emerald jumped down below, followed soon by Sun. The camera zoomed up and onto the cover, revealing a symbol resembling the letter A without the line in the center. The world fell away as the symbol began to glow red before a white background.**

Ruby blinked and smiled. "Huh… I kind of like the style… Can I get my corset in white?"

Weiss smirked, "I'm sure they could have one for you around somewhere."

Yang chuckled, "Maybe stick with your own style, Ruby. It works for you."

Ozpin stood up and glared toward Salem. "King?"

The orb returned as he was called, "Yes, Oz?"

"I'd like to request an intermission."


	36. Intermission 2: The weird one

**King: Intermission 2: Electric Boogaloo~ Oh! Don't you look at me like that! It was the obvious joke! Low hanging fruit might not be the best, but it can still work. Any who~ Hope you enjoy this one. I decided to have a little more fun with our audience members~ Hope you enjoy~!**

 **Inspiration: Really? This is an intermission. This is all me, baby~**

 **/\**

If King had eyes, he'd have blinked in shock. "Pardon?"

Ozpin didn't glance toward the orb, his eyes locked on the Queen of the Grimm. "I'd like an intermission. I need to confirm something."

"Um… Okay? Intermission, I guess. So, see you all in…"

"Hold on. I'd like you to confirm whether I'm correct. Just to be sure."

The screen actually had a question mark appear on the canvas.

King took a breath, "Okay. What's the issue?"

Ozpin's glare narrowed slightly. "Salem… smiled."

The room was silent.

Nora leaned forward in her chair with a raised eyebrow, "Huh? Come on. Bad guys smile sometimes, right?"

Ozpin ignored her, but ultimately answered her question. "The Salem I remember would have scoffed and left a long time ago, saying this was beneath her. But you remained. Why is that?"

Salem stood, eyes narrowed. "What, exactly, are you trying to say, Ozpin?"

"That this left me with two options. The most normal option being that you aren't really Salem and are just using an illusion of some kind. Then I remembered the screen and its purpose."

The screen's marking swapped to an exclamation point.

" _You_ are a Salem from a reality different to that of the rest of us."

After a tense and cutting silence, Salem took in a breath, "How ridiculous. Do you actually think that…"

King sighed. "No… He's right."

"He is?"

The screen now showed a question mark followed by an exclamation point.

King cleared his throat (which doesn't exist?) and began to explain, "If I wanted the screen to behave at the time, I needed Salem to be here. And, as he said, the Salem from his world would just scoff and leave. So, I needed to pluck one from another version that _would_ stick around. When I found her, I dulled her emotions just enough so that no one would notice but keep her here."

Salem was furious hearing that, "You can't be serious!"

"Yeah… I'd apologize, but it wouldn't really matter. I'll put you back to normal now. One sec."

Salem took a step forward to take a swing at the orb but was surrounded by purple flames.

Ozpin watched the display, awaiting to see how things go from here.

When the fire faded away Salem was clutching her head with eyes closed, "Gah! Damn it…"

Cinder ran up to her, "Lady Salem! Are you alright?!"

Salem groaned, "Cinder, dear… For the love of the gods, shut up. I have a splitting headache."

Cinder froze. Salem didn't talk like that. She _never_ addressed her, or anyone, as 'dear.' "I… What?"

Salem took in a breath. "Now… I can finally think straight." She glared up toward the orb. "I should rip you in half for that."

King snickered, "I'd like to see you try~"

Salem growled, knowing she couldn't actually hurt the incorporeal mass of fire. "Damn you…" Salem's gaze fell back to Ozpin. "I suppose I should thank you for solving that so I could be myself again."

Ozpin smirked, trying to hide his sheer confusion, "You don't seem too different so far."

"I am to believe that I am still the Queen of the Grimm. I doubt I could be too different."

King floated back down between them, "You'd be surprised."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow, "How so?"

"Last I checked, your version of Salem didn't have kids."

The Salem in the room went into a state of bliss, "Ah~ My babies~ Oh my gods! What are they getting up to without me there?!"

"Calm down. Your world is just as frozen as theirs. You're good."

"Phooey…"

"Yeah… I know… You want grandkids."

Cinder finally had all she could stand and passed out in sheer shock.

King chuckled, "She lasted longer than I thought she would."

Ozpin was in a similar state, but had a better handle on his vertical stance. "You have children?"

Salem gleamed at the mention of her offspring, "Yep~! Eight wonderful bundles of joy~"

Pyrrha went cold. "Eight?"

Salem nodded.

"It… wouldn't happen to be… 7 girls and a boy, would it?"

"It would~"

A loud thud followed as Pyrrha passed out onto the theater floor.

King turned toward the red head now sprawled out on the floor, "Dropping like flies, I swear…"

Glynda's glasses slipped. "Then… Mr. Arc is…"

"My son, yes. At least in my reality."

King sighed. "In Salem's version of reality, she made peace with human kind. However, Grimm still spawned as mindless beings, so huntsmen were still very much a necessity. One such huntsman being Montesquieu Arc."

Salem blushed and was in bliss again, "Oh! My darling Monty~"

"Yeah…" They could almost hear the deadpan look on his non-existent face. "The two fell in love and the rest is history… Despite her appearance, Salem is an offshoot of human. The biology checks out and eight kids followed suit. And I get the feeling that number is in counting."

Salem smiled, not giving a direct answer.

King sighed. "Whatever… Intermission is extended after that revelation and to get some food in your bellies. The lounge has a full selection of anything you could eat. The bar also serves simple foods like club sandwiches or something. Go wherever, but no food in the arena or library. Enjoy." King flickered out like a candle, leaving them alone again.

No one moved, though. Eyes were still very much locked on Salem.

Ozpin took a deep breath to try to wrap his head around it all, "Let me get this straight… The immortal Queen of the Grimm… has a family?"

Salem shook her head. "I'm not immortal. Like the fireball said, in my reality I'm just another type of sentient life. Like humans and faunas. I just happen to be a different kind…"

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "Then tell me something. King said you made peace with humanity. How?"

"If you're trying to pry and figure out how to calm your own version of me, I doubt it will work given how you addressed me before. I was born with this visage and I was ostracized for it. Many believed I resembled the Grimm and forced me out. My heart grew cold and I sought for some sense of revenge against the people that tossed me aside so easily. That's when you, or at least my version of you, came to me with an ultimatum. Live among humanity in Vale for a year. If I fail to reintegrate, he would release me back into the Grimmlands I started to call home. At first, it was a year to bolster my forces. Then… I met Monty."

As Nora and Ren helped Pyrrha back to her feet, Ozpin and his inner circle were stunned to see Salem in this light. She had a longing look. A reminiscent gaze of a cherished memory.

Salem wiped away a small tear forming. "Montesquieu offered a hand when I needed it, defending me from a group of muggers. After a while, we started to become close friends. He's a sweetheart like that. But something had bothered me for a while. One day he told me he could tell I was capable to defend myself. So, I asked him why he stepped in that day if he knew I was so strong. He told me it wasn't to save me from them, but from myself. I was alone for so long…" She took a breath, and had to wipe away another tear, an act that _really_ told the group in the room that this Salem was a truly a different being altogether. "So, he came rushing to me too give me back what I lost. Hope. In humanity and in myself. I fell head over heels not long after~"

So many in the room were touched by her story, excluding Adam, Mercury, and a still passed out Cinder. One, however, had a different reaction. Not too dissimilar so as to be completely out of left field. Ozpin showed no signs the story meant anything. He was always difficult to read. But this was another level. Ozpin took a step forward and stood directly in front of Salem. His glare had fallen. Now, it was the gaze of a man, who had seen so much, seeing something totally new. "Salem… Your story sounds fantastical and mad. But I admit that its based on my preconceived bias toward your counterpart. She longs only for the destruction of all sentient life, but _you_ are different. I've seen it in your eyes. A loving gaze that our Salem couldn't even fake. I will not apologize for caution given what information I had, but I will admit I was wrong. And I'm quite happy to be so." Ozpin held his hand up to offer to shake. It was almost unheard of to all involved; but, to Oz, it was the right decision.

Salem smiled and took his hand in peace. "A pleasure, Professor Ozpin."

Cinder started to stir and sit up. Though, when she saw the sight before her, she was floor-bound again.

With that, the groups split up into their groups, dividing themselves between the lounge and the bar. The bar, as it turned out, was rather empty, save for the form of Roman sitting at the counter. After a while, Neo walked in and took a seat next to the crime lord.

Roman smirked when she arrived, "Ain't you a little young to be in here?"

Neo huffed. Normally, it would be a gag about her height. But… she _was_ only 20. She technically had a year before she could drink without a huntsmen's license, not that it mattered to criminals. Neo's eyes fell onto the counter.

Roman glanced toward Neo, "This about the 'death of all sentient life' thing from before?"

Neo nodded. After a second, she looked up toward Roman.

Roman sighed and dragged his hand over his face. "Yeah… It's been eating at me too. This operation with Cinder… Doesn't seem worth it if the end goal is death of all life, which by default would include us."

Neo's eyes asked her question for her, _Where do we go from here?_

Roman took a gulp from his drink and sighed, "I don't know. That ain't a hill I'm willing to die on. In the face of extinction, any alternative is preferable, right?"

Neo nodded.

Roman took a deep breath before continuing, "Alright. We're going to take a risk. A big one. We might end up pissing off a few old acquaintances and there's every possibility this backfires on us. But… It's either the longshot, or a sure death."

Neo stared toward him, a look of determination fueling her eyes.

Roman smirked, "Guess it's a plan then."

\/

Yang was sitting with her family in the lounge. It took the weaponized form of cuteness that is Ruby Rose to get Uncle Qrow to stay out of the bar. She had just finished her meal and started to tell her father various stories from Beacon. Yang stalled during on story as a figure walked beside her. She turned to find Neo standing there with crossed arms.

Yang instantly went hostile, "What do _you_ want?"

Tai raised an eyebrow, "Um… What's going on?"

Yang glanced toward her father, "She's Torchwick's sidekick. And I've got a bone to pic with her." Yang stood up and glared down toward Neo.

Neo frowned up toward Yang. Neither side was willing to back down. After a tense silence, Neo raised her hand toward Yang.

This genuinely confused the brawler. "What are you…?"

Neo thrust her hand forward a bit to emphasize her position.

"So, what? Is this supposed to be some kind of bygones moment like with Professor Ozpin and Salem? Well, news flash, you are the version I fought. The version that pisses me off. You think we can just move on from that?"

Neo shook her head. Peace wasn't her final intension. This was a ceasefire at best.

Yang groaned. "Fine." Yang shook Neo's hand. They weren't friends, far from it. They still hated each other, but at least they can be civil for now. As the two separated, Neo left and Yang sat back down, looking to the side to a wide-eyed Ruby, "What?"

Ruby had to blink, as if to reboot her brain, "Just… surprising."

Tai and Qrow looked toward each other and just shrugged in unison.

\/

A section of the lounge included a lone Salem, enjoying some Valen cuisine. As she ate, someone approached. They were slow, nervous. Salem was used to this. She took a breath and waited for what was to come. She turned to see Velvet Scarlatina standing nearby, a hand rubbing her other arm. "What is it, child?"

Velvet looked away, looking for the words to start this conversation. "Um… What is Jaune like… in your world?"

Salem was surprised to hear that. She expected a question about her appearance or how to stop the Grimm. She couldn't control the Grimm anyway… At best, she could direct them back in the day. But that was long gone. "I… I'm sorry. What was that?"

"You're Jaune's mother in your world, right?"

"Yes."

"What's he like?"

"Why would you…" Salem paused, seeing Velvet fidgeting slightly. "You love him, don't you?"

Velvet was silent. After a moment, she nodded. It was all she could muster.

"I get the feeling you're not the only one." Salem smiled, "But I am happy to hear that, even if it isn't technically _my_ Jaune that holds your affections." She motioned for Velvet to sit before she spoke again. "Jaune is… an odd child to so many. All of my children inherited _something_ from me. Be it my ashen complexion, my white hair, or my black sclera. Jaune was unlucky enough to inherit all three of those. Though he looks like his father, if life were a storybook, he'd be the shorthand for the villain. But he never let it get to him. He took all the shouts, the abuse on the streets, the stares, all of it."

Velvet's heart fell. She knew what that was like. There were still people out in Remnant that treated her awfully just because she was a faunas. To know that Jaune went through something like that…

Salem, however, smiled. "He took it all with a smile on his face…" Being a mother, she hated that her child had to go through that, knowing what it was like. Salem did let out a chuckle though, "He said he wanted to be a knight, like the old stories. That he would just smile and be a hero for everyone, like his father before him. My little boy just grinned and bore everything that came his way. No matter what, he was going to be a hero."

Velvet smiled. She stood back again and bowed toward Salem, "Thank you for telling me about him."

"Don't worry, dear. Good luck in your world."

"Thank you." Velvet walked off and back to her friends.

Salem chucked as Velvet walked off. Her face fell, fully aware of her situation since her arrival. Seeing versions of her son so unlike her baby boy. Few could be called a hero. She took a breath and smiled. But now she was back to normal. Now she could fully voice herself in the coming realities.

King's voice came in through the speakers again, " _You may now return to the theater. The next reality will begin ten minutes._ "

Salem nodded and stood. _This is going to be interesting~_


	37. A Stain on the word Hero

**King: This should be fun... First things first, we passed 1000 reviews! They're mostly requests, but I take what I can get at this point... If nothing else, it shows engagement in the story. Hope you've all been enjoying this as much as I have~**

 **Inspiration: My Hero Academia**

 **/\**

When everyone regathered, the dynamics of the theater had changed. Roman, Neo, and a newly revealed extra-dimensional Salem had taken more neutral positions away from the villiain groups. Sienna, after explanations, profuse apologizes, and a knuckle sandwich from Kali, had taken a spot near the Belladonnas. Ilia, after seeing her leader move from her position, started to feel uncomfortable remaining with the others on her side. However, Adam kept her in line, reminding her of her mission.

Once everyone had settled in again, King reappeared in the theater proper, "Hello again, everybody~! Welcome back." The fireball spun around in a small circle, "So? Everyone ready for the next round~?" Once he was satisfied with their answers, he disappeared again and let the screen begin its work.

 **"** ** _A hero is someone who acts not from their own selfish desires, but to protect the innocent and the weak without thoughts of compensation._** **"**

Nora giggled, "Another Jaune voice over opening."

Yang crossed her arms and sat back. "I mean… He does have a point though."

Ironwood groaned, "A bit idealistic, though. Heroes like that just can't exist anymore. We all need compensation for our work."

Salem huffed, "And that's why you're not a hero."

"What did you say?!" Ironwood was still semi-hostile toward this Salem. Old habits die hard for a grizzled soldier.

"You can have a job and be compensated. For you, you're a soldier. They are huntsmen. These are professions. A hero is someone that can have these careers, sure, but its not exclusive. It's someone that acts for the good of others when they're needed. _Anyone_ can be a hero, Ironwood."

 **"** ** _But the world forgot what hero means. These… phony hypocrites condemn the people that use their quirks for themselves, doing the same exact thing! Just with government permission… Wealth. Fame. Prestige. Popularity…_** **" Jaune spoke with a level of venom no one in the audience had ever heard before. "** ** _But… there is one that still embodies these ideals…_** **"**

 **The screen showed a picture of a tall, muscular blonde, but not the same one as the last time they say this type of reality. This was Taiyang Xiao Long, the Symbol of Peace.**

 **"** ** _All Might… is worthy._** **"**

Tai smiled, "Symbol of Peace? I like it."

Ruby was bouncing in her chair, "I remember that one! That's the world where Jaune was a super hero!"

Yang chuckled, "Guess dad is the hero this time."

"Okay… Then what is Jaune in this?"

 **The screen flashed and fell off to reveal Jaune hunched on top of a water tower. He was dressed in tactical gear with four large knives (two on either side of his torso), one larger knife across his lower back, and a katana strapped to his back. His boots were spiked at his toes as well. His face was obscured by a white mask tied back with long fabric hanging behind him and a crimson scarf around his neck.**

Nora chuckled a bit, "Modern ninja Jaune~!"

Blake cracked a smile as well.

 **"** ** _I will fix this world. I will reclaim the word hero._** **"**

 **The screen panned down to show Yang running through the streets of the city. At one moment, she slid on the ground and into an alley where Jaune was waiting. In the darkness of the alleyway, they could see his eyes glowing a blood red. The pin-like irises made him seem clearly unhinged.**

Ruby groaned, "Another psycho version…"

Blake took a breath, "Not quite… He's not a madman… He's a fanatic."

Yang turned to Blake, "What's the difference?"

"A madman uses logic foreign to the world. A fanatic needs no logic, only his cause."

"Well, that's unnerving."

 **Jaune glared toward Yang as she approached, "I will purge these false** ** _heroes_** **from this world." As Jaune drew his sword, a flash of light blinded the world and acted as a way to transition to Ruby walking down the same streets.**

 **Ruby was dressed in a set of red armor designed to accent her super speed. A sleek set of plates that made her resemble the old knights.**

Salem frowned a bit, "I'm a little disappointed. Jaune would absolutely love armor like that. Really fit with the chivalrous style he has."

Oobleck readjusted his glasses, "It _does_ seem to be inspired, but also perfectly modern."

This got a few of the audience members to jump in their seats, having forgotten the history professor was in the audience. This, in turn, led to another mini heart attack when they realized Port was sitting next to him.

 **Ruby was looking around, constantly on edge. Something was on her mind during the patrol, not paying attention to the lesson being imparted by the professional hero she shadowed. It was what pushed her to this point. What made her run off when her mentor wasn't paying attention. She ran into the alleys, a growl escaping her throat.**

Yang chuckled nervously, "Yikes… I can't even see your face, but I already know I've never seen you that mad. What do you think happened?"

Ruby wasn't sure. But given the way this opened… She didn't like the implication.

 **Ruby slid to a halt in a back alley. "I finally found you!" The screen snapped to show Jaune turning his head toward her. As it panned back, it revealed his katana was currently pinning Mercury Black to a wall behind him through his shoulder. Ruby's voice followed through as the scene came into view, "The Hero Killer, Stain."**

Ruby shook, "Hero… Killer?"

Velvet shrunk in her chair, "Oh… that's not good."

 **Jaune raised an eyebrow. "And what are you supposed to be?"**

 **Ruby charged forward, trying to tackle Jaune, "I'm the one who'll beat you!"**

 **Jaune removed his sword from Mercury's shoulder and sliced up toward Ruby, knocking off her helmet and forcing her to the ground. He placed his blade at her neck before speaking again, "A child in a suit of armor?"**

 **Ruby's eyes were filled with fear of the blade, but a righteous fury toward the man holding it.**

 **Jaune let out a breath, "Leave child. This doesn't concern you."**

 **Ruby clenched her teeth, "Like hell it doesn't." She started to raise back up to her feet. "You think I care what** ** _you_** **have to say after what you've done? My older sister was a hero. Her dream was to help others. But** ** _you_** **severed her spinal column! She'll never walk again! What gave you the right to take away her dream?! I will make you pay for what you've done!"**

Yang was in shock hearing that. Everything fell into place, and Ruby's anger made sense… but learning she was paralyzed in this world because of Jaune… that was just crazy to think about.

Ruby was just as bad. The idea of someone hurting Yang like that was insane! Yang was more likely to be the one doing the hurting. Granted, this kind of attitude could very well get her injured beyond repair. What if she lost a limb?! Ruby officially went into a freak out.

 **Jaune glared toward Ruby. "If you fight me, I will be forced to cull you with the rest of these false heroes."**

 **Ruby's foot dug into the concrete beneath her, "SHUT UP!" Ruby swung a kick toward Jaune, who jumped over the attack.**

 **Jaune was able to slash at Ruby with his sword, which was now revealed to be either deliberately serrated or was never sharpened properly. A bit of the blade was able to dig into Ruby's armor and caused her to bleed at her upper arm. Ruby was able to avoid the worst of the damage as she jumped back. Jaune held the blade up toward himself and licked the blood caught by his blade.**

Nora was trying to diffuse things by focusing on that specific action, "I never got why people do that…"

Sienna, strangely, was the one to answer her, "It's an intimidation tactic at times. Ingesting blood, however, would be above and beyond for that…"

 **Ruby was about to charge when the effects finally kicked in. She fell onto the ground, unable to move her body, "What?! What's going on?!"**

 **Jaune approached her slowly. Once he arrived, he buried the tip of his blade into Ruby's shoulder, rendering the limb nigh useless until/if the wound was healed. Jaune took a breath, "I tried to warn you child."**

 **Ruby was able to move her eyes, allowing her to glare up toward him, "Shut up! You attacked my sister and took away her ability to be a hero! I am Draconium! And I will avenge my sister! I'LL KILL YOU!"**

Qrow took a swig form his flask, "You know Ruby… You can be pretty scary if you tried."

Tai turned to his old teammate and shook his head, indicating this clearly wasn't the time.

 **Jaune pointed toward Mercury, who was propped up on the wall and affected by the same power that now held Ruby down, "Shouldn't you be more worried about him right now,** ** _hero_** **?" The amount venom in that last word could probably kill a Goliath.**

A chill ran through the audience. He… wasn't actually wrong. And that scared them. She ran into a scene where a man was being attacked, and she didn't care about that. Revenge had blinded her to the point of being a hero, saving lives and protecting others.

 **Jaune removed the blade from Ruby's shoulder, causing even more damage thanks to its serrated blade. "Goodbye, false hero. Your death shall pave a way to a new world."**

 **Before Jaune could finish the job, he was decked in the jaw by a certain flying fist wielded by Velvet Scarletina. As she landed, they could see her chocolate-brown hero's uniform. She spun midair after the punch knocked Jaune back, landing on her feet. She glanced back to Ruby, but kept her stance for the fight at hand, "Ruby! Are you okay?!"**

Coco grinned, "Go Velvet! Saving the day~"

Velvet groaned a bit, "I'd feel better if it wasn't Jaune being the bad guy…"

"Trust me, Vel, that feeling seems to be mostly universal in this room."

 **Ruby tried to struggle, "Velvet! I can't move! I think it's his quirk! Something when he cut me!"**

 **In the background, Jaune drew one of his smaller knives, revealing it to be a toothed military-style blade. An efficient pain bringer designed to rip into the flesh apart going in and out. Jaune growled and lowered his stance, "Another child?"**

 **Velvet noticed Mercury slumped on the wall, "Well, so much for grabbing Ruby and running." She dragged her foot across the concrete for a second to ready herself for a leap. "I just need to buy time for the pro heroes to get here. Sit tight Ruby! I'll protect you until then." She charged forward, jumping from the ground and up to the side of the nearby building. She instantly leapt from this perch and down toward Jaune. When Jaune made to swing his blade toward her, she spun her body away from the attack and under him. He went to swing his knife behind him, only for Velvet to have jumped up and nailed a punch onto the top of his head. With her foe having face planted onto concrete, she hopped back and started to make for Mercury, hoping to get the two in one place and make a break for it.**

Tai nodded to himself, "She certainly has a good technique, but it's also clear all of her training was rather recent. A skilled opponent could read her and get the drop on her."

Coco shot a glance toward Tai, "Yeah? Well he doesn't seem to be one of those trained ones, is he? Otherwise Velvet wouldn't have gotten that hit in."

Port's face fell into a frown, "Don't be so sure…"

 **As Port spoke, they saw Jaune's smile as he licked at one of his knife's teeth, a small splatter of blood barely visible on the weapon.**

"Sometimes, it may in your interest to take the hit."

 **Velvet's body suddenly collapsed from under her. "What?! How did he…?!" She noticed the cut on her shoulder before she looked back toward him. "Wait a second! It's not the blades! It's the blood!"**

 **Jaune's smile faded, giving him the visage of a man at work. "You, child, are not burdened by the falsities of this wretched world. You have potential to be a true hero. You shall live." He turned back toward the still lying Ruby, "** ** _You_** **on the other hand, shall die with the rest of these false heroes." As Jaune raised his blade again, he was cut off by a torrent of fire, "Another one?!"**

 **Standing at the entrance to the alleyway was Weiss Schnee, dressed in a style reminiscent to a more practical version of a blue school uniform. "Velvet, next time you need help, be a little more specific than just a location."**

 **Velvet tried to move, but found that to be an impossible task, "Weiss! Be careful! If he gets any of your blood, he can immobilize you!"**

 **Weiss scoffed, "Then I'll just have to keep him at a distance." Unlike the other two, she was more than capable of fighting at range. Unfortunately, this single moment of distraction allowed Jaune to chuck a throwing knife toward Weiss without being noticed. Weiss was able to move out of the knife's path, but her cheek was cut by the blade as it flew by.**

Winter glanced toward her sister, "Let this be a lesson, never take your eyes off your opponent."

 **Jaune was able to close the gap between them thanks to the distraction. With Weiss off guard and off balance, he leaned forward and was about to lick at her wound.**

Weiss felt a shiver run up and down her spine, "That is disgusting!"

"No kidding…" Coco grimaced.

 **Weiss was able to force him away before he could get at her blood by using a protective layer of fire. "I can't carry everyone out, but I can buy time." She raised her hands out in front of her. Her right hand had a flickering flame and her left hand had a chilling effect. "Just need to keep far enough away and on my toes."**

 **Jaune growled and dug his feet into the ground. "This is getting ridiculous."** ** _I don't have time for this. One of them is going to start moving again at this rate. I need to get this moving._**

 **Weiss swung a fire ball toward him, only to be met with a pair of switchblade knives embedding into her left arm.**

Qrow winced, "That's got to sting."

Ironwood tapped his foot, "At least it's still attached."

"Right… Forgot about the tinman's situation."

"Stop calling me that."

 **Velvet strained her muscles to move. She** ** _had_** **to get back up! If they were both up, they at least had the chance to get away carrying the others. Her hand dragged across the ground. This got her to grin. After a moment, she was on her feet again and jumped into the fray, knocking Jaune back again before he could take another swing at Weiss.**

Velvet raised a hand toward the screen, as if to will it to stop, "Hold on! If I was the last one to be affected by his power, why was I the first one to get back up?!"

 **Weiss was equally surprised but was kind of in the middle of something. "So, his power has a time limit."**

 **Velvet nodded, "Yeah. But I was the last one to be affected. I have two theories. The first is his quirk gets weaker the more people he uses it on. The other option being that it has something to do with blood types. I'm type O."**

 **Ruby strained on the ground, "I'm type A."**

 **Mercury groaned, "B."**

 **Jaune licked his lips as the screen froze, almost resembling a comic page. They could hear the voice of a very enthusiastic Professor Port, "** ** _Hero Killer Stain! Real name: Jaune Arc. Quirk: Bloodcurdle. By ingesting the blood of his victim, he renders them paralyzed for up to eight minutes depending on the target's blood type. From shortest to longest, these range from O, A, AB, then B._** **"**

Port chuckled, "Well, that explains that at least. Not the best ability for group tactics, as you can't be sure what blood type a person has."

Ruby smiled a bit, "That's actually a neat way to introduce a person's powers in this world."

 **Ruby growled from her position, "Listen! Both of you! Get out of here! This is my fight! I need to… avenge my sister! For the name of Draconium!"**

 **Weiss raised an eyebrow as she unleashed a column of fire to keep Jaune back, "Really?! You're supposed to be Draconium now? Well then, start acting like it! The Draconium** ** _I_** **knew wouldn't let emotions get in the way of saving people! Of being a hero!"**

 **Ruby was stunned. Her eyes finally took in Mercury slumped nearby. She had ignored him when she arrived… She was supposed to be out here trying to help people… It was her life's mission. Ruby was filled with disgust in herself. "Damn it!" Her fingers dragged into the round beneath them. "I'm so stupid!"**

 **"** **Calm down! We can still fix this!"**

 **In the background, Velvet was fighting back Jaune as best as she could with Weiss's help. All the while, Ruby was berating herself in her head.** ** _I have super speed, damn it! I should have grabbed him and ran! But no! I let my head run off, away from what was important!_** **She was starting to stand again. "Weiss! Can you use your ice to give us some room?"**

 **Weiss cracked a smile. "Sure." She formed a wall of ice to separate the group from Jaune.**

 **But Jaune was well trained and of sharp blade. He cut through the ice and leapt over the barrier. This, however, put him in the crossroads between two young heroes charging him. When they collided, Velvet landed a heavy punch to his jaw and Ruby landed a nasty kick into his ribs. To seal the deal, Weiss singed him on his way down. And like that, he was out cold (irony~).**

Salem let out a breath she'd been holding for a while. "I know he was a villain, but that's rather hard to watch."

Velvet nodded, "It usually is in the worlds like that."

 **Ruby apologized profusely to Mercury, Velvet, and Weiss for how she acted. But they didn't have time to dwell. They had to tie up Jaune and get him to the police. They were lucky enough to find some rope someone had thrown away. They were able to drag him out onto the main streets. As they left the alley, a few pro heroes approached them having been told to arrive from Weiss's father, who was fighting villains nearby. Ruby was thoroughly berated by her mentor for running off on her own and how she almost got herself killed. Velvet got the same dressing down from her mentor for the week, an older, shorter version of Ozpin dressed in a green costume complete with bright emerald cape and black mask.**

This visual got a few chuckles out of the audience. One such being Salem. This got Ironwood to lean toward Ozpin, "This is surreal."

Ozpin nodded, "And then some, but it's far from the strangest thing I've seen."

 **A piercing scream rang out in the air as a winged beast flew toward them. It was a twisted looking creature with its brain exposed and its eye bulging outward, the other having been seemingly destroyed earlier. Its arms were wide wings as it swooped down toward them. When it flew down into their group, it clutched its talons around Velvet. With its target in claw, it made to fly off again as its eye continued to bleed. A small splatter of blood landed on one of the pro hero's cheeks.**

Emerald blinked, "That's like the Hazel from the last version of this."

 **Said hero tried to spring into action, but her power wasn't capable of making any effect on the weird creature. "We need to…!" Before she could finish her sentence, Jaune was up next to her and licking the blood off her cheek.**

Weiss shook again, "Does he not understand personal space?!"

Ruby thought for a moment, "But, doesn't his power…"

 **The creature was suddenly falling out of the sky. The screen returned to ground level to show Jaune running, his eyes glowing red, as he cut through the ropes with a blade he had hidden away. "The word 'hero' has lost all meaning in this wretched society! The world is filled with false heroes and villains like you chasing after petty dreams!" One leap later, and Jaune buried the switchblade knife into the creature's good eye. He grabbed Velvet from its claw and shielded her from the impact with the ground. "You must all be purged."**

 **The heroes on sight were stunned by the events that proceeded. "Did… he just save that kid?"**

 **"** **No, you idiot! He took a hostage!"**

 **Jaune let out a breath and ripped his knife out of the beast's head, "Everything I do, is to create a stronger society."**

 **One of the heroes adopted a fighting stance, "Heads up everyone! We've got a fight on our hands!" This got the others to prepared themselves as well.**

 **"** **What's going on here?"**

Weiss and Winter went wide eyed. "No way…"

 **Jacque Schnee rounded the corner and ran up to the group. He was wreathed in fire around his costume, head, and face. "Why are you all just standing around?!" Jacque noticed Jaune, who was still holding Velvet against the ground in his weakened state. "Don't tell me that man is…"**

 **Jaune turned slightly to see Jacque. "Endeavor…"**

 **"** **Hero Killer! You're coming with me!" Jacque seemed almost ecstatic to see his target. This was his chance to really make a name for himself and surpass All Might!**

 **Jaune spun on his heel, his mask falling off. Now, with his face revealed, they could see his fanatical visage completely. His bloodlust fueling his anger. This was a man in name only. "YOU FALSE HERO!"**

Everyone in the room went silent. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, was shaking in fear of this man. A sentiment definitely shared with those on screen.

 **Jaune took a step forward, "I'll make this right!" His eyes were covered in a red light. The moon behind him turned a blood red. "These streets must run with the blood of hypocrites! HERO! I WILL RECLAIM THAT WORD!" His spiked foot slammed on the ground as the camera panned back up toward his shrouded face. "COME ON! JUST TRY AND STOP ME YOU FAKES!"**

 **This even got Jacque to flinch and recoil at the scene before him.**

 **The screen zoomed in to show Jaune's frantic eye, almost shaking in place with his zealous passion, "There's only one man I'll let kill me! He is a true hero! ALL MIGHT IS WORTHY!" The screen flooded with a mass of malicious aura. A pair of blood red eyes seemed to form in the dark mist. This was pure, unadulterated bloodlust and hate.**

No one moved. No one dared to speak out of fear. Even from beyond the screen, they were afraid.

 **Jaune's knife fell to the ground and the aura was gone in an instant.**

Everyone in the room relaxed again.

Ruby took a few breathes, trying to calm her nerves, "What… was that?"

Tai mimicked his daughter and shook in his chair, "Horrifying."

 **Jaune stood in the streets, his eyes blank and his mouth hanging open. It was later revealed by a medical check that his broken rib had punctured his lung. He was arrested on the spot and taken away. But his words still rang out for many. To some, the word Hero was held by hypocrites and self-important pricks that care more about their image than saving lives. Jaune's words that night would spark the fires within so many, on both sides.**

 **For what does it mean, to be a hero?**

Ozpin took a deep breath, "The worst part about it all… even thought his actions were reprehensible… his core ideology holds weight. And to be honest… that terrifies me."

Everyone in the audience, huntsmen, villain, criminal, or extradimensional oddities couldn't help but agree.


	38. This Time I Might Just Disappear

**King: I'm a mad man... But, I like to have fun with these. And this was fun. Got me to look back into this and find out the next part of the series is coming out this October~! Hope you enjoy~ Side note: Seriously, go watch the original on YouTube.**

 **Inspiration: Mystery Skulls Animated - Ghost by MysteryBen27**

 **/\**

King made no attempt to appear, so the screen decided to start the next round of a realm.

 **The world started to form as a night sky, a faint sound of music carried through the world.**

Yang grinned, "Alright. It's either another musical or a campfire pit. Place your bets~"

Tai lightly punched Yang's shoulders, "No gambling, Yang."

"Fine. No money. Winners get the satisfaction of being right." She said that as if it was a mechanical response built up over years of her life. Which it was. Having Qrow as an uncle necessitated this kind of reaction.

Qrow, in turn, chuckled, "Since when did you become a stick in the mud, Tai?"

Tai rolled his eyes, "Since I became a dad. No offence Qrow, but I don't want my kids growing up to be like you."

"None taken. If I had a kid, I wouldn't want them to be like me, either."

 **The music started to swell as the camera panned down to a van driving down a wooded road.**

 ** _'_** ** _Cause the world might do me in…_**

 **The screen moved to show the inside of the van from the dashboard; with Fox behind the wheel, Coco in the passenger seat, and a larger breed version of Zwei (i.e. not a Corgi). All three seemed to focus on a core color scheme. Fox was dressed in a puffy vest that matched his hair color with a white shirt underneath. One interesting factor was Fox's possession of a robotic left arm. Coco was dressed in a coffee colored sweater with a cream-colored scarf and a pair of small, gold-tinted sunglasses resting above her nose. Zwei, in this incarnation, also had a small pair of rounded glasses.**

 ** _It's alright cause I'm with friends._**

Coco grinned, "So, a music video?"

Velvet shrugged, "That's a first."

"Does leave to question where Arc is, though."

Velvet planned to try to use this version to get Coco back for teasing her. Give her a taste of her own medicine. "You two seem awfully cozy in this. There something you're not telling me Coco~?"

Coco chuckled at Velvet's attempt, "Nice try, Vel. I'm not as susceptible to the teasing treatment."

Velvet groaned. Her attempt failed.

Ruby had a different focus, going starry eyed, "Zwei looks so awesome!"

Blake and Kali, however, could _not_ agree. Both took to backing into their chairs, as if to avoid the canine on screen. Kali didn't like dogs, that was no secret. As for Blake… She's seen the damage that _thing_ can do as a stubby corgi. She didn't want to begin to imagine the hell it would unleash as a larger dog. She also didn't like dogs. Living the feline stereotypes, I guess…

Weiss, who was very much a dog person, was internally gushing over how adorable Zwei was. The little glasses too! _So adorable~!_ But she had to keep some level of composure here and stayed silent.

 **As the music continued, they all started to notice that the heads of all involved, including Zwei, were bobbing to the music at all times.**

 ** _Cause I'm giving up again, it doesn't matter._**

 **The screen moved to show the various readers inside the van get 'shocked' by a strange golden energy, causing the van to shut down. Eyes turned to Fox, who was supposed to be the team's mechanic, who could only offer a nervous smile. As the van slowed to stop, the three found themselves in front of an old mansion with a golden light shining from within. A few of the windows were boarded up and cracked.**

Tai laughed a little, "This kind of reminds me of that old cartoon series. Can't remember its name for the life of me, the 'meddling kids' one."

Qrow nodded, "I could see that."

Ruby turned to her father, "What happens in the show?"

Tai thought for the exact words to use, "It was an episodic series where a group of teens and their dog went around solving mysteries, usually in supposedly haunted locations. It always turned out to be some guy in a mask."

 ** _And I'm feeling like a ghost._**

 **The camera panned in as the doors to the mansion opened up with a golden light. The screen then transitioned to show the three entering the mansion, looks of fear and concern across their faces. The doors behind them slammed shut, leaving them in darkness.**

 ** _And it's what I hate the most._**

 **Their eyes popped open pair by pair as a golden fire ball traveled across the screen. As the song continued, the fire lit a nearby candle that had no wick. Then the candle next to it lit up. The scene switched to the other side of the room as the process repeated.**

 ** _And this time (this time… this time…)_**

 **With each beat of the bass, another candle would light. After a while, a chandelier was alight with golden flames, lighting the room.**

 ** _This time I might just disappear!_**

Velvet was shaking a little, "I don't think this one's a guy in a mask."

Coco rolled her eyes, "That's not really all that impressive. Anyone can set up a trick like that if they tried hard enough. My grandfather had a haunted house back when to scare the local kids with the same tricks."

 **On screen, Coco was a little more impressed. She was starry eyed seeing, what could be, a real paranormal activity. Zwei and Fox, however, had the appropriate response, both sporting looks of fear. The camera spun to show a suit of armor, a golden eye snapping into form within the helmet. Another spin showed a series of paintings getting a similar effect as their eyes snapped to glow in gold.**

 **The screen snapped back to the interior to show a trio of golden ghosts with purple hearts singing the lyrics.**

 ** _Oh woah oh oh! This I might just dis-_**

 **** ** _Oh woah oh oh!_**

 **The ghosts took on a more intimidating visage as they continued, thoroughly scaring all three into running off full tilt.**

 ** _This time I might just disappear!_**

Nora frowned, "You know… these lyrics are kind of sad for an upbeat song like this…"

Ren nodded in response, "Likely a purposeful juxtaposition to really hammer in the mood."

 **The three were running along down a hallway, the two humans adopting two very different, almost iconic, running styles.**

Tai slammed his fist onto his chair's armrest, "Okay! Now it really reminds me of that show! Damn it! What was it called?"

Yang decided to bust her dad's chops, "They always say the mind is the first thing to go~"

"Quiet you."

 **As the group kept running, the camera sped forward to show a suit of armor ready itself for their approach, a golden eye glowing from underneath. It took a swipe as Fox dove underneath, Coco leapt over, and Zwei dragged by through the middle, his head seemingly lopped off.**

Ruby started to cry seeing that, "ZWEI! NO!"

Weiss went stiff, unable to move in shock.

 **As the three slid onto the ground, Coco and Fox freaked out seeing the headless Zwei. After a second, though, his head popped back up from his collar.**

Ruby's tears shifted to tears of joy, "HE'S OKAY!"

Weiss sighed in relief.

 **The paintings around them started to vocalize the song like the ghosts had. And, similar to the ghosts, they lurched forward with more intimidating forms. The three piled toward one another in fear, Coco holding up Fox who, in turn, had Zwei over his shoulders. A rope descended from the ceiling and one of the paintings reached out to pull the cording, revealing a trap door beneath the trio. Said trio then went wide-eyed, looking toward the screen. They fell in a set of color coordinated puffs of smoke.**

 **From there, the trio began to descend as though they'd entered Wonderland, complete with warped, pink checkerboard pattern behind them and various objects floating around them. At one point, the trio were met with a set of mirrors. As they passed, each showed something odd. Fox's mirror, which was behind him, showed his back, but was missing his mechanical arm. Coco turned toward her mirror to see her face devoid of her eyes. When Zwei looked into the glass, it shattered instantly.**

Velvet turned to her partner, "Do you think that was important somehow?"

Coco shrugged, "No idea. But I have to say… It's kind of creepy seeing me without my eyes. What does it mean?"

Ren thought for a moment, "If we infer from Fox's mirror that it takes away what you don't really have anymore, it could mean one of two things. The first is that your eyes in this are artificial, like Fox's arm. While this is possible in our reality, it's next to unheard of given the price tag and materials. This leaves the metaphorical option stating that you are blind to something."

Ruby spun around in her chair, clasping her hands atop the back, "Then what about Zwei?"

Ren just shrugged, not really having anything to work with.

 **After a moment, the three began to separate as Fox fell faster than the other two. When he landed, he was face to face with an ornate coffin, black as obsidian with a golden skull etching complete with thorny vines stretching out to the sides of the box. The coffin was also bobbing to the music.**

 ** _Try to hear me then I'm done. Cause I might just say this once._**

 **The camera pulled in to show the lid move to the side and reveal a skeletal being within. His jawless skull was bobbing in rhythm as his eye sockets moved as he emoted. It pulled back and down slightly to show his torso. He wore a black suit with a golden tie and white collared shirt. On his left side, just over where his heart** ** _should_** **be, was a golden heart beating in time with the song. The lower half of his suit's jacket had three rib-like protrusions on either side. He reached up a gloved hand over the heart, his 'eyes' showing a sorrow within.**

 ** _Seen this play out in my dreams, it doesn't matter_** **.**

 **The skeleton looked back toward Fox, 'eyes' filled with anger, as he floated down from his coffin.**

 ** _Time for givin' up the ghost._**

Yang and Tai snickered, seeing this as a potential pun given the risen dead.

 **The skeleton pointed an accusatory finger toward Fox in a manner that looked rather familiar.**

Nora grinned, "OBJECTION!"

 ** _Fuck, it's you I hate the most!_**

 **The screen moved to show Fox's terrified expression as he pointed to himself, as if to confirm the ghost's hate was targeted at him.**

 ** _And there's no guarantee, it doesn't matter…_**

 **With each bass strike, the picture swapped between Fox and the ghost, the (somehow) closed eye sockets of the skull getting progressively tighter as it went on.**

 ** _This time I might just disappear!_**

 **The ghost's eye snapped open, revealing a piercing ocean blue iris formed by magic.**

Nora jumped onto her chair and held her arms outward, "WAIT! Jaune is the ghost?!"

Pyrrha, and most of the audience, just blinked in surprise. "Huh… Wait! Why is he mad at Fox?"

 **Each strike of the bass set off one of four sconces around him to erupt with golden fire. With all four alight, the screen pulled in to his skull as he moved it to the side, golden fire flowing over his head to form a familiar head of blonde hair, just made of fire.**

Salem giggled, "Ghost or not, it does look rather interesting."

Coco nodded, "Nice style and theme. Actually… it gives me an idea. I need to see if I can tailor a suit like that. Question is, who do I torture – I mean measure! – for it~?"

Nora leaned forward to see the fashionista around her friends, "Why not Jaune? Since, you know… he's kind of the one wearing it in this reality."

Coco crossed her arms and started to think it over. "That might work. I could probably get something ready for you too, Velvet~ Give you two a matching set~"

Velvet blushed at the idea. Pyrrha felt her eye twitch for a moment. Salem just found it all quite humorous.

 ** _This time I might just dis-_**

 **** **Fox ran off in a panic. As he ran through the halls, he turned to see if he got away somehow. His panic only got worse seeing Jaune flying after him with golden fire burning along the floor behind him.**

 ** _This time I might just disappear!_**

 **Cut to the kitchen where Coco and Zwei were creating giant sandwiches and were about to dig in when Fox ran through. Confused, they turned to see what was going on, saw the ghostly Jaune, and ran off after Fox in puffs of smoke. The screen caught up to Jaune who tore through the sandwiches and got covered in various meats, cheeses, and condiments.**

This got a laugh out of a few of the viewers.

 **The golden ghosts returned, peaking out form six doorways in a hall.**

 ** _This time I might just dis-_**

 **The ghosts returned to their rooms and then the obligatory hallway of doors chase scene began. When the trio got spooked by Jaune during the chase, they retreated and a massive number of copies followed up the chase, clearly meant as a gag on the moment, as the screen pulled forward to the door at the end of the hallway. It opened to show Jaune chasing the trio by a painting, which Zwei stops in front of. The painting showed a night not too long ago as Fox and Coco's van rolled through a forest area.**

 **This time, however, when the screen snapped to show the interior, it showed Jaune behind the wheel, Coco in the middle, Zwei in the passenger seat, and Fox, with both his arms intact, in the back leaning on the upper seats.**

 ** _This time I might just disappear!_**

Coco tapped her chin in thought, "So… Fox and I knew Arc previously. Next question is, how did he die that would make him so mad at Fox?"

Velvet blinked. Then again. And a third time. All as if to really confirm what she was seeing. "Coco… I think Fox is a third wheel…"

Coco raised an eyebrow and looked back up to the screen, taking in the moment. "Okay. I can kind of see that. But I don't really get the why."

"Coco… Fox is the third wheel. I think it's implying you and Jaune were together."

Coco waved it off. But she knew these worlds were weird like that. And… she had to admit, while Arc was a mess at times, he _could_ clean up well. Especially with her help. _Food for thought, I guess._

 **The van pulled up to a supposedly haunted cave, this week's target as a mystery solving group. As they entered, it showed them splitting up at a fork: Fox and Jaune going left and Coco and Zwei going right. Fox and Jaune's path led to a cliff overlooking a pit of stalagmites. Below them, Coco could be seen looking out of her pathway at the same stalagmites from ground level. Zwei, however, was behind Fox. The screen returned to focus on Fox, his arm beginning to turn green. It traveled up his limb and began to surround his left eye, causing it to turn a sickly green with black sclera. Before he knew what was going on, before he could even begin to understand what was happening, his arm was possessed, a demonic form latching onto his anger and jealousy. His arm raised, and he pushed Jaune off the cliffside.**

Nora slammed her fist into her chair, "I'll break his legs!"

Ren tried to calm her down, but it was rather difficult. Jaune wasn't just their leader. He was their friend and practically like family. Seeing him die like that was just… difficult.

Pyrrha, Coco, and Velvet all had reactions akin to shock more than anything. Pyrrha's eyes fell in sadness, "Well… that explains why he's so mad at Fox."

Velvet tried to pass it off as best she could, "But… he was possessed!"

Coco shook her head, "I don't think he knows that."

 **Jaune hit the spikes below and the golden heart from before floated up, beating to the beat.**

 ** _This time I might just disappear!_**

 **The heart was surrounded by golden fire that rose up beside the form of Ghost Jaune. It continued its rise to flow into Coco's eyes. It was Jaune's first act as a spirit: to take away her memories of him and his death, of everything they've done together. She didn't deserve the heartache of seeing him impaled right in front of her.**

Qrow put his drink down for a moment, "That explains the blind thing from before."

Coco grimaced, "I… don't know if that's a kindness or just cruel."

Ozpin nodded, "Though spared of the heartache, she would have lost every good memory they'd shared… It is quite the conundrum."

 **The camera continued up to show Fox in a state of anguish. His left arm was still possessed, and it was trying to get at the rest of him. His right eye, which remained blank, cried in fear and sorrow. A swiping motion followed, showing a foxlike creature with six tails holding said arm in its jaws. The screen pulled away, showing a silhouette of Zwei in front of the painting with the fox, revealing the dog and the fox both had gleaming red eyes and the same pair of glasses.**

Kali was blanking, "That dog is a demon…"

Blake nodded rapidly, fully agreeing with the sentiment. Even more so seeing as it was an _actual_ demon in this world!

 **Fox was cornered, no where left to run. As Jaune charged forward, Coco jumped between them, hoping to protect her friend. When no attack came, she hesitantly opened her eye to see that Jaune had stopped his attack. He floated at her level and the heart began to move toward her. Fox, however, saw this as an opportunity to run. He grabbed Coco's arm and made a break for the door. Coco turned back, seeing the ghostly version of Jaune reaching out toward her. She didn't remember anything of that night or who he was, but something told her she knew him.**

 **Seeing Coco torn away from him again, Jaune's golden heart fell to the ground, turning a cold blue and cracking on impact with the ground. From there, his fiery hair started to become a larger flame. His anger finally exploded in a torrent of golden fire, following the trio as they made their escape.**

 ** _This time I might just disappear!_**

 **Fox was able to get Coco back into the van and drive off, away from the mansion. The song started to wind down, showing Jaune standing by the window looking out as the van drove away. He held the heart in his hand and pressed down with his thumb to reveal it to be a locket. Inside was a tender moment between Jaune and Coco back when he was alive. His arms were wrapped over her shoulders as her hands reached up to meet his. The screen moved back to show the version of Jaune from when he was alive, his eyes obscured, as a single tear started to flow. After a moment, he began to fade from existence. The last shot of the video showed the van driving off as the mansion itself began to fade along with its occupant.**

Coco slumped into her chair, "Holy…"

The room was silent, no one having a word to be said after something like that. Too many emotions swarmed in their minds to think.


	39. A Devil, a Moth, and a Spider

**King: This on is a little short compared to the other content-based chapters. I have my reasons, though. You see, the source material for this was a YouTube teaser clip for an animation that isn't out yet. To clarify, the clip is out, the final product isn't. So, go the original clip on YouTube and hope you enjoy the chapter~**

 **Inspiration: Hazbin Hotel -(Clip)- "Your Fault" by Vivziepop**

 **/\**

King popped back with his usual enthusiasm. "Hello again~! How's everyone doing? Need snacks? Drinks? Trying to be a good host here~" Once everyone was attended to, he flashed a red and pink. "Ooh~! This one should be interesting~" He disappeared into a swirling vortex as the next world started to form.

Weiss groaned, "I hate it when he says that."

Cinder rolled her eyes. So far, these _interesting_ worlds have just been more violent or something. Nothing too strange, really. At least, not to her. She'd see them all burn soon enough.

 **The world formed to show something resembling a city. In truth, this was Hell.**

Qrow had a momentary coughing fit, "Hell?! It can't mean…"

 **Yes.** ** _That_** **Hell.**

"Holy shit…"

 **A limo came into view on the streets, moving quickly. As the camera followed, it started to zoom into the vehicle.**

Coco raised an eyebrow. "A limo… In Hell…"

Ruby blinked in thought, "So… Is Jaune the Devil? Is that a thing?"

 **Inside, the first face they saw was Ruby Rose, face set in disappointment and sadness as she curled up into the seat. Her outfit was torn and her eyes looking off to the floor of the vehicle.**

Yang instantly went protective. It was an instinct she'd built up over time. But this time, something was off. She always felt a sort of aura surround her, but now she felt smothered. She glanced to her father and got her answer. Tai practically radiated murderous intent toward whatever made his daughter cry.

 **Truth be told, Ruby was always the odd one out in Hell. Daughter of Taiyang (the goddamn Devil himself!) you'd think she'd be all for Hell's system of damnation and destruction.**

This was enough of a shock to get Tai out of his bloodlust.

Qrow snickered behind him, "So… The Devil, huh Tai? Had no idea."

"Shut up Qrow."

 **But she had a different ambition! To give these damned souls the chance to ascend into Heaven! Hell was overpopulated and** ** _needed_** **a better option than mass murder! She decided to open a hotel to teach the damned to be virtuous and to ascend! Like… a rehab for sinners. Ruby sighed, defeated.** ** _So much for that…_**

Blake chuckled a bit, "Ruby _would_ do something like that."

Yang placed an arm over her sister's shoulders, "She's nice like that~"

 **They could hear the sound of a mechanical window moving in the background. The camera panned over to a** ** _very_** **angry Weiss. Weiss, with her long white hair down, was dressed in a white dress with tall black boots and elbow length, fingerless gloves. Her left eye was lost and replaced with a pink X mark. Her good eye twitched as the sound continued.**

Yang smirked, "That's an interesting outfit Weiss."

Weiss just sighed and rubbed her temple.

Coco chuckled, "To be fair, it's more a style for someone less… high class."

 **The screen snapped to show a pink gloved finger messing with the limo's internal divider. The camera pulled back to show Jaune, but of a very different kind. His blonde hair was styled and tipped by pink. He was dressed in a two-tone pink striped suit jacket with a dark bowtie. Above this, he wore a black choker. A nice accent to his theme was his dark pink, thigh high boots.**

Pyrrha is failing!

Velvet is frozen!

Coco is jealous~ Coco moved her glasses down and looked over the top rims, letting out an appreciative whistle. "Damn~! Arc knows how to rock those babies~"

 **Jaune was enamored with the divider, being his first time in a limousine. His facial expressions showed just how enthusiastic he was until he looked back toward Weiss and Ruby. The camera briefly moved behind their shoulders, showing the view of the two looking at him. "What?"**

 **Weiss nearly had a meltdown, "** ** _What?_** **WHAT?!" She pulled out a chuck her hair in frustration, "What were you doing?!"**

 **Jaune groaned, "I owed my girl-buddy a solid! Isn't that a 'redeeming quality'? Helping friends with stuff?"**

 **Weiss was ready to tear into him at this point, "Not when it results in a massive turf war!"**

Glynda felt her eye twitch, "I almost find this _too_ relatable…"

Ironwood chuckled, "Come on, your students can't be that bad."

Glynda shot a glare to the general, " _They_ aren't…"

 **"** **A turf war, mind you, resulting in a TERRITORIAL GENOCIDE!"**

Anyone drinking in that moment almost (or in a few cases, did) erupted in a spit take.

Neptune stared up to the screen in disbelief, "Who the hell would ask him to do that?!"

Nora couldn't tell why… but she felt partially responsible for that. That, or she was hungry. Either or.

 **Jaune smirked and leaned up against the side of the limo's interior, his legs stretching to the other end, crossed, "Eh… You win some. You lose a few hundred~" He counted out on his fingers before laughing at it all. After that, he returned to the divider, "It wasn't that bad anyway."**

 **A knife flew by and into the divider's switch, causing Jaune to jump back in fear. The camera revealed Weiss to be the thrower, and she was royally pissed. Her eyes narrowed toward the subject of her ire.**

 **"** **Oh come on! I had to!" Jaune ran his fingers through his hair, "My credibility was on the line! I mean… what kind of reputation would I have if people knew I was trying to go clean?"**

Emerald rolled her eyes, "Is that _really_ all that important?"

Mercury shrugged, "Hell if I know."

Roman smirked, "And that's why you two are thugs at best."

"You want to put that by me again?"

"In the criminal underworld, your rep is your life. It builds you up for jobs and keeps you on your toes."

"Seems more like it puts a target on your back."

"Maybe. But that's why you have your partners and connections."

Neo grinned and ran a finger across her throat in a threat to Mercury.

 **"** ** _Your credibility?!_** **" Weiss was less than pleased to hear his reason. "What about the hotel's?! Your little stunt made us look like a fucking joke!"**

Hearing Weiss curse got Yang, Ruby, and Nora to snicker at the expense of the heiress. Sure, they've heard it before, but it was still funny hearing it from Weiss's mouth. Even if this version was a demon, apparently.

 **Jaune laughed it off and spun his body down to lie his stomach onto the seat with his legs folded upward to fit the limo's dimensions. "No, no, no, babe. Jokes are funny. I made you look…" He flipped onto his back and waved his hand in thought, "Sad. And pathetic!"**

Roman shrugged, "He's not wrong about the dichotomy."

 **Jaune continued, "Like… an orphan!"**

Nora, Ren, and Emerald felt that hurt a little too much…

 **As he spoke, the camera showed Ruby's reactions to his speaking, feeling worse about her efforts.**

 **"** **With no arms."**

 **Ruby sunk into her chair a bit more.**

 **"** **Or legs…"**

 **Her eyes went wide, but it was clear he wasn't done. She made the mistake to look back at him.**

 **"** **With progeria!"**

 **Ruby hid herself in her hair and groaned.**

Ruby's head tilted, "What's progeria?"

Ozpin finished a sip from his mug before answering, "A disease that induces symptoms resembling rapid aging at a young age."

 **"** **Great!" Jaune flailed his body outward for a moment before lying back with his head over the edge of the seat and legs up the divider. "Now I'm bummed thinking about it! This thing got any liquor?"**

Qrow smirked, "Asking the real questions."

 **Jaune started to rummage through the limo's interior trying to find the booze, only to find an empty bottle and a lint ball under the seats.**

 **All the while, Weiss was trying to keep what cool she had left, "Can you** ** _please_** **try to take this seriously?!"**

 **Jaune sighed and propped himself up with his arms leaning on the empty bar (which was a travesty, damn it!) and his legs crossed up on the seats, "Alright. I'll** ** _try_** **. Just… don't get your taco in a twist, babe."**

Silence. There was not but silence.

 **Weiss's eye twitched as she stood and took an angry step forward, "Was that you trying to be sexist or racist?"**

 **Jaune rolled his eyes as he looked in another container in the limo, "Whatever pisses you off more."**

Despite it all, that _actually_ got a few chuckles out of the viewers.

 **Jaune groaned, "Is there seriously no liquor in here?!"**

 **And with that, the screen went black.**

After a few seconds, Yang spoke up, "Is… is that it?"

King popped back for a moment and started to look through the screen. "Huh…"

"Is it acting up again?"

"No. This reality is… weird. It's in a limbo state where it's there, but not there at the same time. A Schrodinger's Dimension."

"Who?"

"Don't worry about it. Point is, it's still running, but we can't see or hear it. Uh… So… Enjoy a mini intermission I guess." King disappeared soon after.

This left the groups to themselves.

Coco smirked, "Think we could get our version of Arc to dress up like that?"

Blake rolled her eyes, "Doubt it. No one's that gullible."

Tai, Oobleck, and Port started to laugh to themselves, earning a glare from Qrow.

Yang turned to her father, "Um… are we missing something?"

Port started to laugh. He knew the story was about to be told and Qrow could do nothing about it. He'd been teaching Yang long enough to know her stubborn attitude when it comes to seeking information.

Qrow just groaned as Tai tried to explain the story through his own laughing. "Back… Back in our Beacon days, we convinced Qrow to wear the skirt from the girl's uniform to class by telling him it was a kilt. You should have seen his face when he figured out what we did!"

Yang started to laugh, "You're evil~"

Weiss rolled her eyes, "You're no better."

This just got Tai and Yang to high-five in celebration of their mutual trickery.

Penny just cocked her head to the side, "I don't understand. Was friend Jaune's attire all that odd?"

Coco snickered to herself before waving it off, "I can explain it to you later."

Adam groaned and stood back up, "This is fucking stupid, and I'm done here."

Yang grinned, "What? Bull-boy chickening out?"

Adam ignored her and walked off to the exit.

Sienna sighed, "I'm just glad our world is frozen with us here. If he was left to his own devices, he'd likely try to take over the White Fang."

Blake felt a chill run up her spine. _That must never happen. EVER!_


	40. Hopes and Dreams

**King: The 40th chapter! More than half a million views! This is a big moment~ How do you celebrate that? A chapter! The 40th chapter... You get the idea. Hope you enjoy and stay determined~!**

 **Inspiration: Undertale**

 **/** \

After a while, the next world started to form, not that they knew when the last one ended.

 **The world was dark and empty, the sound of Jaune's voice carrying through the void, "** ** _You really are determined, aren't you? I told you… I TOLD YOU! IT'S KILL OR BE KILLED!_** **"**

Ruby groaned, getting a little too used to this feeling, "That's not a good sign."

 **"** ** _But you… you didn't listen. You lived this twice and didn't kill anyone! What is wrong with you?! No morbid curiosity?! No sense for revenge or power?! You were supposed to kill the King and let me take the souls of the humans he'd kept to break the barrier! Then… I kill you and become a god! But no. NO! You just had to go and spare everyone! You found a way to keep them all alive!_** **"**

Pyrrha nodded to herself, "Okay… at least whoever he's talking to is a good person."

 **"** ** _…_** ** _I tried that once you know. More times than I can count. I've lived countless lives. I spared them all more times than I remember. But I also killed them all more times than I can count. I've lost who I was… I have no emotion anymore. With this power, how long until you return to finish them all off? Become like me? Oh well… doesn't matter. You made a grave mistake in the end. You brought them all here. All the monster souls of the Underground! Enough to manifest a human equivalent!_** **"**

 **Green, thorn-covered vines wrapped around the screen's surface.**

 ** _"_** ** _More than enough with everything here! I'll show you… I'll show you all!_** **"**

 **The vines seemed to constrict before bursting. When they were done, Jaune dropped to the ground. He was dressed in a lemon and lime striped sweater and loose black pants. A pair of goat-like horns popped up through his golden hair. He took in a deep breath, the first he'd been able to for a very long time. "Finally… I'm me again…" He turned toward a person opposite him. "Chara? Is that you?"**

 **Across the black void, they saw someone they didn't recognize. She was dressed in similar attire to Jaune, but her form told she was human. Her dark eyes and hair were almost too generic. She'd have been unrecognizable to anyone that passed her in the streets. But she was long since gone.**

 **A heart appeared on the screen, causing a cascade effect turning the void into the barrier room. The form of Chara replaced by Penny Polendina in a blue and pink sweater similar to Jaune's. She also had a golden, heart-shaped locket she'd found around her neck.**

Penny clasped her hands together, "Oh! It seems _I_ am a character in this version. How interesting!"

Ruby smiled at Penny's excitement, but Jaune's speech didn't bode well for future events.

 **In Jaune's place, however, was still very much Jaune Arc. But a very different variation. This Jaune was taller and dressed in a purple and white robe resembling a mage, a style based on that of his parents, complete with that weird symbol they all have. His sclerae were as black as the void, his teeth extended in a set of fangs, and his horns became longer and sharper. He also had a golden, heart-shaped locket around his neck.**

Coco raised an eyebrow. "Kind of reminds me of the style Velvet had when Jaune was that Mountain King."

Ruby nodded, remembering that world a little too well. It was hard seeing her friend so torn up inside… A desperate and broken man with nothing left.

Neptune thought for a moment, "Wait. Didn't it say it was based on his parents? Wouldn't that make Jaune the child that died."

Velvet leaned toward the group, "Do you think the lockets are important?"

"Probably."

 **Penny took a step back seeing Jaune's form. She'd heard the story of the King's child… but to think he was that weird talking flower? And now he'd taken everyone away and created a false soul for himself to revive his body. Now he was back and still very warped by an ever-repeating reality without a soul.**

"Yikes…" Nora frowned, "No wonder he's so mean in this one."

 **Jaune grinned down toward Penny, "Now Chara… What do you say we play a little game?"**

Penny's head tilted, "Why does he not address me by that name?"

Weiss tapped her fingers on her chair in thought, "If I had to guess… The scene before showed the girl he knew in the past, the one the King version of Jaune said fell and became friends with his son. Since Jaune is now the son, it's likely this _Chara_ is the child he befriended before they both died."

Neptune crossed his arms and nodded. "Plus, there are superficial similarities between the two. That, coupled with his apparent resurrection, _could_ mean that his memories are scrambled to point where he sees his old friend in Penny's place."

Penny was still for a moment before turning back to the screen, "That makes sense. You are both quite smart."

This got the two to beam with pride.

 **Penny took a breath and steeled her determination. Despite the odds, she would try to save the friends he took away. Despite what he's done… She'll try to save him, too.**

Ruby smiled. She knew Penny would try to help anyone she could. Penny's mission was to save the world, after all.

 **A red heart appeared in front of Penny and a series of panels followed soon after reading: [FIGHT], [ACT], [ITEM], and [MERCY].**

Penny tapped Ruby's shoulder, "Friend Ruby, what are those strange panels?"

Ruby smiled, "They're how she'll interact in a fight. In this world, fights are set by those weird panels and each does something different. At least, that's what they did when I was in your shoes."

"How do you mean?"

"In one of the other versions of this reality, I was the one with the heart and panels. In it… I had to fight Jaune as the King. But you still have the Mercy option, so that's good."

"Why did you not have the Mercy button? Were you not a kind person?"

"I am. It's just… Jaune destroyed it in that reality, believing he couldn't be forgiven for what he'd done."

Penny frowned and turned back to the screen. "Well… maybe we can change that in this reality."

 **Jaune started to float off the ground and held out his hand. With the snap of his fingers, the two returned to the void. A second later, the void of darkness started to change with stars and streams of colors forming around them. And so, the battle began.**

 **Penny started by using the Act option to check Jaune's form and stats. A text box appeared showing the findings.**

 **[Jaune Arc. The God of Hyperdeath! HP: Invincible. AT: Infinite. DF: Infinite.]**

Roman snickered, " _Hyper_ death? Sounds like something a kid would make up on the playground."

 **[Jaune could destroy everything in existence at the snap of his fingers… But he didn't. There may still be hope for him.]**

 **Jaune's grin was borderline psychotic as he raised a hand to the sky. He swung his hand down, causing a series of stars to fly toward Penny. Penny dodged the first only star, only to find out they explode into smaller stars on impact. She took some damage from behind, but now she knew what to expect. Jaune was suddenly before her with twin swords in hand.**

 **Penny jumped back, avoiding any follow up, and hit the Act option again. She had to get through to him! Penny clenched her fists and prepared for the gauntlet about to be endured. Jaune swung the blades in a pattern until he slammed the twin swords into the ground, causing them to erupt into a series of stars bursting outward. Penny ducked the stars before jumping over an incoming line of fire balls. She had to hold on to her hope…**

 **As she dodged another attack, she thought back to her first run… When that damn flower, who was apparently Jaune without a soul, took the six human souls. She was able to call out to them from inside his weird form then. She had to hope her friends were still in there somewhere.**

Neptune had to take a moment to really process that. "That's… really weird if you think about it."

Sun shrugged, "Then don't think about it."

"It's not that easy!"

 **Penny jumped to the side just in time to avoid a rainbow-colored bolt of lightning. She was running on empty, but she was getting closer. She could feel it!**

 **Jaune held a hand out before his face fell into a glare. "Enough of this game, Chara. Take this seriously!"**

 **Penny took a breath, hoping to use this as a way out. "I'm** ** _not_** **Chara! My name is Penny! Please! Let's stop the fight and we can…"**

 **"** **SHUT UP!" Jaune growled, his breath hitching in annoyance, "You can't fool me Chara!" After a few breaths, he seemed to calm down a bit. He started to laugh. "Fine… If** ** _that's_** **the game… Then I'll stop holding back." His open palm shifted, his index and middle fingers pressed against this thumb. He snapped his fingers and the world became a void again. Unlike before, however, there was a giant skull-like device in Jaune's place. It seemed to laugh before it started to suck in everything around it. A localized black hole.**

Weiss felt a shiver run up her spine. "That's horrifying."

Ruby tilted her head toward the heiress, "Is it? Seems like any other vacuum thing so far."

Yang shook her head, "A black hole is basically a void of gravity that pulls in everything, crushing it into nothingness. Not even light can escape the pull."

Tai held back a chuckle, "Planning your next pun?"

"Always~"

 **Penny was able to avoid the effects long enough for the world to go white. The vacuum had stopped and she was on her hands and knees. She looked up and her eyes went wide.**

 **Opposite her was a Jaune transformed by immense power and anger. His lower body had reformed as a single, heart-shaped spike. His chest was now glowing with a hollow heart. His arms morphed into a more geometric form. A pair of multicolored wings flowed out from his back. His shoulders stuck out like armor. He resembled a demon! And, weirdly, that symbol from his robe. The Delta Rune… Symbol of the Angel. The Savior or the Killer…**

 **Penny smirked, a mask to hide the dread seeing this form. She'd fallen into the Underground… Perhaps she was the Angel that would 'empty' the world below. The thought filled her with determination. She would save them all… As her thoughts surged, she could feel a strange presence from Jaune. His form was taxing his hold on the souls! She could reach them!**

 **** **Jaune, on the other hand, had other plans. He unleashed a torrent of deathly fire. She was able to dodge the worst of it, but it was an ordeal. She stood back up and clutched her burned arm. She used an item to heal her injuries, but that left her open for attack again. She stayed on her toes enough to keep the damage to an absolute minimum. She returned to her panels and her eyes went wide. The act button had replaced with a blinking green panel labeled [SAVE]. She grinned back toward Jaune struck the panel.**

 **The screen went white, showing four scenes of various faunas-like beings. The first was Montagne and his wife Josephine. The second was the skeletal Yang next to an equally skeletal Ruby. The third was the good Doctor Blake. The final scene showed Ilia, Captain of the Royal Guard.**

Yang snickered, "Doctor Blake, huh?"

Blake rolled her eyes and glanced toward Ilia.

Ilia's eyes were filled with thought. _Captain of the Royal Guard? Can I really achieve a level like that?_

 **After the four scenes, Jaune roared out toward Penny and created a giant fireball. He slammed the attack down and pushed Penny away. It was too late, she'd saved their souls from within him. She just had to find a way to… Her thoughts were cut off when an attack ripped through her and started to crack her soul. The heart snapped in half.**

Penny jumped in her seat. "I… I just…"

"Died." Ironwood took a breath. "We've seen it happen to a few of us by now."

 **The halved heart started to shake and snapped back together. Penny's eyes were glowing. She refused to fall now!**

Tai chuckled, "So… she… re-fused?"

Groans followed and a high five between pun lovers.

 **Penny groaned at the pain and looked to her panels. The Save option was still there.**

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Who's left to save?"

Pyrrha felt a small smile, "Jaune…"

 **Penny opened the option and found Jaune's name in the box. She nodded and looked up toward Jaune. She smiled and pressed the button. "You can still stop this… We can stop fighting.**

 **Jaune's eye twitched, "Shut up. Shut up! SHUT UP!" Jaune unleashed a mass of burning bullets toward Penny, but she just walked through them. Each time her heart cracked, it would re-fuse and she would continue forward.**

 **Penny choose to save Jaune again.**

 **He unleashed another torrent, but fewer bullets flew from his form. It took more hits to crack Penny's soul.**

"He's getting weaker." Ironwood's eyes narrowed.

Salem shook her head and smiled, "He's likely just as powerful, but she's getting to him. She's saving him."

Penny smiled up toward her counterpart, happy to see her fighting for others. No… not fighting. Saving.

 **Penny chose the option again.**

 **Jaune raised his shaky hands, unleashing a set of flames. But Penny avoided the fire by continuing to walk forward.**

 **She chose to save him a fourth time.**

 **Jaune was losing his will to fight. He unleashed a weak fire than avoided Penny as she walked closer. His arms fell soon after. He clenched his teeth before bringing his arms back up and unleashed a powerful blast of rainbow-formed light. Penny's HP stopped at 0.000000001. He couldn't do it. He couldn't kill her…**

 **The world went white again. When they could see again, Penny was standing opposite the version of Jaune in the striped shirt. His head was down, and he was shaking. "I'm… I'm so sorry…"**

 **Penny smiled and took a step closer, only to be confused when he took a step away.**

 **"** **I… I can't excuse what I've done when I had no soul. I… I want to make this right." Jaune turned toward the glowing barrier. He waved his hand and shattered the barrier using the power of the souls he still had within him.**

Yang blinked in surprise, "Well damn! That's crazy power!"

Roman leaned back into his seat, "If really was a god, it's not that surprising."

 **Jaune kept his back to Penny for a moment, "You said… Your name was Penny, right?"**

 **Penny nodded, "Yes."**

 **Jaune turned back to her, "The others… I can feel it in their souls… They care about you a lot. You've made so many friends in the Underground." Jaune smiled sadly. "Please… Take care of them."**

 **Penny stepped forward. She knew that Jaune had died. If he gave up those souls, if he let them go, he'd lose his body. He'd be gone again. She hugged him as he started to fade.**

 **"** **Penny… It was nice to meet you… Goodbye."**

 **That day, a long lost prince was saved by and Angel.**


	41. Let's Play a Little Game

**King: I'm comin' for your pinkies... Nah, I'm kidding. Just wanted to say that given the subject today~ Any who... 1000+ followers~! This is so awesome! So, yeah. Hope you enjoy the chapter today~**

 **Inspiration: Dead by Daylight**

 **/\**

King popped in again. "Okay! So, I've got good news and bad news."

Qrow rolled his eyes. "Start with the bad news. Give us something to look forward to."

"Good point! So! Bad news is the previous world scrambled a few things behind the scenes. If the screen could curl up in a ball, it would rock back and forth muttering the word vines."

Ironwood raised an eyebrow, "So… the good news is an intermission?"

"Nope~ I've been working on a few things in the back and set up a dimensional archiving system! Now, we can revisit reality variations we've seen before. But, that required a bit of work on both of our parts, so I'm going to show a moment that should make it feel better~"

Yang grinned, "Cool."

Raven, however, scoffed. "You treat that thing like a child. Better to assert and make it listen than cave to it."

King was silent, floating in place. "I _want_ to say something, but it's not my place to say it. Tai?"

Tai's eye was twitching. He had something to say, but he wasn't about to get into it with everyone around.

After a while, King sighed. "Alright. But yeah, I'm going to play one from a world with a happy ending; by the screen's standards, anyway. So… be warned. Hopefully, it's not too weird." His disappeared again and started the next world.

 **A white screen gave away to a campfire site with team RWBY sitting around it. Each was going through a pack with various items in each. As each finished their prep work, a check mark appeared over their heads.**

Yang grinned with a raised brow, "So, another video game?"

Ruby tilted her head, "What? Like, camping simulator?"

Cinder was losing patience and seriously considered following Adam out the door.

 **Ruby leaned back, propped up by her arms, "So, who's the killer this time?"**

This got Cinder to pause in her seat. Maybe she'll stick around. Get some new ideas.

Tai chuckled, "So it's a horror game."

 **Weiss crossed her arms in thought. "We don't know yet. Nora may have been the one to challenge us, but she did so for her team. It's possible anyone from JNPR could be our opponent."**

 **Blake tossed a flashlight in hand. "So, what can we expect?"**

 **Weiss pulled up a poster showing a madwoman Nora licking a hammerhead, "First is Nora who plays as a Bludgeon, like Yang. Straightforward and powerful, complete with a charge attack that knocks you down in one hit."**

Nora chuckled seeing her poster, "That looks funny!"

 **Blake pulled another flier showing a ghostly Ren with a dagger in hand. "And Ren plays the Phantom. Stealthy and dangerous. He can turn invisible but can't attack while doing so. Problem is, he's skilled enough at the character that he can manage the timing well enough that it becomes a non-issue."**

Nora was starry eyed, "Ninja Ren~!"

Ren smiled and rolled his eyes.

 **Weiss nodded. "Thankfully, Blake is just as skilled and can call out any possible dangers. The problem is Pyrrha." Weiss pulled out a poster with a pale-skinned version of Pyrrha in a Spartan helmet. "She plays as the Gladiator. Longer range but minimal area of effect. She can also block the flashlight's blinding effects with her shield."**

 **Ruby turned toward Weiss, "What about Jaune?"**

 **Weiss shrugged. "No data. If he plays the game, its not on this version. If I had to guess, he'll play one of the easier options. Bludgeon, Reaper, or Trapper."**

 **Yang groaned, "So, it'll probably be Pyrrha, since Nora challenged our team as a whole. She'll set us up for the worst possible fight, i.e. a playstyle we don't use or know very well. But joke's on them." Yang's grin started to spread to the others, "If Pyrrha really is our opponent, we can fight back."**

 **"** **WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY CAN FIGHT BACK?!"**

 **The scene snapped to show three fourths of team JNPR sitting in their dorm room, Nora standing and shaking a now dizzy Pyrrha.**

Nora's head tilted toward Ren, "Shouldn't we have already figured out who was going in?"

Ren shrugged, "It's either a late realization or this is a deliberate shift in time to show a thematic moment given the phrases just said."

The interdimensional Salem giggled, "It's likely going to explain why Jaune is going to be their opponent."

Yang nodded slowly, picking up speed after a moment, "That makes sense."

 **Jaune walked in with a sandwich in his mouth. He looked between his teammates as he finished off his snack. "Um… Did I miss something?"**

 **Ren sighed, "Nora challenged team RWBY to a game of Murdered by Morning. Problem is, RWBY has been playing as long as we have, so they know all of our strategies and play styles…"**

 **Nora jumped over and grabbed Jaune by his shoulders, "Please, Jaune! Tell me you play the game and that you're really good! We need this win!"**

 **"** **Yeah. But I haven't played anyone new since the Wildlands update."**

 **"** **That's fine! Just plug in and play!"**

Yang chuckled, "So, it's us versus Jaune? We've got this."

Nora hopped up and pointed toward Yang, "Just you watch, Xiao Long! Our fearless leader will totally kick your butts!"

This divided the groups in half depending on who their rooting for. RWBY, Neptune, Sun, Tai, Qrow, the Belladonnas, Seinna, and Ilia (in secret) and Port threw their hats in in favor of the RWBY on screen. Nora, Pyrrha, Ren, Velvet, Coco Glynda, Oobleck, Ozpin, Oscar, and Salem stated for Jaune. Raven and Cinder scoffed, but even the villainous sets were not immune to the dividing.

"I'm telling you, Red and her little friends are annoyingly tough." Roman leaned back in his chair, 'arguing' his case to Neo, who voted for Jaune.

Mercury nodded, "Still, four against one against someone that hasn't played in a while? Guy's doomed."

Emerald rolled her eyes. She agreed, but she'll root for Jaune just to spite Mercury.

 **The screen returned to team RWBY as a text box popped up saying [Dead_of_Knight] appeared.**

 **Yang started to snicker, "Guess it's Jaune, then."**

Yang started to go into a laughing fit. She really hoped she had nothing to do with that name.

 **Yang cracked her knuckles as a checkmark appeared next to his name. "Here we go~"**

Mercury placed his hands behind his head as he leaned back, "So, what do think we'll get for this one?"

Emerald thought for a moment, "Based on the information we gathered, likely a knight based character."

 **The world went white before the team was dropped into an old churchyard with a Western theme.**

Tai smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Well now~"

Ruby groaned. "Aw man…"

Qrow chuckled at his niece's misery. "What? Don't like Westerns?"

Ruby sighed and leaned her head back, "I had to live with two Western nuts for most of my life…"

 **Weiss looked around for a moment. "Alright. Which map is this?"**

 **Blake found a sign and read it aloud, "Hangman's Gulch?"**

 **Yang smacked her fist against an open palm, "Oh! I remember that one! It was in the Wildland's update. A lot of hiding places in the church and a few extra items strewn about the map. I also remember that its trapdoor** ** _has_** **to be one of the gravesites. It's a weird map, but a predictable one. Question is, what Killer did he pick that would make him comfortable with a map like this?"**

 **Her answer appeared as a tumbleweed passed by them all. It was an odd sight, but one that kept their attention long enough not to notice the shadow growing behind them. "Draw." The voice was a very heavy and sunken version of Jaune's. The group turned to see a shambling corpse dressed in Western attire, complete with black Stetson, rusted spurs, and a revolver in his hand.**

This sent a chill up most of their spines. The sight was unnerving, to say the least.

 **Jaune struck Ruby with the butt of his pistol, causing the group to scatter in teams of two. Jaune watched them run off, the gears in his head turning for how to win.**

 **Yang and Ruby ran for a good ways before hiding in the church. Ruby was injured, so one more hit would knock her down. Yang moved to patch her little sister's wounds. Said younger sister was freaking out, "What the heck was that?!"**

 **Yang's eyes narrowed, "The Ghoul. He was released with the Wildlands. Good news is, he's easy to avoid if you know what you're looking for. He attacks with his pistol and if he hits you twice, instead of knocking you down, you get a skill check. Fail, and he kills you on the spot. The more times you get knocked down, the harder it is to dodge him."**

 **A tumbleweed passed by again as Jaune stormed into the church, pistol-whipping Yang. "You can't hide from me."**

"How did he find us?!" Yang was ticked seeing herself get knocked back like that.

Nora was grinning from ear to ear. "Because he's our fearless leader!"

Pyrrha nodded, "He is rather observant in combat and good at analyzing."

Weiss sighed, "His issue is putting it into practice."

 **Yang tried to move quickly, only to hear a striking sound behind her. "Ruby! Watch the…!" She froze seeing Jaune with a knife in his off hand as Ruby fell to the ground. "What the…"**

 **Jaune turned his head toward Yang. He placed the knife away and used said hand to pick Ruby up off the ground and over his shoulder. He walked off with her in tow. Yang ran off after him just in time to see him place Ruby on a meat hook through her shoulder.**

Ruby winced, "Yikes…"

 **Jaune walked off, giving Yang the chance to get Ruby down from the hook. "Damn it. He's running the knife."**

 **Ruby looked up toward her sister, "The what?"**

 **"** **One of the Ghoul's perks. He can replace his speed up option with a knife to use to knock us down normally instead of a quickdraw."**

 **"** **Now, why would I do that?" Jaune was on them again. He knocked Ruby down again with the knife and ran after Yang to strike her with the revolver. Thus began the skill check.**

 **Yang watched as the ring appeared and showed her save zone. She watched the line form and start to round the ring. She pressed her check as it approached the save area… and was off by a millimeter. [Check Failed]. "DAMN IT!" She was silenced when a gunshot rang out and a hole the size of a golf ball appeared in her head.**

Yang roared in annoyance. "Crap!"

Nora giggled, "One down! Three to go!"

 **Ruby was wide eyed on the ground. She looked up to see Jaune grabbing a rope from his belt. "So, back on the hook?"**

 **Jaune shook his head and tossed half the rope over a tree branch.**

 **Ruby chuckled nervously, "You sure?"**

 **Jaune looked down toward her, "Pretty sure, Ruby. I have a special perk that ensures I can just kill you off without risking Weiss or Blake coming back to save you from the hook. So long as you've already been on the hook once and I knock you down again, I can just finish you off."**

 **"** **With a lasso?"**

 **Jaune wrapped a loop in his, "It's not a lasso."**

Ruby took in a sharp breath and rubbed her neck, more than well aware of what he was implying.

Tai chuckled nervously, "At least he's sticking to theme."

 **The screen moved to show Weiss and Blake fixing a generator. They heard the gunshot and looked to their Head's Up Display. "Yang and Ruby are down."**

 **Blake growled a bit, "Damn it."**

 **"** **We need to get moving sooner rather than later. Three more generators and we should…"**

 **Jaune was above them with a glowing eye. He struck Weiss, forcing the two to run off. Unlike the sisters, they ran off in separate directions out of fear. That, or out of strategy. Only one of them has to make it out to win the bet. Jaune's eyes narrowed and he smirked. He already had a plan for this.**

Nora erupted in laughter, "I told you! Our awesome leader already has a plan to beat you guys!"

Yang kicked up onto her seat and glare-smiled toward Nora, "Just you watch! Weiss and Blake will figure out a way to beat Vomit Boy!"

 **Jaune gave chase toward Weiss. Blake wasn't injured and was the more observant of the two. In a way, the greater danger, but she worked best in a team. If he can corner her alone, she'd be out of her usual options. And she did get away, he had a trump card~**

 **Weiss ran through the churchyard, hiding in a small tool shed. She looked out the window, checking to see if Jaune had followed her. To her horror, she didn't find Jaune, but Ruby suspended from a tree. The audience, however, only saw the shadowy reflection on her window.**

Roman recoiled a bit, "That's just gruesome."

Neo nodded.

"The fact we only see a shadow may actually make it worse…"

 **The camera pulled back to show Yang and Ruby as ghosts, looking at the suspended body. Yang crossed her arms, "Now that's just uncalled for…"**

 **"** **It's about to get worse." Ruby pointed toward Jaune approaching Weiss's shed.**

 **"** **And we can't warn her as spectators…"**

 **"** **Nope…"**

 **"** **She's injured."**

 **"** **Yep."**

 **"** **She's going to die."**

 **"…** **UCK!" Weiss appeared next to them in a fit of anger.**

 **"** **Missed the check?"**

 **"** **Shut it, Xiao Long."**

The scene got a few chuckles out of the audience members. It was just a funny scene in a dark humor kind of way. It helped that it was all a videogame and not a real event.

 **Yang lounged in place as a ghost. "Think Blake found the trapdoor now that she's on her own?"**

 **Weiss looked toward the hanging corpse. "I kind of hope not."**

 **"** **What do you mean?"**

 **"** **Jaune is running the knife and the noose. But he gets a third perk. He's playing this character like a pro, so he probably has the Last Draw perk."**

 **Yang's face fell for a moment, "Shit… A Lawman…"**

 **Ruby looked between the two, confused, "Is that bad?"**

 **"** **He's running the Lawman build for the Ghoul. He has the knife, supplements with the noose, and has a last attempt if the last survivor tries to use the trapdoor. They have a skill check to survive a draw. If they fail, they die. The save area is really generous. Problem is, if you don't expect it and mash the buttons…"**

 **The screen changed to show Blake running along the graveyard. The trapdoor was open and in sight. She jumped to reach the escape, missing the check as soon as it arrived. The world went slow motion as the screen swapped to Jaune. He spun around and pointed his pistol toward the graveyard. One pull of the trigger later and the bullet flew through the area, threading the needle that is the crumbling church, and directly into Blake. Blake fell to the ground as the game ended.**

 **[Killer Wins]**

Half the theater erupted in cheers for Jaune's win. The other half groaned.

Yang sprung to Blake's defense, "How is a skill like that fair?!"

Oobleck took a sip form his mug and explained, "The safe area for the 'skill check' constituted nearly half of the circle. If she had been paying attention for it instead of mashing the buttons, she could escape easily."

Port nodded, "The skill is likely used against the novice or the desperate. It stated that Ms. Bellabonna was best in a team. It's likely, after she was alone, she would become more desperate to escape. It's a natural response. Even just to win a game."

Nora let out a jovial laugh, "Eat it Yang!"

Yang grinned, "You think that counted for _us_?! That wasn't us. You want to go?"

"Bring it!"

Ren and Blake had to reangle their partners back before they started a dumb string of competitions.

All the while, King just laughed at their antics.


	42. Attack of the Death Robot: the Musical

**King: Important note! This is based off an adaptation of Undertale created by a group of dedicated and talented fans. The finished product exists on YouTube. If you're looking for the specific tracks used they are "Alphys," "Metal Crusher," part of the "Mettaton Medley," and "Metal Crusher Reprise." I hope you enjoy the show~!**

 **Inspiration: "Undertale: The Musical" by Man on the Internet**

 **/\**

King popped in mid gasping fit, his fire turning blue until he coughed for air. "OH MY GOD, YES!"

Ruby was a little concerned given the track record of King's outbursts. "Um… Are you okay?"

"I am fucking fabulous~! The next round is… Shoot! I can't tell you. That defeats the purpose… Okay! It's a musical one, but also similar to some of the other worlds you've seen. You'll see what I mean here in a sec! Ooh! This is so awesome!" King disappeared and screen started to form again.

 **The screen opened showing a younger Neptune looking at a burning house in the shape of a fish. He took a deep breath and decided to leave the area. The screen faded in and out on his journey until he reached a large lab in a lava-themed area.**

Blake crossed her arms in her seat, "10 Lien says Jaune is the doctor in that lab."

Kali chuckled at her daughter's bet. "I'll take that bet~"

 **As he approached the doors, they opened automatically, allowing him inside. The inner area was dark. What little he could see was of a large screen following him around. There was some kind of work station, but he couldn't make out anything on it beyond the computer and a stack of books. He walked through the darkness and heard something approaching in the distance.**

 **"** **Entry number 3-87-B…"**

Ruby snorted through a laugh, "It's Weiss!"

Kali smirked, "Don't worry Blake, you don't have to pay me in lien. Just… call home… Talk to us, okay?"

Blake took a breath to calm herself down again before answering. "Okay."

 **Weiss walked out of another doorway and turned on the lights, speaking into a personal recorder. This version of Weiss was a reptilian-faunas with a series of scales on her skin. She wore a lab coat and a pair of glasses. Otherwise, she looked like she didn't belong in a lab. The coat was rather long, almost more of a dress, and she was barefoot! "Progress report… not a lot. Cameras picked up interesting material, but it doesn't look like the human is going to…" She turned and locked up seeing Neptune had entered her laboratory while she was away from the monitor.**

 **Neptune was just as surprised as Weiss. He just waved, not sure what to say.**

 **"** **Oh my God, a human… You've come here so soon, and this place is such a mess! I barely got dressed! Oh… the cameras are watching… Weiss! Stop that staring! You don't want to scare them!" She was going into a spiral of emotions and anxiety fueled by Neptune's sudden presence. "Come on Weiss, don't be weird!"**

Yang laughed seeing Weiss fall over herself like that, "Too late~!"

Weiss just scoffed and crossed her arms in indignation.

 **Weiss turned back to Neptune, "So! I'm Weiss. Hi! I'm not a bad guy! I can be like a guide! 'Cause I'm the Royal Scientist! I know this place! I've kind of been watching you… Seeing a human move through with attitude filled me confidence! Not at your expense…"**

 **All the while they could hear a rather… quirky song in the background. Then the singing began in earnest.**

 **"** ** _I'll take you to the castle. It would be no hassle, know what I mean?_** **"**

Ruby smiled, "At least Weiss is still helpful and nice."

The vote of confidence made Weiss smile a bit. _It's nice to be appreciated~_

 **"** ** _Well… there's a little issue. See, I made an artificial killing machine…_** **"**

This got everyone to pause for a moment.

Blake was the first to speak after the pause, "She what?"

 **"** ** _There's no need to worry, though! You have right here so, you'll survive his rage!_** **"**

Yang chuckled, "Please. Let Jaune be the killer robot! I feel like I need this!"

King reappeared for a moment, "You and me both~"

 **"** ** _Though I'll lead from the rear, I'll still be here, even when Metta-Jaune steals the stage!_** **"**

Yang clasped her hands and held up like she'd been praying, "Thank you~!"

Ruby laughed at the name, "Metta-Jaune? That just sounds funny."

Penny smiled. Technically, she was an artificial being as well and _could_ be classified as a killing machine. But she just wanted to help people and save them from Grimm and other monsters, so it was kind of a grey area.

 **The screen shook and the two jumped a little. Weiss's face started to blush with embarrassment, "Um… sorry, hang on…"**

 **The wall behind them burst open showing a box-like robot with arms and a single wheel. One arm was up and waving while the other held a microphone. "Here's Metta-Jaune!"**

Mercury snickered, "That's the robot? Thing looks more like a microwave."

 **"** **Metta-Jaune, no!"**

 **"** **Metta-Jaune, YES~!**

 **Thus, began Jaune's first number, complete with a spotlight.**

 **"** ** _So welcome back to this metal attack! With a human losing their soul tonight! That's a fact! They cannot scream! They cannot hope or dream! Tonight's proceedings do not work like that!_** **"**

 **"** **I'm so sorry!"**

 **"** ** _Good doctor, do not be! It's the chance of lifetime to get to see me~_** **"**

Roman raised an eyebrow with a smirk, "Full of himself, then?"

Qrow finished a sip from his flask, "Nah… I've seen the type before. He's an entertainer. Always on stage and hyping himself up."

"That makes sense."

Ruby turned to her uncle, "Since when were you on good terms with Roman Torchwick?"

Qrow just laughed it off, "You really get to know a guy when you drink together."

 **"** ** _Now sit down little one~ This is going to be fun~ You'll be a star! Then you'll burn like one!_** **"**

Neptune groaned, "He might be trying to kill me, but that was a good line."

 **"** ** _Now let's see~ my name in lights, my dear~ You'll wish you'd be up there with me! Hope you put up a good fight, my dear~! No one's stopped this… celebrity~!_** **"**

 **Weiss ran over beside Neptune, as if to shield him slightly, "** ** _Please keep calm! There's no cause for alarm! He's a really sweet guy! Though he means you harm…_** **"**

 **"** ** _I've got style! I've got grace! Now get out of my face! For it won't be long until you buy the farm! Don't even try, 'I am swell guy.'_** **"**

 **"** **I just don't think it's right to make a little kid cry!"**

 **"** ** _No asked to Ms. Schnee! We're rolling! Quiet please! It's the role of a lifetime, tonight they die! Now please~ Don't be afraid, my dear. You're swell. You're fab~ And I'm beauty~ They'll throw me a huge parade, my dear! Once machinery kicks your booty!_** **"**

 **Weiss groaned a little at her robot creation. "Okay, okay… Just… calm down. I built Metta-Jaune. I know how to work around him. All you have to do is…"**

 **But Jaune cut her off, "Ah! Ah! Doctor! No cheating!** ** _No! No! No! dear doctor, it's my show. And we can't have you interfere! Stick around! Come and watch tonight's show! Same time! Same channel! I'll be here!_** **" Jaune flipped the mic in his hand retracted his arms, "Come call me when you want** ** _actual_** **dramatic tension. Have a nice pilot! Goodbye~!" Jaune rolled off and out the hole in the wall he created.**

Yang and Ruby were in a laughing pile. Yang took a few breaths to allow her to speak again, "Oh my gods! Never in my life have I needed something so much and never known it until today! If he uses 'darling' as a general address to someone, I'm done~!"

 **Weiss just watched her greatest creation leave through the hole in her lab. "Well… That happened. Give me a sec to get some boots and I'll lead you to the CORE. From there, you can reach the capital."**

 **Once they were set, the two set out to a rather fast paced tune. Within the lyrics, the audience could hear references to a performance from Weiss. They also learned that this version of Weiss was a total dork and likely a shut in. As the two approached a new hall, she took in a breath through her teeth, "Looks a bit… darker than it should be. I'll go back and hack the systems back on. Be right back!" Weiss ran off to fix the lights.**

 **Neptune was on his own as a new tune started playing. A chorus of unseen faunas could be heard singing, "** ** _This is the place, where the fame is everything! Everyone wants to touch. Everyone wants to see. We live in a world where celebrities are kings. Where the more people want, the more given-out things!_** **"**

Neptune thought for a moment, "I almost feel like that could be a commentary of our obsessions with the famous…"

Pyrrha, being one of those famous people, knew just how bad people could get. It was more than a little scary at times…

 **"** ** _Everyone quiet! It's the show from Metta-Jaune! He's the Undergrounds, number one and rising star! He is simply, the most incredible machine! He brings amazing days to our own TV screens._** **"**

 **The lights shined to show Metta-Jaune dressed in a red suit at a news desk. "Good evening beauties and gentle-beauties~"**

This got another laugh out of Yang.

 **"** **This is Metta-Jaune, coming to you live from MTJ headquarters! We now go live to our correspondent in the field, Weird Child~** ** _Smile for the camera, you're on TV! Go out and find me something newsworthy~!_** **In the meantime, I think I'll share an old family recipe~"**

 **The screen changed to show Jaune and Neptune at the set of a cooking show. "** ** _Don't touch that dial~ Put on a smile~ Tonight we make~ A special cake~ Sugar, milk, and precious eggs! We'll make this cake, so use them legs!_** **"**

Nora chuckled, "Ren! I kind of want some cake now~"

Ren took a deep breath. "Perhaps when we get back."

"Okay~!"

 **"** ** _Looks like they're on that shelf. Wonderful~! Here's to your health! Oh! Wait a moment, how could I forget? There's one ingredient that we haven't gotten yet~_** **" Metta-Jaune started to pull a chainsaw from under his desk. "** ** _We merely need a human soul~ Mix it in the bowl~_** **"**

 **Neptune was able to escape the chainsaw and was being filmed again as the news correspondent.**

 **"** ** _Luckily we have a human on hand~ Let's go back to that report in Hotland~! Oh my! Human please be calm! You found a bomb!_** **Or rather, you found a whole bunch of 'em~ You get a bomb! You get a bomb! Everybody gets a bomb~! Welp! I better evacuate the set~! Good luck!" Jaune's wheel retracted and he flew of like a rocket.**

 **The following scene was a romp through a castle-like setting complete with the robo-Jaune playing the part of a Juliet-like figure (complete with dress over his rectangular figure). At the end, a series of flames threatened to engulf Neptune, but stopped just before they reached him.**

 **"** **Careful~ They're about to cook you alive~!" After a moment, the fires weren't moving. Time passed. Robotic cough. Then Weiss burst though and shut down the flamethrowers. Jaune flew off, 'defeated.'**

Tai tapped his fingers across his chair, "Starting to think this isn't on the up and up…"

Port chuckled, "That was pretty obvious."

 **Neptune and Weiss entered the CORE, but it was becoming clear Weiss was lost. "This doesn't look like my map at all… Oh! Dang it, Weiss! You screwed it up again… I can't turn off the lasers! I'm a screw up! A failure! I'm just slowing you down!" Weiss ran off in frustration, leaving Neptune alone.**

 **Neptune didn't have time to dwell as more faunas started to rush him, trying to capture his soul. He ran off to an elevator and found himself in a new hallway. He walked up to find Metta-Jaune waiting for him.**

 **"** **There you are, darling."**

Yang gasped and threw her arms into the air, "YES! BEST REALITY EVER!"

 **"** **It's time to have our little showdown. It's finally time to stop the 'malfunctioning' robot. … NOT! Malfunction? Get real! This was all just a big show! An act. Weiss has been playing you for a fool the whole time. As she watched you on the screen, she grew attached to your adventures. She decided to insert herself into the story. Reactivating puzzles and pitting me against you, only to swoop in and save the day!"**

Sun nodded, "Okay, so she's not evil, just lonely?"

Neptune shrugged, "So it would seem…"

Weiss knew what it was like to be alone, but to go that far? How desperate for companionship was this version?

 **"** **All so you would think she's the great person that she's not…"**

Roman winced, "Harsh~"

 **"** **And now it's time for her finest hour. As we speak, she's waiting behind that door to come in and 'deactivate' me. Hoping you would be so enamored with her that you would stay rather than continue your journey to the King. Or not. You see, I've had enough of this predictable charade."**

Ruby tilted her head, "Who says charade like that?"

Yang was still trying to get over Jaune's demeanor, "He does, apparently~!"

 **"** **I have no desire to harm humans. Far from it~ My only desire is to entertain! After all, the audience deserves a good show, don't they?!"**

 **A reprise of his first song started to play as he spoke.**

 **"** ** _So now you know, it was all a big show! She played you for a fool and me as your foe! And all this danger it has been arranged by the dear doctor herself~_** **"**

 **Weiss peaked in from the door behind Jaune, "No! No! No!"**

 **"** ** _But she forgot there's a twist in the plot~!_** **" He snapped his fingers and door slammed shut.**

 **"** **Oh my God! I'm locked out!"**

 **"** ** _The efforts for naught! We will drive you wild with the death of this child, here tonight on Attack of the Death Robot!_** **"**

 **"** **Human! Please! I didn't mean it!"**

 **"** ** _Please! You've run that excuse to the ground! Stop the drivel! We've already seen it!_** **"**

 **"** **Trust me, just turn him around!"**

 **"** ** _Now I will achieve perfection! Save the faunas, the humans, me~ Take my life into a new direction~_** **" Neptune was able to distract him saying a mirror was behind him, saying he had to look good for his big moment. "** ** _Hang on. Is that a mirror I see!_** **" Jaune turned around, revealing a switch on his back.**

 **Neptune flipped the switch and music suddenly stopped.**

Weiss sighed, "It is absolutely ridiculous that that works."

Winter shrugged, "I've seen more than a few entertainers that _would_ act like that. Especially in Atlas."

 **Jaune was silent a moment before speaking. "Did you. Just flip. My switch?" Jaune spun back around and his body started to spasm, his circuits going into overload.**

Penny winced a little. She'd experienced an overload once before and it was a painful experience. It was like her whole body was running at 200%, but she had the capabilities of 0%. Her 'muscles' felt like they were burning through her skin and everything felt like it was on fire. Not a fun experience.

 **After a moment, Jaune's body erupted in steam and smoke. A spotlight fell on the smoke. "** ** _Oh... yes~_** **"**

Chills went up Pyrrha and Velvet's spines. Something in cadence of those two little words…

 **Jaune spoke though the smoke layer, "Ohhh my~ If you flipped my switch, that can only mean one thing. You're desperate for the premier of my** ** _new body_** **~"**

Mercury raised an eyebrow, "So, the microwave got an upgrade?"

 **"** **How rude… But, lucky for you, I've been aching to show this off for a while now~ So, as thanks, I'll give you a handsome reward~ I'll make your last living moments…"**

 **The smoke cleared, revealing Jaune's new body. It was the kind that people would kill for, but in an androgynous state. Handsome face and toned physique (though he's a robot, so slightly cheating there) but with a pseudo hourglass figure and a pair of legs like** ** _bam_** **! He 'dressed' in a white body suit with a golden chest plate and matching boots. It was the kind of thing that left you questioning so much about yourself, but you didn't care. You'd tune in just to see him whenever you got the chance~**

 **"** **Absolutely beautiful~!"**

This elicited a few reactions in the crowd. Yang went into another fit of laughter, seeing a Jaune that finally fit the mannerisms of the version. Pyrrha and Velvet cooled down, more confused than anything. The motherly Salem chuckled to herself and found the situation rather entertaining. Then again, that was the point, wasn't it?

 **"** **Hit it!"**

 **The heart and panels appeared in front of Neptune with a textbox reading, [Metta-Jaune EX makes his premiere!].**

Ruby perked up, "Oh! It's like the worlds from before where Jaune was the King or the dead prince! But with music. Got it."

 **An upbeat, jazzy number started to play. It was show time~!**

 **Jaune smirked and raised a finger to the sky, "Lights~ Camera~ Action~!"**

 **Cheers erupted from around them as the people of Hotland gathered around them like an audience for the fight.**

 **"** **Are you alive, Hotland?!" This got a cheer from the faunas around them, "I can't hear you~!" Jaune chuckled before turning back to Neptune, "Let's Dance~"**

 **(King: Okay, I'm stopping the actual source here, since I've already used a lot of it… I'm moving passed the fight and the Death by Glamour number. I don't want to! God damn, I love that song. But I need to make a call here.)**

 **The group watched on as Neptune and Jaune 'fought' before the crowd. Halfway through the fight, Neptune caught on to what the audience enjoys. He used that to his advantage, posing dramatically and acting as the heel. Metta-Jaune was their hero, so why not play the bad guy? As they fought, the ratings climbed higher and higher over time. Soon, the ratings broke 10,000, but Metta-Jaune was reduced to just a torso and a head. He didn't seem all that bothered, being robotic.**

Weiss tried to hold back a giggle fit seeing Neptune posing like that.

Sun wrapped an arm over his friend's shoulders, "So, Neptune. Weird seeing someone cooler than you?"

Neptune shrugged, "It… doesn't really bother me that much."

"Since when?"

"The dance, mostly…"

 **Metta-Jaune gasped at the numbers he'd received, hitting a call-in milestone. As he took calls, the first of which was his cousin that he'd left behind to pursue his career. Though said cousin didn't know it was him under the robotic body. He hated leaving him behind like that… The rest of fans calling in had similar reactions. They all expressed sorrow that Metta-Jaune was supposedly leaving. They'd loved watching him. He inspired them, and they inspired him. If Metta-Jaune could cry, he'd rust in seconds hearing them like that.**

 **Jaune took in a breath. "Perhaps… it might be best if I stay here a while. Humans already have so many stars and idols… But the faunas down here… they only have me. If I left, the Underground would lose its spark. I'd leave an aching void that could never be filled." His speech was starting to garble and crack. "It's probably for the best, anyway… You see… this form's energy consumption is inefficient. In a few moments, I'll be out of battery power and… Well… I'll be alright. Knock 'em dead, Darling~" Jaune's eyes darkened as his energy reserve finally gave out.**

 **The last thing they heard in that reality was Weiss's voice. "** ** _Don't worry. He's just out of batteries… And missing all his limbs… I'll have him fixed up in no time._** **"**

Ruby smiled, "At least they _can_ fix him…"

Penny had a similar reaction to her friend. She remembered the first version she'd seen and how the robotic Jaune died, unable to be reborn or repaired. It was nice to know there was a happy ending still out there.

Yang was finally starting to come down from her laughter induced high, "That was incredible~!"


	43. The Last Word

**King: First real "Part 2"! And now that I have that archiver, expect some more from the same realities. I'm still going to show new, but some of these have more stories to tell... Closure to find... This was a long time coming... Let's get right into it I guess...**

 **Inspiration: Destiny 2**

 **/\**

King popped back in for a moment before the next reality loaded in. "Alright. I'm in a good mood~ So, let's test out the archive. This one… needs some closure. But… that's kind of hard to do due to… circumstances… But I found a loophole, of sorts… Hope you…" He stopped himself as disappeared.

Port's eyes narrowed (somehow), "Closure, huh?"

 **The screen opened, showing a robotic version of Ruby leaning to the side behind a quartermaster's counter. "Memory isn't what it used to be… But I'll never forget Jaune…"**

Penny smiled. "It's rather odd seeing friend Ruby as a robot."

Ruby chuckled, away of Penny's robotic situation, "I'll bet."

 **Ruby shook her head, "Never forget Jaune… And thinking that the Ace is in the hands of that… bastard Mercury…"**

At the mention of both 'Ace' and 'Mercury,' the groups started to understand the closure to come. This was the same world where they saw Jaune-6 die and Neo swear vengeance against his killer. Many in the audience hoped to see Neo finally take that asshole down.

 **"** **If anyone deserves the Ace, it's you…"**

 **The scene faded to show Jaune's signature cannon on the ground. It was scratched to hell and looked older than dirt.**

 **Ruby's voice carried through the moment, "** ** _But you've got to promise me something…_** **"**

 **A gloved hand reached down to pick up the Ace. The camera followed the gun to show Neo looking down at the piece. Her eyes moved to track her target. Mercury Black was injured and lying on the ground. She walked over and pointed the cannon straight toward him.**

Neo smirked. She _would_ have her revenge, after all~

 **"** ** _Put… Mercury… in the ground._** **"**

 **The screen snapped to black with an accompanying gunshot.**

Neo clapped her hands together in satisfaction.

Yang groaned, "I hate to agree with the sentient ice cream cone… But I'm glad she was able to get Mercury back for what he did."

Ozpin was melancholy. "Vengeance may be a nice, short-term sensation, it doesn't change anything…" He'd seen too many people ruin their lives in pursuit of revenge. He hoped his students won't fall victim to the same demons.

 **The black screen persisted as Ruby continued to speak, "** ** _I haven't seen the Ace this bad since…_** **" She sighed at the memory. One she wanted to leave in the past. "** ** _I can fix her up good as new. No… Better than new. I owed Jaune too much as it is. I can do this at least. Get me the parts, and we'll get her firing again. Probably left the parts in one of his famous caches. Find them and bring them to me._** **"**

 **The scene returned, showing Neo arrive at an old archology. "Okay… Let's find that cache." Neo owed a lot to Jaune as well. He may have been cocky, sarcastic, and a total smartass, but he was like the heart of the Last City. He was a beacon of joy in terrible times. Neo's fist clenched tighter and she started to walk into the old archive.**

Velvet smiled, "He _would_ be the person to perk everyone back up."

Everyone could feel the heavy atmosphere around Neo's journey. But none of them were prepared for what happened next.

 **Neo jumped up onto a nearby ledge and found a cache hidden away. She pulled out a suitcase-like design and opened the item. A small metallic 'ting' signaled the release of a pin.**

Winter's eyes narrowed, "A trapped cache?"

Ironwood shook his head, far too experienced with the sound of trapped explosives or grenades. "This is something else."

 **Then, they heard a voice from the case, "** ** _This one is for Glynda Goodwitch._** **"**

Glynda closed her eyes and sighed. "They're final death messages. One last word to whoever found the cache. But I don't know why _I_ am refenced."

 **"** ** _If you're listening to this, you killed me! I assume you became like… a Hive death goddess or something and fed to your worm cult._** **" Jaune shuddered in the recording. "** ** _That, or you finally got sick of me. That said, if you didn't kill me and still somehow hear this, I'm sorry for stealing your ship. And… pretty much every other interaction we've had. But to be clear! If you DID kill me, I do NOT apologize, and I will consider my actions 100 percent justified! Either way, feel free to do… whatever you do with my maps. I sure don't need them anymore._** **"**

Ozpin tried to stifle his laughter. He could see Glynda becoming a death goddess with a cult.

Glynda groaned. A part of her almost felt like that message could have come from Ozpin… Granted, he was far more professional…

 **Neo took the recording and closed the cache. A part of her wanted to take it back to Glynda... But right now, she had a job to do. She jumped along the upper rafters to find another cache. She popped it open, this time expecting the recording to play.**

 **"** ** _This one is for that armless coward, Cardin the Scarred!_** **"**

Velvet growled a bit hearing his name. She hated Cardin with a vengeance. But she didn't think he'd _kill_ Jaune… but she sure as hell wanted to break Cardin's legs.

 **"** ** _If you're hearing this… you killed me. But I bet I took a big chunk of your sorry husk with me. I got my share of regrets… but I think not getting to put a bullet in you is up in the top three. Won't be long before a better guardian than me comes along and puts you in your place. Just wish I could be there to see it._** **"**

 **Neo grinned a little. She remembered Cardin and more than happy to have put him down. It was a somber memory, given the current circumstances. She took a breath and grabbed the recording.**

Velvet felt a little better knowing Cardin didn't kill Jaune in this reality. _Their_ Cardin was a racist ass but didn't deserve to die. This Cardin sounded like he was more than a little worse.

 **Neo jumped to the next cache nearby.**

 **"** ** _This one goes to Roman Torchwick. Our resident Drifter._** **"**

This got Roman's attention. Apparently, he knew the kid in this reality. Neo wasn't sure what to consider given it was like there were two Roman's then… But she ran with it.

 **"** ** _You did warn me running with you was going to put a target on my back. Guess I'm in good company, huh? After all, never had any fun without a little risk. That's the idea of that operation you're putting together, right? MY idea, by the way! Had that idea like… a million years ago! Back when you were still handsome._** **"**

If Neo could make a noise, laughter would fill the room.

Roman smirked, "Now that's just uncalled for."

 **"** ** _So, you know, you're welcome. Granted, setting that up will put you back on the map and back in the sights of you-know-who. Hope I was around to see that showdown! Personally, my money would be on the guy with the Golden Gun. But, hey, what do I know? I'm dead._** **"**

 **Neo met the Drifter Roman recently and decided to take the recording back to him, if only to see his reaction. She heard a roar sound through the halls as Hive started to climb up from the floor. She grabbed her hand cannon and leveled the creatures in her way. It was a nice catharsis after everything she'd been through. When she was done, she jumped to another cache and opened it.**

 **"** ** _Pyrrha…_** **"**

Pyrrha stiffened in her seat. She remembered that she and Jaune were friends in this reality. Or, at least, allies. It was odd to hear she had a cache.

 **"** ** _if you're listening to this, you killed me. Maybe the Royals of the Reef decided they were sick of me? If it was the Queen, Cinder, I guess I understand. You were always a glutton for chivalry. But if it was Mercury, I'm pissed. Just thinking about that peacock gives me a headache. But, I'm betting my death had something to do with your famous collateral damage. You're a do-gooder – but a good deed never goes unpunished with you around. You just… You've got a blast radius, P._** **"**

Pyrrha clenched her fists. She knew she wasn't the one to kill him in this reality, but it hurt that she _could_ have been. That she, apparently, hurt people despite helping them… That was hard to hear, but it would make her more careful.

 **Neo hopped off and jumped to another cache. "How many of these things does he have?"**

 **"** ** _This one goes out to the people of Atlas Military Research. You think just because you made me, you can un-make me? I get it. Got to protect those precious secrets. But you better hope I never told anyone else about what you've done. I may be dead, but you haven't heard the last of me._** **"**

Penny was conflicted. On one hand, this almost made this version of friend Jaune like her brother, having also been made by the AMR. But he was also dead… And Atlas seemed to have more than a few skeletons in the closet.

 **Neo jumped off to another cache and opened the casing.**

 **"** ** _Here's one for Blake Belladonna._** **"**

Blake blinked in surprise. It was weird to think she would be responsible for killing Jaune. At least, not any more…

 **"** ** _You know, when I told my Ghost I was making one of these for you, she laughed. I didn't have to tell you that. Just wanted to make you feel bad. In my defense, if you're hearing this, you killed me. If it was a fair fight, I know I'd win hands down. But I see the look in your eyes, plotting some convoluted trap. Some call it paranoia, I call it 'being a Hunter'." So, here's your next Hunter lesson: looking after your own. Speaking of, congratulations~! You are now the proud owner of the Colonel!_** **"**

 **Neo let out a somber laugh. She remembered the chicken Jaune had taken in during the Red War.**

 **"** ** _She only eats sesame seeds muesli and drinks purified spring water sprig of parsley. Play nice you two~_** **"**

Blake sighed, "He gave me a chicken?" She tried to diffuse the emotional timebomb welling the room, to no true avail.

 **Neo took a breath before moving to the next area. She had to find the cache with the parts… She located another case and opened the lid.**

 **"** ** _This one if for any Hunter that takes me down. Best guess, Emerald Sustrai._** **"**

Emerald raised an eyebrow. Then she realized that she was one of the ones with the capes in that world. She found idea absurd, but chose not to say anything at the time.

 **"** ** _You realize that you get my stuff right? ALL of my stuff. That includes the Hunter Vanguard gig. Yeah! Congra-tu-lations, dummy. That's what we call the Vanguard Dare. Sucks, doesn't it? Brace yourself for some advice, hotshot. One, know your people. Like my Nessus scout, Fox Alistair. I like to call in once a moon, otherwise he gets a little too much Night, not enough Stalker. You get me? Two! Keep your weapons sharp. Your job is to watch everyone's backs. That means no one's watching_** **your** ** _back but you._** **"**

Qrow winced and uncapped his flask, "No wonder the guy's so paranoid…"

Roman glanced toward Neo. "It's easy to lose it without someone watching your back…"

Neo heard him but didn't let him know by responding.

 **"** ** _And three! Think about what you want to do for your successor's Vanguard Dare. 'Cause trust me kid, this job will kill ya~_** **"**

 **Neo made her way down the hall to another cache, hidden in the ceiling. She opened the case within seconds, almost automatically.**

 **Jaune was laughing, "** ** _Oh! I'm sorry. I just… Hahahaha! I can't help but imagine how awkward this is for you!_** **"**

Nora giggled a little at her leaders laughing, "Okay. So who is this one for?"

 **Jaune started to calm down again. "** ** _Right! Right… Let's try this again. Ren…_** **"**

Nora's giggling stopped on a dime.

 **"** ** _I'm dead. You killed me. You get my stuff. No more working me over at chess. No more getting worked over in poker. For real, though. I'm more than well aware if you killed me, it was 'for the good of the City.' I get that. No hard feelings. I'm serious! None. I've known you long enough now to know that you wouldn't kill me unless I presented a clear and present danger to the City and/or its people. You're way too patient to let me ever get to you. You're… You're like the brother I never had… Look at me. Getting sappy in a death cache!_** **" The message cut off there.**

Ren was a visage of calm on the outside. But within, he was breaking. Jaune had called him the same thing when he asked for advice. In a way, the two really were almost like brothers these days… Hearing the message hurt in its own way.

 **Neo's body shook. These were getting more and more personal… She took a breath and kept moving. Another cache found. Another case opened.**

 **"** ** _Hi, Weiss…_** **"**

Weiss blinked in shock. She remembered her in this reality being the one willing to rain hell on Mercury for killing Jaune.

 **Jaune took a breath. "** ** _So… you'll know I'm making a bunch of these. Probably told you about it. Truth be told, this was the easiest to make. If we're being honest, I could never tell if you liked me or not. But… in the event you did hate me… the feeling was certainly NOT mutual._** **"**

Weiss's fingers tightened around her armrest. She never hated Jaune. Even during his obnoxious attempts to flirt with her, she never hated him.

 **"** ** _If we did fight… One, I know you'd kick my ass to Tuesday. Second… I know you'd be in the right. So… thanks, I guess. You were a… a good friend. Better than a guy like me deserved. Thanks, Weiss… For everything._** **"**

Weiss was shaking in her seat. This was hard to hear. Despite his glowing praise, it was somber. Spoken in a way that she never wanted to hear again.

 **Neo took a deep breath. Her Ghost told her there's a strange signal coming from the end of the hall. One last cache. Neo slowly walked out onto a walkway. She found a cache hidden off to the side and opened the case slowly. "The last few were pretty personal. Who was more personal to him than Ren and Weiss?"**

 **** **Then it began. "** ** _Last one… For the strong, silent type. Neo!_** **"**

 **Neo's breath hitched.** ** _Why would…_** **?**

 **"** ** _I always knew you'd outdo me one day! I'm pretty proud of that, actually. I mean, yeah… I'm probably dead if you're hearing this… If you had to be the one to take me down… Eh. You saved my life on Nessus. Figure I owe it to you anyway._** **" Jaune sighed. She could practically hear the smile on his face. "** ** _All I ask, is that you take care of the Ace of Spades. I don't mean maintenance, Ruby can help you with that… I mean… 'Take care' of Ace. Use it well. And if you find the papers from my previous… deployments. Burn them. Don't want people poking through the lives of Jaune 0 through 5, right?_** **" Jaune paused. "** ** _So just… put it all behind you. Every story has an end… This is mine._** **"**

 **Neo found the parts inside the case. She picked them up and revealed a small set of photos. Some showed Jaune in the early days of the Vanguard alongside Ren and Weiss. One in particular caught her eye. It was the aftermath of the Red War. He had treated Neo to a grand party out on the town, celebrating her part in defeating the Red Legion that attacked the City.**

 **Jaune really was the heart of the Last City. And now he was gone.**

 **"** ** _Oh! And the photos… Just… let it go. No need to hold onto stuff that don't matter anymore… Other than Ren and Weiss… You're probably the closest thing to friend I have… had… Damn it, Jaune! Don't do this now!_** **" He took a breath. "** ** _Know what? I'm dead, so it doesn't matter. Tear them, burn them, keep them, do whatever. Just promise me something. A dead man's last wish… Be the best damn Hunter… No! Best damn Guardian this galaxy ever saw! Think you can do that?_** **" Jaune's recording cut off there.**

 **Neo's face was shrouded by shadows. She closed the casing and sent the entire thing, through the transmat system, back to the City. She stood up and started to walk off. The space just in front of the cache's previous location was now adorned with small droplets.**

 **The screen ended the run there.**

King popped back in to a somber scene. No one wanted to say anything. No one had the drive… "I guess an intermission is in order…"


	44. Need Healing!

**King: Oh my God. Favorited by JC of the Corn! I think he started this movement of reacting to Jaune-based worlds. If not, he's the famous one everyone credits. This is big for me. But you're not here for me to gush or brag... You're here for a fic chapter. So, enjoy~!**

 **Inspiration: Team Fortress 2**

 **/\**

The intermission was rather uneventful. It was used to let everyone cool down from the last reality. When everyone was level headed again, they returned to their seats. The screen came to life, an escape to another realm.

 **The scene opened to an old valley. A rocky land with dead trees and a lot of moss on the cliff face. A single crow hopped along one of the large boulders, its head darting around. An explosion rocked the ground, the crow flew off, and a pair of mercenaries jumped down from the rocks. The first was Neptune in a red shirt and cargo pants with running shoes. The second being Yang with an eyepatch, demolition gear, and stuck in a wheelchair with a cast on her right arm.**

 **Neptune slid down the rock, "Move cyclops! Move!"**

 **Then the rain of fire and bombs came into view, crashing down around them as they ran. One round landed near Neptune's foot, causing him to fly forward and onto the ground. He clutched his gut and looked up toward the sky to see three artillery rounds falling toward him.**

 **"** **WOAH! WHO THE…?!" His yell was cut off by an explosion powerful enough to send him flying. He seemed to impact the screen, cracking the glass. "Medic…"**

Ironwood was beside himself, "How is he still alive?! Three artillery shells should have reduced him to chunks and puddles at best!"

Ozpin was about to sip from his coffee, but lost his willingness to drink, "That's rather morbid, James…"

"Morbid, but reality! Those shells should have _destroyed_ him! How is he still alive?!"

 **An answer, they would not have. But Neptune peeled off the glass as a dove appeared on the inside, just in front of the audience. The camera pulled back and into what was either a laboratory or a makeshift medical center.**

 **"** **No! No more!" They could hear Coco crying out from the central area within.**

Velvet felt a shiver run up her spine. Coco was easily the strongest person she knew. To reduce her to crying out like that… What horrible things must be happening?!

 **Then they heard Coco's laughter.**

Velvet felt better but was now confused.

 **"** **Wait! Wait… It gets better!" Jaune's voice echoed next to her.**

 **The screen finally showed them both. Coco was lying on a medical chair, her lower torso cut open, but she didn't seem to mind. Dressed in a dark ballistic vest and red shirt with military slacks and boots, Coco showed signed of the fighting outside with bullet holes and some cuts. Jaune, who dressed in a white shirt, tan vest, similar military slacks, and a pair of rounded glasses, was standing next to her with her** ** _actual_** **heart in his hand. A strange device sat above them with a strange red energy flowing out.**

Coco felt her eye twitch. "How… How in the hell…?"

Velvet blinked in shock. "Her heart… But…"

No one could even begin to understand how she was alive right now.

 **Jaune continued his story speaking with a distinct accent, "When ze patient woke up, his skeleton was missing! And ze doctor was never heard from again!" Jaune burst out into laughter at the end.**

 **Coco took a moment, processing the end, then followed suit soon after, slamming her palm into the side table.**

Now it was Yang's turn to be bewildered, "What kind of punchline was that?! What's the story? What kind of joke would lead to that?" A small paper ball hit the back of her head and tumbled over into her lap. Inside was written, [It's called dark humor, Blondie. -N]. Yang turned to see Neo deliberately ignoring her.

 **As the two started to calm down, Jaune placed his hand on his forehead as he leaned onto the table. "Anyway… That's how I lost my medical license."**

This got Neo and Roman to burst into laughter. Well… half of that is true, anyway. But laugh they did. They clearly recognized that both as a truth and the punchline to outsiders.

Coco was a little mad, "What do you mean you lost your medical license?! No wonder I'm cut open, and you're doing NOTHING!"

Yang had a nervous smile on, "I think this is the first time you've gotten invested and not commented on outfits."

"Because I'm quite literally spilling my guts on that table!"

 **The screen was now close enough to see to that Jaune wasn't wearing gloves, at that his red hands were actually covered in Coco's blood.**

Velvet felt sick. So much was wrong with that if Jaune was the medic Neptune had asked for.

 **A dove popped up from Coco's open gut, catching both of their attentions.**

 **"** **Archimedes! No!" Jaune waved off the bird, "It's filthy in zere. Uck." When Coco turned to him, he let out a little chuckle, "Birds…"**

Raven and Qrow felt a little attacked, having often been the birds that got that reaction. But, they let it go almost immediately, the initial reaction being one of habit.

 **Jaune grabbed a device with three prongs from another tray, "Now… Most hearts can't withstand zis voltage." He stuck the device into Coco's heart.**

Coco clutched at her chest, "Good gods, what is that thing?"

 **Jaune reached to the side to grab the energy spewing device which was a proto-type Medigun, a long-range energy transfer device capable of healing injuries and repairing all damage. By keeping the device on Coco, she would be able to survive without her heart as the Medigun will regulate her internal biology.**

Coco paused her ranting. "That's… actually kind of cool… and explains why I'm not dead…"

 **Jaune turned to the side and placed Coco's heart with attached device into the stream, "But I'm fairly certain** ** _your_** **heart should…" Bang! Coco's heart exploded on contact with the beam. A chunk of said organ flew off and smacked Archimedes off a perch with two other doves.**

Coco froze with a similar shocked expression to the Jaune on screen.

Roman chuckled a little, "No one told me the kid was real _heartbreaker!_ "

Yang wanted to kick herself. She didn't think of that one… But it was also kind of dark and that wasn't really her style.

 **The Coco on the table hadn't seen the event, being blocked by Jaune's body, "What was that noise?"**

 **Jaune gathered himself rather quickly, "Ze sound of progress, my friend~!" Jaune kept the beam on Coco, scraped the rest of her old heart off the device, and walked over to his fridge. He opened the appliance to find a larger, more study heart for a transplant. He found his experimental heart labeled [Super Baboon]. "Ah~ Perfect~" He picked up the organ, revealing the severed head of Emerald behind it.**

Emerald placed a hand at the base of her neck. "Well, that's disturbing."

 **Emerald's head was strapped to a battery of some kind. Suddenly, she looked out toward the screen, "Kill me."**

 **"** **Later."**

Mercury started to laugh a bit. The scene was gruesome, sure. But 1) he didn't care. And 2) it was pretty funny.

 **Jaune closed the fridge before standing up again, smiling. "Where was I?" He placed the device on the new heart, which was more difficult than before, "There we go~" He placed the heart into the stream of healing, "Come on. Come on!" He started to laugh, going full mad scientist as the heart started to beat.**

Penny knew that people called her father a mad scientist, but if they saw this, those people would say he was a saint.

 **Coco let out a few nervous chuckles. She'd served with Jaune for a while now and used to his antics. But the doctor couldn't help himself but to experiment for 'the advancement of mankind.' He kept her and the team alive, though…**

Ironwood was disgusted to learn this medic was military. Mercenary or not, it was painful to have _any_ form of connection to the military.

 **Jaune stopped laughing and looked away as the heart started to glow. They saw Archimedes return to his perch with splotches of blood on his feathers. The screen snapped back to Jaune holding a glowing, almost metallic-looking red heart. "Oh, zat looks good~" He dropped the organ onto Coco's guts. "Very nice, here!"**

 **Coco looked down toward the heart, "Should I be awake for this?"**

 **Jaune chuckled twice, "Well… no. But, so long as you are, could you open your ribcage a bit? I can't seem to…"**

 **Coco cried out in pain. The combination of her strength and the larger heart being forced into her chest ripped a rib out of place and into her hand.**

Coco blanked. She'd broken a rib in the past, but never snapped it off! She could only imagine how much that must hurt, let alone the lasting damage overall.

 **Jaune placed a bloody hand on Coco's shoulder, taking the rib in the other, "Oh… Don't be such a baby. Ribs grow back…" He tossed the bone behind him.**

Oobleck had enough. "Okay! No! This version supposedly _had_ a medical license, and therefore medical training and education. He should know that large bone structures DO NOT, in fact, regrow after being completely removed!"

 **Jaune turned to his machine, with Archimedes sitting on top. He whispered to his bird, "No ze don't."**

Port raised an eyebrow, "Okay… So, he _knows_ the medical reality, but told her a lie to comfort her?"

Oobleck wasn't having it, "I can understand the need for sparing emotions and preventing panic, but YOUR HEALTH should not be something a doctor lies about! Ever!"

"Fair point."

 **Jaune took the machine in his hands and focused the beam on Coco. As the healing beam started to glow brighter, Coco's body started to heal at a rapid pace. Muscles reformed, blood vessels reattach, skin heals, and even her clothes are repaired. Coco was good as new in seconds.**

Everyone was shocked to see such efficient and effective healing. Even aura had limits and would take a long time to heal a whole in the body that size. But this device patched her up in seconds! All involved wanted the device to be real. Some to save lives, some to patched themselves up after a bad plan.

 **Coco patted her chest and took a breath, testing her new heart as it beat inside her. "What happens now?"**

 **"** **Now?" Jaune took her hand and let out a sinister chuckle, "Let's go practice medicine~"**

Ruby groaned, "I don't think I like _how_ he said that…"

Tai winced, "Yeah… No kidding."

 **Military drums accompanied Jaune as he snapped on his red rubber gloves, put on his medical coat complete with red and gold cross patch, placed a power pack on his back, and readied his latest Medigun. Large blast doors opened, revealing Jaune walking in slow motion with his Medigun as doves surrounded him, fling off in various directions.**

Roman nodded, "Got to hand it to him, guy knows how to make an entrance."

 **After a moment, Coco ran out beside him with a massive minigun in her hands and an ammo belt over her shoulder. Before them was a hellscape of death. Red teammates pinned down or retreating, Blu team turrets and soldiers making it impossible to move. They could see Yang rolling her wheelchair down the landscape toward them crying out, "MEDIC!" An explosion ripped apart the ground beneath her and sent her flying forward.**

Yang had to take a moment. "Hold up. I just noticed this… I have bandages around half my head but _under_ the eyepatch…"

Weiss rolled her eyes, "Sounds like something you'd do as a joke."

"Good point."

 **Jaune adjusted his glasses and activated his pack. He pushed the top lever forward on his Medigun and allowed the improved healing stream to track toward Yang. In seconds, Yang was standing up and tore her cast off, tossing it with the no longer broken arm. She smirked and picked up her grenade launcher, getting back into the fight. Jaune turned and activated the machine again on the still prone Neptune. Neptune appeared from the lower screen with a black eye and a missing tooth. His head shook and he smiled, ready again. His tooth even reformed, complete with a sparkle effect for good measure.**

Sun turned to the Neptune next to him, "How _do_ you do that, anyway?"

Neptune shrugged, "It just kind of happens."

Nora hopped up and placed her hands on Sun's head, forcing him to lurch forward, "So that is real!" She jumped back to her seat and smiled, "I told you Ren!"

 **Neptune jumped up, kicking his bat up into his hands. He ran toward the fight an clocked a Blu soldier square in the jaw. Coco had run up behind cover. She may be something of the team's tank, but even she could only take so much punishment.**

 **Coco peered out into the battlefield and saw the wave of Blu running toward them. "Doctor!" She turned back toward Jaune, "Are you sure this will work?!"**

 **Jaunes laughed, "I have no idea~!" Jaune flipped a switch on his pack, causing the needle to move toward the word [Uber].**

Coco shook in anger, "Why do they put up with him?!"

 **Coco was wary, but she'd trusted Jaune for years by this point. Whenever no one else needed healing, they were always a team. Coco and Jaune, Heavy and Medic. Coco would take the hits and deal the damage while Jaune would heal her up and watch her back. They'd saved each other's lives more often than she could count. She jumped out from the cover and into the healing beam.**

Coco took a breath and sunk into her seat. "Okay… _Maybe_ that makes sense… But I'm still more than a little skeptical."

Winter glanced toward the fashionista, "You'd be surprised. Many bonds formed under fire will last lifetimes."

 **Coco screamed out as her body went into overdrive. An explosion went off in front of her, obscuring the scene. They could hear Coco laughing from within the smoke. She stepped forward, revealing her body had the same metallic red effect as the heart had earlier. She let out a manic laugh, "I AM BULLETPROOF!" Bullets ricocheted off and rockets bounced off without exploding. Coco was invincible as she slowly marched forward, tearing down the Blu soldiers with her minigun.**

Coco's eyes went wide. It was no secret her weapon was cumbersome and large, making it difficult to move quickly. But the ability to become invincible while firing? That was incredible! This Jaune might be insane, but he was smart.

 **Jaune ducked down and followed her down the line. Working together, the two ripped through soldier after soldier. Soon, they created a massive pile of bodies. The two walked up the pile, over the Blu bodies, to a vantage point. Jaune stepped atop a soldier's helmet with four general's stars and took his place at the peak of the bodies. The clouds above them had parted, allowing Jaune to be washed in light.**

 **The team photo returned with the new roster and the same jazzy tune.**

Penny frowned, "He is rather unethical, but he is very effective…"

 **The screen changed to show the rest of the team waiting outside Jaune's lab/surgery room. It panned over each person: an older version of Oscar playing a guitar, Emerald looking a piece of paper, a masked Cinder playing with a lighter while reading a magazine, Winter standing at attention, Yang drinking from a bottle, and Ruby napping in her chair.**

Qrow chuckled, knowing full well the Yang on screen was drinking from a whiskey bottle. "She really is family." He raised his flask in a toast.

 **They could hear Jaune in his room, "Zat looks good… Very nice here…"**

 **A moment later, they could hear Neptune. "Hey! Thanks doc." Neptune burst through the door, "Oh man~! You would not believe…" He placed his hands over his heart, "… how much this hurts." His chest seemed to move slightly, and they heard a dove's coo.**

 **Jaune, in the background turned to the door, "Archimedes?!"**

 **The screen cut there.**

Neptune groaned. "How do you mess that up?"

Sun patted his friend's shoulder, "I'm sure he removes it."

"He better…"


	45. Catharsis by Proxy

**King: Time to have a little... Fun~ I don't feel like hold you guys up from this one. Let's do this!**

 **Inspiration: Team Four Star's Dragon Ball Z Abridged**

 **/\**

King didn't make an appearance in this chapter. And when the King is away, his screen will play~

 **The world opened to a wasteland in an unknown location. Standing in the center of a large crater was a version of Jaune, stretching his limbs and throwing test punches. He seemed to be dressed in some form of gold chitinous armor, complete with black wings on his back and two-pointed crown-like form on the top of his head. The 'armor' was actually part of his body. His** ** _Perfect Form~_**

Sun laughed, "So, bug Jaune?"

Ruby shivered in her chair, "Ew! Ew! Ew!"

Yang shrugged, "I mean… He's kind of handsome. Minus the buggy parts, obviously. But he seems human, you know?"

 **Jaune swung a kick into the air as one last test of his new body. He stood before the world, finally whole. He smirked and looked around at the scene before him. In front of him, and slightly upward, was Raven Branwen with her arms crossed. She was dressed in her signature black bodysuit with red chest armor, gloves, and boots. Her dark hair was a glowing gold, a signal of her utilizing the Super Saiyan form.**

Qrow chuckled a little, "The resemblance was uncanny before."

 **To his side and against a cliff was the damaged form of Penny, designated Android 16. A piece of her cranium was blown off, exposing the wiring and mechanical skull beneath.**

Penny felt sick. It would be similar to a human seeing someone with their brain exposed.

 **Behind him was Yang, dressed similarly to her mother and with her golden hair standing on end. Next to her was Neptune, dressed in an orange gi. The group all looked toward Jaune with a sense of fear, the only exception being Raven.**

 **Jaune smirked, "So… Who's first?"**

 **Neptune threw his hand back and created a disk of energy. It should slice clean through anything in its way. "Distructo Disk!" He tossed the disk straight toward Jaune.**

Sun grinned and elbowed his friend, "A bit quick to the trigger, eh?"

Neptune shrugged, "I get the feeling there's more going on here we don't know yet."

 **The disked landed clean on Jaune's neck, only to shatter apart and fly passed him. Jaune's smirk spread further, "Ah~ A volunteer." Jaune was suddenly in front of Neptune and kicked him in the jaw, sending him flying across the ground and creating a column of dust.**

Tai jumped seeing that, "Holy shit! How strong is he?"

 **Yang spun around toward Neptune, "Neptune! Are you alright?!"**

 **The screen moved to show a prone Neptune squeaking out a sound of pain.**

 **"** **Do you need a senzu bean?!"**

 **Pained groan.**

 **"** **You're right, that** ** _is_** **a stupid question." She flew off to attend to Neptune's injured state, kicking up a cloud of dirt that flew toward Jaune.**

 **Jaune punched at the cloud, dissipating it. He looked behind him toward Penny, "Hey."**

 **"** **Hello."**

 **"** **So… Are we cool?"**

 **Penny glared, "You** ** _ate_** **my family…"**

Yang almost threw up, "Okay… That's just nasty."

 **Jaune chuckled, "Hey! Don't lose your head. They were my family too." A reference to both Jaune and Penny being mechanized androids created by Dr. Merlot, Jaune being purely bio-mechanical as opposed to Penny's pure metal form.**

Ruby's head tilted, "Who's Dr. Merlot?"

Port growled a bit, "A very annoying thorn in the side of the huntsmen trying to keep people safe."

"So… Not a good guy."

"That's the idea, yes."

 **Raven returned to solid ground beside Jaune. "So, you broke blue boy's neck.** ** _Bravo_** **, I hope you're not too proud of yourself."**

 **Jaune smirked again, "Oh Princess… I** ** _am_** **proud."**

"Princess?" Raven raised an eyebrow. "I hope for his sake I actually _am_ royalty and that wasn't a dismissive insult."

 **"** **Not of that, no. But of you. It takes a big man, or woman in this case, to do what you did." Jaune continued to stretch, getting used to his body. "Sticking to your guns and just throwing everyone's lives away! And to that, I tip my…" He looked up slightly, "Huh… What** ** _is_** **that on my head? Would you call it a crown?" Jaune turned back toward Penny, "16, would you call this a crown?"**

 **"** **I hate you…"**

 **"** **We'll call it a crown~"**

Nora chuckled, "That was kind of funny."

 **Raven grinned, "Enough of this. Now,** ** _Perfect_** **Jaune…"**

 **He knew it was in an insulting tone but, "Love the ring to that~"**

 **Raven clenched her fists in front of her, "I'm going to enjoy wearing down the knuckles on these gloves."**

The innocent minds in the audience didn't think anything of that statement. Okay, maybe 'innocent' is not the right word given Cinder, Mercury, Emerald, and Raven were part of that list. But for the dirtiest of the minds in the seats: Blake, Kali (she got it from somewhere, people), Gira (two somewheres~), Neo, and Roman all stalled a moment.

 **Jaune snickered, "Okay… I know that wasn't** ** _supposed to sound sexual, but…~_** **"**

 **Raven didn't care about his joke, cracking her knuckles, "So, it's about time to turn this little coming out party into a funeral."**

 **"** **And, time's up. Princess, while I'd love nothing more than to listen to you bluster at me until the heat death of the universe… I** ** _literally_** **have a million better things to do. So here's the deal~ I want you to hit me as hard as you can."**

Raven smirked in the audience.

 **Matching her screen counterpart. "Oh? Is that right?"**

 **"** **Now hold on! You might have misheard me. Not** ** _half_** **as hard. Not some arbitrary percentage. I want you… to hit me… As** ** _hard_** **as you** ** _can_** **!"**

 **"** **And if I don't play along with your little game?"**

 **"** **Well, then I guess your father was right about you~"**

Qrow, for the first time in his life, actually couldn't hold his liquor in. The very mention of their father was a touchy enough subject, given they were taken in by the Branwen tribe's leader. If that is who this was talking about, it was even worse, given Raven previously had a seething hatred for their leader/father figure.

 **It seemed the Raven on screen agreed. She flew up and landed a kick to his neck that had previously sent him flying into the nearby stone. Now, however, it did nothing.**

 **Jaune grinned, "Ooh… Consider that nerve touched~"**

 **Raven jumped back in shock. "Wha- HOW?!"**

 **Jaune's smirk formed into a grin, "Because, princess, as a soon to be broken woman once said: 'you're either perfect, or you're not** ** _me_** **.'" Jaune flew forward and landed a kick to Raven's gut.**

 **The force of the attack sent her flying through several solid stone plateaus. Raven was able to stop herself after a moment, "I'm okay! I'm o- I'm…" She fell from the sky and into the water below her.**

Raven ground her teeth together. She was furious seeing that. Was this version truly so weak?

 **In the background, the crowd could see Neptune and Yang having a conversation in the distance as Jaune waited for Raven to return. Return she did, and very pissed off. She pulled herself out of the water and stumbled slightly.**

 **Jaune looked down toward her, "See princess? That's what you get for not listening. But since I know you have trouble following directions, I'm going to give you one last chance. You. Me. Hard as you can. Are we clear?"**

 **Raven growled, "Crystal…" She started to float upward a moment.**

 **The screen returned to Neptune, "Maybe you should tell her before she does something reckless."**

Qrow snickered, "Doubt it would stop her."

Raven glared toward her brother but got no reaction.

 **Yang shook her head, "There is literally nothing she could do to make the situation worse. Save blowing up the planet…"**

Raven blinked, _I can do that?_

 **Raven snapped her arms outward and began to channel energy, letting out a yell as she did, her body surrounded by a golden energy.**

 **"** **She is going to blow up the planet…"**

 **Neptune panicked, "But I live here!"**

This got a couple laughs from the good natured.

 **As Raven charged her attack, a powerful score swelled in the background. Lightning started to flow out of her body. She crashed her hands together and a ball of energy formed between her fingers. One bolt flew along the ground and beside Jaune.**

 **Jaune smirked, "That's** ** _much_** **better! I can actually feel that!"**

 **Raven strained under the amount of power she was exerting. "In mere moments… All you'll be feeling, is oblivion!"**

Raven grinned. She just _knew_ this would put that brat in his place.

 **"** **That, or disappointment. Go ahead. Flip that coin."**

Roman laughed in his seat, "This is one hell of a version, that's for sure. Hard to tell if its just being cocky or if he really _can_ back it up. Can't help but get the feeling we're just scratching the surface here."

 **Mom! Your pride isn't worth destroying the planet! Come on!" Yang tried to reason with her mother, but to no avail.**

 **Neptune shielded his eyes from the dust flying up at them, "Way passed the bargaining stage here."**

 **Raven's attack was more than ready now. "FINAL FLASH!" A beam of golden energy shot out from her hands and toward the awaiting Jaune.**

 **Jaune chuckled, "Oh how cute. She named it- Oh shit!"**

 **The beam tore through stone like it was nothing. It had the output to destroy the entire world beneath them. The beam traveled onward and out beyond the atmosphere. The island was destroyed, leaving an unnatural trench behind.**

Qrow blinked, "That… might be the scariest part about this…"

 **Neptune sighed, "Oh good… She missed the planet."**

 **Yang nodded, "Thank God she'd not completely insane. Completely being the operative word."**

 **Raven was taking a few deep breaths as she floated in place. "Hard enough for you?"**

 **Jaune's shocked face came into view again. The camera pulled back to show he'd lost his right arm and chunk of his torso.**

Yang jumped a bit. "Yikes. The way he was talking, I have expected him to just tank it without getting hurt."

 **Neptune grinned, "Bonus! It actually did something."**

 **Yang followed up, "See? Everything's alright! I mean, he's not dead. But it's a start."**

 **In the background, Raven was laughing as Jaune clutched his shoulder. Jaune roared out, "You think this is funny? YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY?!" Raven ignored him, continuing to laugh.**

Roman held up three fingers, counting down over time.

 **"** **It's not… as funny… as your face~"**

 **Raven stopped laughing.**

Roman finished his count and pointed toward the screen.

 **Jaune's arm reformed, suddenly growing back into form with his light green blood flying along it.**

 **Neptune and Yang, who had yet to see this technique from anyone other than Oscar, were shaking both in shock and fear.**

 **"** **Holy…"**

 **"** **Shit…"**

The scene they saw left a few in the audience feeling grossed out, the process of events not helping their situation. One in the audience, Oscar, was a little bit concerned since he apparently had a similar power in this reality.

 **Jaune flexed his regrown arm, "You know, it might sound weird, but I kinda liked the old arm better. Oh well. Guess I'll just have to break it in~"**

 **Raven launched a flurry of energy bolts toward Jaune. "Why won't you die?!"**

 **Jaune just walked through the dust and bolts, "Princess? Has this ever worked?" He delivered a quick punch to Raven and sent her flying back. "Don't need to answer that!"**

 **Neptune was frozen in fear, "Okay. No more excuses Yang, he's going to kill your mom."**

 **"** **You don't know that! He could just knock her unconscious, and then I'll…"**

 **"** **We don't have the Dragon Balls, Yang! No coming back from the dead!"**

Nora gasped, "Coming back from the dead?! That sounds awesome!"

Yang raised a brow with a smirk, "But what the heck are Dragon Balls?"

King appeared for a moment, "Seven crystal orbs that, when collected in one place, allow the person to summon the great dragon Shenlong. With this, the gatherer can make any wish to the dragon, even resurrection of the dead, within the dragon's power."

Nora was starry eyed, "Anything?!"

"Within his power to grant." King disappeared, and the screen continued.

 **Raven stood back up, wiping blood from her lip.**

 **Jaune kept walking until he was directly in front of her, "Some advice princess. For the future. Next time, why don't you remember your place like the rest of them…"**

 **Raven glared, more than aware of where this going.**

 **"** **And wait for Summer."**

Ruby, Yang, Tai, and Qrow all snapped to attention at Summer's name. Raven's eye twitched. When she was on that damned team at Beacon, Summer had always been a step ahead of her in everything. A part of her despised her former teammate for making it look so damn easy.

 **Jaune kicked Raven a good hundred feet into the air. He was just as suddenly flying above her and slammed his elbow into her lower back, likely breaking her spine, and sending her falling back down to the earth.**

Everyone in the audience cringed the moment they heard the spine crack on Jaune's assault. The very visceral moment was painful to watch, and hear.

 **Raven hit the ground and her golden hair faded back to black. Jaune floated down next to her, "K-O! I win." He held a hand down her, ready to blast her to ashes, "Perfect~" A scream distracted him. He turned to find Yang above him, straining her body as her power swelled further, beyond what Raven had shown in their fight. "Oh~? Here comes a new challenger."**

Yang grinned. Not only was she stronger than her mother but, "So, we get to see me fight, too~?"

 **Yang's charging continued as her body's muscle mass expanded. It took a bit, but her power increased exponentially with each second. After a moment, the energy surrounding her stabilized as she ceased her yell.**

 **Neptune was all too used to this from everyone he knew, so he had to ask, "You done?"**

 **"** **Yeah… Sorry about the scream, it's just… my power was rising and…"**

 **"** **No! No. I get it! Go kill him!"**

 **"** **It wasn't because you spared the android."**

 **"** **Well, obviously! Right…?"**

 **Yang didn't say anything. One of the androids he spared, which was now absorbed into Jaune's body, was responsible for mass atrocities in her future. But her mother made it worse by** ** _letting_** **Jaune absorb the android… Lesser of the evils, I guess…**

Yang got caught up on that. "Wait. _My_ future?"

 **Jaune yelled up to them, "You know! If I had a watch, I'd be looking at it** ** _really_** **condescendingly right now!"**

 **Yang tossed Neptune a senzu beam, "Take this and give it to my mother."**

 **Neptune caught the healing bean, "You… sure you won't need it?"**

 **"** **No… This battle was over before it began."**

 **Neptune watched as she descended toward Jaune, "Badass…"**

Those not of villainous persuasion agreed.

 **Jaune called up toward them, "Also accurate!"**

 **Penny, who had collapsed from the attack earlier, was getting back up. "Yang! Senzu beans heal physical damage! Only therapy will aid emotional trauma!"**

This got a snicker or two at Raven's expense.

 **Jaune chuckled, "Oh please… There's not a shrink qualified enough to deal with** ** _that_** **hot mess."**

Cue snickers turning into laughter.

 **Jaune cracked his neck and stepped away from Raven. "Neptune, go take care of the princess's injuries. The big boys need to talk."**

 **Neptune flew over and picked up Raven. With her placed over his shoulder, he flew off to find somewhere safe.**

 **Jaune and Yang approached, ready to begin their fight. Yang glared toward Jaune, "I'm going to make you pay in blood for what you did to her."**

 **Jaune smirked, "Oh!** **Don't lie girl scout! That** ** _must_** **have been catharsis by proxy!"**

Yang shrugged, "Kinda… yeah."

Tai turned toward her, "Wow… Not even subtle about it…"

 **Jaune continued with a chuckle, "She's going to be waking up in a cold sweat for the next five years remembering today."**

 **"** **I'm not a psychopath like…"**

 **"** **Kind of like you~"**

 **"** **Like me?"**

 **"** **Does Ruby know?"**

 **"** **Know what?"**

Ruby blinked, "Yeah! Know what?!"

 **Jaune smirked, "That you let her die~" A wave crashed beside them, as if to emphasize the moment.**

Ruby screamed out, "Wait! I'm dead?!"

 **Yang clenched her fist tighter. This version of Yang was from a future where two androids destroyed most of the human population. Ruby had done everything to try and stop them, but to no avail. She taught Yang how to fight. She was like an older sister to Yang… But she died trying to save the lives of everyone.**

Tai crossed his arms, "So you're not _actually_ sisters and Ruby is older in this world?"

Nora jumped up and spoke over his shoulder, "Yeah! There're worlds like that all the time! One world had Jaune and Yang being siblings!"

"Huh…"

Yang tensed remembering that world. It remained a touchy subject…

 **Yang's confusion over his question turned to a quiet rage. "I'm going to power up now."**

Yang blinked, "I can still get stronger?"

 **Jaune grinned, "I'd be disappointed if you didn't~"**

 **Yang suddenly tensed, and the world began to break beneath her. Lightning crackled across the sky, and up to a pair standing over a sheer drop: Oscar, dressed in a long white cape and turban, next to Ren, dressed in a green, over the shoulder gi.**

Nora snickered and tapped Ren's shoulder.

Oscar was a little surprised, but not sure why.

 **Ren was wide eyed, sensing the power being thrown around him, "That's Yang?!"**

 **Oscar nodded, "I know. It's pretty astonishing, isn't it?"**

 **"** **It's infuriating!"**

 **"** **Why? Because the gap keeps getting wider?" A reference to the fact that no one of non-Saiyan blood seems to be able to handle these world-threatening monsters.**

 **"** **Because she could have a) killed android 18! B) Killed Jaune! Or c) killed Raven!"**

 **"** **Why Raven?"**

 **"** **Because I deserve something today!"**

Qrow slow clapped. "Damn… Raven pisses off people in multiple dimensions. I'm actually kind of impressed."

 **The scene returned to Yang as she roared out, her muscles expanding to their maximum limits and beyond. Soon, her whole body seemed to grow by about 50 percent and her power spiked. This, however, just got Jaune excited. "That's it! Keep it coming! I want a real fight this time!"**

 **"** **Don't worry… I'll show you just how much stronger I am than my mother!"**

 **"** **You mother-? Oh! No. Sorry, I wasn't being specific. I mean since the last time we met. Of course, you wouldn't remember, because** ** _you_** **weren't there. I mean, you were, but…"**

 **"** **Get to the point!"**

 **"** **Alright, kiddo. Tell me. What do you know about time travel?"**

 **Yang paused a moment, "Less than I should…"**

Weiss sighed, "Considering you apparently traveled _through_ time! Yes. You should know more."

 **"** **Well, how do you suppose I got here?"**

 **"** **My time machine, obviously." Yang remembered finding a copy of her own time machine not too long ago, just before they met Jaune.**

 **"** **And how do you suppose I** ** _got_** **that time machine?"**

 **Yang didn't like where this was going, "I don't want to answer that…"**

 **"** **Here's the thing. Multi-verse theory's a bitch."**

Nora raised her hand, "Hold up! So, this Jaune is from another reality to Yang?"

King reappeared, "Technically, they're both from branching futures to this version. Time travel is a web of weirdness and seriously not worth the effort."

Ruby looked up toward the fire ball, "But didn't you kind of do that with Oscar and Jaune's sword?"

"Technically, this place is outside of your time stream, so not really… Best I can give you… Back to the action!"

 **"** **You see, you, or at least another you, went back in time, saved the world, returned to your time, and defeated the androids. Congratulations, you won."**

 **"** **But… when did you…"**

 **"** **So, you decided to go back to past to celebrate! Maybe get some recognition from mommy dearest. Unfortunately for you, you made one** ** _fatal_** **mistake. You took away, what was mine! The rest… is history." He smirked, letting her mind fill in the gaps.**

Yang felt a shiver run up her spine. "That's seriously unnerving."

 **"** **Then… you're here…"**

 **"** **Because of you~ But, don't beat yourself up. You're just a child, playing hero. Complete with spandex."**

 **Yang grit her teeth, "And you're just another mistake I have to correct." A moment later and Yang charged forward, punching Jaune clear across the island. Jaune spun around and kicked off a rock. He suddenly returned behind her and smacked her back downward. Yang followed suit in a golden streak across the darkened sky. She kicked him back to the earth below, flying passed him and punching him clean in the jaw midair.**

Yang slammed her fist into her open palm, "Yeah! This is what I'm talking about!"

Tai, however, seemed to be in thought, "Something's not right here…"

 **The two traded punches for a few seconds back and forth until one blow force the two apart. Jaune chuckled, "I'm impressed~ Under all that angst and ridiculous hair is a real fighter!"**

Yang's eye twitched, "Oh no you don't! Kick his ass, me! No one insults my hair!"

 **Yang scowled, "And behind all that insufferable smarm is a dead man!"**

Sun smirked, "Good line. Got to remember that one."

 **Jaune let out a breath, "Yang, dear Yang… You couldn't fathom the amount of 'dead men' behind me."**

Ruby shrunk in her chair, "What does he mean by that?"

 **Yang flew forward, both her punches caught by Jaune. The two fists opened, and their hands interlocked together, energy flying between them. The two were using the position to try to over power the other. Neither budging as electricity flew out from their hands. Jaune broke the stalemate by headbutting Yang before kicking her back. Yang halted her descent and flew back up to respond in kind. Yang unleashed a flurry of punches into Jaune before forcing him back down to earth with an energy blast. Jaune picked himself up in the crater as Yang floated down again.**

 **Yang had her arms crossed as she looked down on him, "That may not have done a lot of damage, but damn did it feel good."**

 **"** **Oh? Am I sensing an iota of pride? Guess the apple doesn't fall far if you shake the tree hard enough!"**

 **"** **That snark isn't going to save you while I'm taking you apart. Unless you haven't noticed, I literally have you back against the wall."**

Tai's face sank, "She doesn't stand a chance…"

This confused the blonde brawler daughter, "What? Are you blind? I'm totally owning him!"

Ozpin shook his head, "Your strikes were far too obvious, easy to avoid for the trained. There's more going on here."

 **Jaune chuckled, "And don't think I don't appreciate the effort. By a wide margin, you're packing more of a wallop than your mother ever did. However. You will** ** _never_** **beat me with that form."**

Yang blinked. "The heck does he mean by that?"

Tai, a skill martial artist and a teacher, knew all too well, "The form is massive. You're muscle structure seemed to have expanded beyond where it should top out. Your body wouldn't be able to keep up with all that mass, drastically reducing mobility in combat… In other words…"

 **Jaune finished the statement through sheer lucky timing, "You can't hit me."**

 **"** **Then what to you call the last five minutes?!"**

Yang was arguing both with Jaune on screen and her father in the audience, "Yeah! What about all that?!"

 **Jaune closed his eyes and tilted his head forward slightly, "Pity…"**

That was not the answer Yang wanted to hear. It just pissed her off more.

 **Penny was finally stable enough to stand, though clearly unsteady, "Yang! Don't fall for it! He's just playing you!"**

 **Yang stormed forward, but every hit was dodged with ease. Always out of reach.**

 **Penny paused a moment, "Correction: He's** ** _been_** **playing you…"**

 **Yang tried to punch him again, only to have dodge back toward the ground, "Why?! How?!"**

 **"** **Because you're green!"**

 **"** **Green? I don't follow."**

 **Jaune groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Why do I- It means you're a novice! An amateur! You're surrounded by fighters who've seen more action in a week than you have in your** ** _entire life_** **! Hell! At your age, Summer had defeated an entire army, several demons, and sent a rabbit to the moon!"**

Ruby giggled, "Mom is so awesome~!"

Velvet, however, wasn't so sure, "What was that last one?"

 **Yang agreed, "Did you make that last one up?"**

 **"** **In fact, I did not. But the worst part of it is, that form isn't even new. Watch." Jaune was suddenly just as massive as Yang, adopting the expanded form, and mocking her through it, "Look at me! I'm Yang! Please love me mom!" He was just as suddenly back to normal. "See? Anyone can do it."**

This got laughter at Yang's expense for once. But only from those who knew for certain that she wouldn't knock their teeth in.

 **Yang just floated in place, "That's a terrible impression."**

 **They could hear Penny yelling up toward her, "But not inaccurate!"**

 **"** **Why are you still here?!"**

 **Jaune smirked, "For God's sake, I bet even your mother can do it! She's just not stupid enough to try! And as we've seen today, that threshold is vast. Now, why don't you come on down, stop using that useless form, and stop wasting everyone's time?"**

 **Yang's fist shook before fading to stillness. She slowly descended back to the ground, head hanging in defeat. Her hair fell back into its normal place and her body returned to normal.**

 **"** **Jeez. I can't tell which is more broken, your mother's spine or your spirit."**

 **"** **Just get it over with and kill me already."**

 **"** **Woah! Spirit it is, then! Seriously, way to bring down the mood."**

 **"** **Is this all just a game to you?!"**

 **A game? Hardly! If this were a game, I'd be having fun."**

Yang clenched her teeth, but sighed, "Damn it that's a good line…"

 **Jaune continued, "Or killing Summer. Now** ** _that_** **sounds like a good time."**

Ruby was incredulous, "What the hell, Jaune?"

 **Penny shouted over toward him, "That still doesn't make us friends!"**

 **"** **I'm trying 16!"**

Ruby echoed, "What the hell, Penny?!"

Penny just jumped in her chair, "I'm not certain!"

Port cleared his throat, "I _might_ be. The Merlot in our world is known for being the type to hold grudges. If this Merlot is anything like that, he likely programmed them both with the sole purpose of exacting revenge on Summer Rose for whatever reason."

 **Yang put up a brave face, one that's seen far too much in life. "Fine. Go ahead. Fight Summer. But she wins, and when you die! No one… is going to remember you!"**

 **Jaune was silent a second before his response finally hit, "Huh…" Jaune's face turned to a smile, "Alright! Change of plans! Turn that frown upside down, girl scout. You're not dying today."**

 **This surprised Yang to no end, "What? Why?"**

 **"** **Careful blondie, don't want that gift horse to bite you! You've just given me an idea is all. What would I accomplish killing you here? No… The whole world needs to see what its created."**

 **"** **Oh, what the hell are you planning?!"**

 **"** **My revolution~ Go take care of your mother. And be sure to watch the news~" Jaune flew off, leaving Yang in shock.**

 **Then Penny chimed in after him, "What channel?!"**

Despite it all, that got a few in the audience to laugh. The break from the tension was just what they needed after seeing that. The screen seemed to cut and turn to static.

Mercury raised an eyebrow, "The hell's going on?"

 **The static started to form lettering, [ZTV]. A man behind a news desk started talking, finishing a story of some kind. "And as you can see, every dog does indeed have his day."**

Yang's eyes narrowed, "This must be the news he was talking about before."

 **Half the news desk shattered apart as Jaune emerged from under the floor, creating a hole that fell to the bottom of the station tower. The news caster screamed before having his throat grabbed by the intruder.**

 **Jaune grinned up toward the man, "The following program has violence, course language, and adult situations not suitable for minors. Viewer discretion is advised~" He crushed the caster's neck in his hand and dropped him onto the floor.**

Mercury chuckled, "Woah! Brutal!"

 **Jaune turned to the camera and smiled, "Ladies, gentlemen, boys and girls, and that technicolor rainbow in between! I am Jaune. You may remember me from the following cities." A list of numerous cities flew across the screen. "Of course, if you were there, you won't remember because I have absorbed you into my biomass and you are now dead."**

Ruby felt a chill go up her spine, "So… when he said about the 'dead men'…"

Weiss winced, "He really meant it…"

 **"** **But that's not what I'm here to talk about today. Today, I have an announcement! I am leaving the planet forever!"**

This made more than a few in the seats pause. Ruby raised a finger, as if to say something.

 **"** **After I blow it up~"**

Ruby lowered her finger again. She had questions but felt there was more too this.

 **"** **Unless… One of your planet's** ** _champions_** **can best me in one on one combat!"**

Tai crossed his arms, understanding the situation well enough, "So, Summer, then?"

Raven angrily growled at him, "Shut up!"

 **Jaune continued, "I am officially hosting a once in your lifetime event! And, since its rather important that these champions defeat me if you all want to live, I hereby dub it, the Vytal Festival!"**

Yang and Tai let out a little laugh at his joke. It was an okay pun, but the situation at hand was a little concerning.

 **"** **For those of you familiar with your adorable world martial arts tournament, I'll be borrowing the rules. No brackets this time, however. Yours truly will be your only opponent. The location of this marvelous event shall be R-16-B-318. If you don't know where that it, blame the cartographers. The tournament will begin at noon one week from today. That should give you plenty of time to prepare. Or, for those not participating, time to connect with loved ones, get your affairs in order, or just kill your boss! Let's get a purge going! Live a little. Because in one week's time… well, to give you an idea~" Jaune pointed his palm toward the wall behind him. After a moment, a ball of energy ripped through the concrete and and city behind it, killing many people on its path. "So! Keep that in mind. And I'll see you next Sunday. Also, feel free to pray to your God. But… spoilers… I won't be listening." Jaune flew out the hole he created and off toward a large marble arena. He landed and crossed his arms. "Seven days~ I need only be patient."**

No one in the audience could speak. No one dared. How can you after seeing such overbearing power? What fresh hell will this Festival hold for this world?

 **(King popped up just for you readers, "Find out next time, on Dragon Ball Z! But not next chapter. I like to space these out a bit~)**


	46. Just Punch Me You Beautiful Saiyan Bitch

**King: Yeah... I lied. First direct part 2! You know why you're here! I know why your here! Let's do this!**

 **Inspiration: Team Four Star's Dragon Ball Z Abridged**

 **/\**

Yang slammed her fist into her chair, "Dang it… I want to see how that ends!"

Nora joined her frustration, "Yeah! I mean, Jaune might be a bad guy, but I want to see the fight!"

King popped back up again, "Um…"

Yang waved him off, "Yeah, yeah, we know. They play at random…"

"Archive."

"Pardon?"

King repeated, "Archive. I can pull it up right now if I wanted to."

"Seriously?!"

"I did that already with Jaune-6, remember?"

Yang slumped back into her chair, "Oh… right…"

"And lucky for you all, I really like this one~ So, I want to show it off more. If you all want."

Ruby nodded, hoping to see her mother in the reality.

And she will regret that…

"Alright. You asked for it~" King popped away and let the screen run again.

 **Jaune flew over the countryside, yet to build his arena.**

Yang crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, "So, before the broadcast?"

 **Jaune landed in a massive field and motioned toward a large mountain. He raised his hand toward it and it lifted off the ground. A motion of his hand cut the stone into a marble cube. Another motion sliced it into a multitude of small squares.**

Oobleck adjusted his glasses, "Fascinating! To be able to so quickly and effectively create such a large structure without help is astonishing."

 **Jaune agreed with the doctor and flew up to take in his work, "Ah~ The perfect arena for my festi…" He stopped mid-sentence, noticing one of the slabs making up the arena was green instead of white. "Son of an emerald whore, starting again!"**

Mercury laughed to himself. Just that line…

 **Jaune flew off, repeating the process. When he looked down, his eye twitched, "HOW DID ALL THESE SQUARES MAKE A CIRCLE?! I just… I don't… No! No… It's fine. It doesn't bother me. It doesn't bother me… It bothers me. It bothers me a lot. AND THAT ONE'S STILL GREEN!" Being 'perfect' and being a perfectionist was not conducive to his situation.**

Ruby swung her arms out as if to halt what was happening around her, "Hold on! How the heck did that happen?"

No one had an answer. For all intents and purposes, it seemed impossible with the parameters shown.

 **Jaune repeated the process once more. "Finally! A glorious stage, a fine marble white, and a full 24 by twenty-…" He stopped noticing one of the stones was halved. "Let it go Jaune. You've got shit to do." After that, he flew off to make his announcement to the world. His day flew by, as did he as he returned to wait out those seven days.**

 **He was, naturally, starting to get bored, but the anticipation of his fight with Summer kept him more than awake. Of course, he had to make sure his revolution would remain televised. He grabbed an earpiece from one of the television personnel and started to make deals and ensure his tournament was global news 24/7. Then he got a call. "This is Jaune speaking~ I'm sorry, you want to put that by me again?"**

"It's so weird seeing this after the last time."

Yang kicked up her feet and groaned a bit, remembering her beat down, "No kidding."

 **"** **Look… I get that you sponsor all forms of sporting events, but you do realize I'm going to blow up the planet if I win right?" After a moment of talking from the other end, he continued, "Yeah, I guess that would be a win-win for you… Alright, it's settled~ The Vytal Festival, sponsored by Hetap!"**

 **"** **Man, I'd kill for a Hetap."**

The voice made the older members of the huntsmen jump in their seats.

Tai, Qrow, and Yang were wide eyed hearing that voice again. And Ruby? She was starting to cheer and shout.

 **Jaune spun around to find Summer Rose standing behind him, "Woah! Jesus!"**

 **"** **Nope. Just me, Summer~" Summer wore a solid white gi with a red sash belt and wristbands.**

 **"** **Should put a bell on you…"**

 **"** **What?"**

 **"** **Nothing. Sorry, I just wasn't expecting you for a whole week! Must look a mess! I just got done finishing the ring, patching a whole… Speaking of which, what do you think of our glorious battle ground?"**

 **Summer shrugged, "Eh… It's alright. Kind of small isn't it?"**

 **"** **I prefer the term," Jaune smirked, "** ** _intimate~_** **"**

The first to respond to that was Kali, "Did… Did he just…?"

Blake nodded.

Ruby and Yang had a confused look on their faces, stuck on a plastered smile. The version of Jaune seemed to make an innuendo toward Summer Rose. Sure, it looked like the two were the same age in this world, and there was no indication (so far) that Summer even _was_ their mother in this world, but it was still really weird.

 **Summer smirked back at him, "Doesn't matter. I just came by to measure you up. And all I gotta say is… nice."**

 **"** **Baby you know it~"**

Something inside Ruby's mind snapped, "The fuck?!"

Tai was just as off guard, so much so that he didn't catch Ruby's language.

 **"** **Any, I'm off. See you in a week!"**

 **"** **It's a date~"**

 **"** **Yeah. That's how days work." She disappeared in a flurry of white rose petals.**

 **Jaune smiled, "I'm going to miss her when she's dead."**

 **Seven days passed light lightning for many. The anticipation of the hellish day forcing the world on edge. No one could sleep well. No one could be at peace. This was the day of judgement. Would they all die? Or would they be saved from the monster that threatens them? The whole of the event was to be televised. They'd all see their fate, one way or the other. Their hopes would rest on a hero. Not the one they were rooting for, per se, but a hero none the less. Speaking of disappointments, a car began to approach Jaune's stage in the wastes.**

Mercury raised an eyebrow. "Okay… Who's this then? Everyone we've seen can fly. So who would need a car?"

 **The car stopped and out stepped one Mercury Black, dressed in a grey gi shirt and black pants with a white cape and golden belt. This… is the world's martial arts champion! The world's 'strongest man'!**

Mercury grinned, "Oh? Sounds about right."

Emerald groaned. Mercury had a big enough ego as is, he didn't need it to get worse.

 **Jaune glanced toward Mercury, "Maybe shouldn't have made this an open invite…"**

 **Mercury motioned for the camera crew to approach the ring. He took the mic and addressed his public, "First, the kids, do not recreate the violence you are about to witness. Second, you!" He pointed toward Jaune.**

Mercury's grin grew wider as Emerald's face sunk lower.

 **"** **You vile, contemptable, wretched villain… Ain't no way in this or any world, that you could possibly begin to hold a candle to me. You best just pack your bags and head on home, cause otherwise, you're in… for a Black Out!" The crowds behind their TVs were no doubt cheering. If Mercury was good at anything, it was working a crowd. The man had a charisma that just made people flock to him.**

 **Jaune, however, was not impressed. "Really? You want to do this?"**

 **"** **Speak up bug buy!"**

 **"** **You look like an extra in a low budget porno…"**

Spit takes! Spit takes all around!

 **"** **The kind where** ** _everyone_** **gets tested afterward. Even the cameraman."**

 **This caught Mercury off guard. "Oh… Uh…"**

 **"** **Did they find you in the subway? Were you homeless? Did you get your start in bum-fights?"**

 **"** **This is getting oddly personal…"**

Mercury's face sank as Emerald grinned from ear to ear.

 **"** **Do you have any actual friends? Any relationships that aren't about your money?"**

 **"** **I have a son…"**

Emerald gagged, "I did not need that picture…"

 **"** **Oh, that poor orphan…"**

 **A figure descended next to the arena. Raven landed with arms crossed and a scowl on her face.**

 **The reporter approached her, "Ma'am! Do you intend to fight the evil monster Jaune?"**

 **Raven's eyes seemed to seethe with anger, "Get that mic out of my face before I give you a colonoscopy with your camera."**

Qrow whistled, "Damn. Still angry about last time?"

Raven growled, "Very…"

 **The crew backed away as Jaune smiled, "Answer the question, Raven~ Because I'm ready to go if you are. Come on! Let's toss you through a mountain or five for old time's sake." No response followed, only a glare. "The old silent treatment, eh? Don't tell me you came all the way our here just to stand around and look mean. Oh! Oh~ I get it! You're taking my advice, aren't you? You're waiting for Summer~"**

Raven clenched her hand around her chair so hard it cracked.

 **Raven wanted nothing more than jump up and kick his teeth in, but her thoughts were interrupted as Penny slammed into the ground beside the ring. One by one, the others were arriving, kitted out in their combat gear. One interesting sight was an 11-year old Ruby dressed similarly to the Oscar of this world, a reference to his training of her years back. It was the first she'd tastes of martial arts and survival, some things from that training still haunt her, but she wouldn't trade it for anything. Another interesting item was that both Ruby and Summer's dark hair was now golden blonde, both being in Super Saiyan form.**

Ruby tilted her head. "Okay… I get that and can understand why I don't have the same style as mom… but it's just kind of weird…"

 **Jaune grinned seeing Summer, "Ah! Summer! How does this fine day find you for this glorious tournament?!"**

 **Summer shrugged, "Alright. Slept kind of weird on my arm, though."**

 **"** **And I see you brought the whole gang to witness out battle! Oscar, Yang," He paused. "Lie Ren…"**

 **Ren smirked, "Ki-koh-how ya doing?"**

 **"** **Perfect."**

Nora crossed her arms, "I can't help but feel we're missing some context here."

Ren nodded, "We likely fought previously. Whatever I did, it seemed to get to Jaune."

 **"** **And Scarlet! What a surprise! How's it going man?"**

 **Scarlet, once a contender on equal footing to Summer and now the butt of the joke, blinked, "Oh… Uh… I brought towels and water bottles."**

 **"** **And like that, you've already contributed more than Raven."**

 **The reporter approached Summer, "Excuse me, ma'am! Are you or any of your freakish friends going to be participating in the tournament?"**

 **Summer smiled, "Oh yeah! I'm going to punch that Jaune a whole lot. In fact, if you don't mind…"**

 **"** **Now hold on!" Mercury stormed over, "I'm not about to play second fiddle to a bunch of gym rats with too much time on their hands!** ** _I_** **am the world champion! And I will be the one to defeat Jaune!"**

Emerald smirked, "Get that training in the bum-fights?"

Mercury glared toward her, "By all means, keep going! Difference is, _I_ didn't live like an urchin on the streets!"

"Why you…!"

Cinder slammed her fist into her chair, "ENOUGH! I've warned you both about this too many times! It's getting on my last nerve!"

Emerald bowed her head, "I'm sorry, Cinder."

Mercury, however… "You know what, I'm not. I don't care anymore."

"What are you…?!"

Mercury brushed them both off, crossing his arms and kicking up his feet.

 **Summer gasped, "There was a tournament?! You won the tournament?** ** _I_** **won a tournament! That means you must be stronger than Neptune!"**

 **Neptune turned toward her, "Wait, why me specifically?"**

 **"** **Man… And I wanted a turn. Oh well. Might as well let the Champ handle this."**

 **Oscar's eyes narrowed, "Wait, are you serious?"**

 **"** **Yep. He's the Champ. He's got this."**

 **"** **You know, I can't tell if you're serious or not, and I find that concerning."**

 **Mercury stood tall again and turned toward Jaune. "Now that that's out of the way, it's time to put Jaune where he belongs! Broken at my feet! It's time for me to take out this trash..."**

 **Jaune raised an eyebrow, "Wait, you were serious? I thought you were just someone's hype man."**

 **"** **I AM THE HYPE!"**

 **Raven's eye twitched, hearing** ** _her_** **words come out of that idiot's mouth, "Kill him!"**

Emerald wanted to say something but didn't. Not out of reverence to Cinder, but more in confusion of Mercury's words.

 **Mercury threw off his cape and charged forward, only for Jaune to bitch-slap him into a mountain.**

This got laughs out of the main (i.e. non-villainous) audience.

 **Summer never lost a simple smile, "Alright. My turn then." She stepped up into the ring and moved opposite to Jaune.**

 **Jaune smirked, "Going to fight me right away, huh? A bit out of character for you. Can't you send them in one after the other until you triumphantly arrive to save the day? I mean… it does seem to be a pattern for you."**

 **"** **I waited a week… I guess I could wait a few more minutes."**

 **"** **NO! No. This is fine. Call my bluff… I'm more than happy to skip the d'oeuvrs and get right to the main course~"**

 **"** **Now you're speaking my language~" Summer let out a massive spike in energy.**

Ruby and Yang chuckled. They remembered Summer having an affinity for good food. It was the primary reason she learned to cook at Beacon.

It was also another point of contention for Raven, who remembered Summer being able to stuff her face and still remain in peak condition.

 **"** **Holy crap! Princess you feel that?"**

 **Raven growled, "Fuck off!"**

The Raven in the audience agreed. Her former team leader was, once again, stronger than her. Better than her. It disgusted her.

 **"** **And she didn't have to pump up like some roiding, angsty child!" A clear jab at Yang. "Now that you've shown me yours, I'll show you mine!"**

Ruby groaned, "Is he going to be making innuendos toward mom the _whole_ time?"

 **Summer smirked, "That's right. Whip out your power. Let me feel it."**

Mind break number two for ol' Ruby Rose.

 **Jaune grinned, "Now you're speaking** ** _my_** **language!"**

 **Once they were both exuding their power, Summer walked up toward Jaune. Jaune, being taller than her, looked down toward her with a smirk. "So, you gonna take a swing? Or just stand there and stare into my eyes?"**

 **"** **What? Sorry. I wasn't paying attention."**

 **"** **Oh! Just punch me you beautiful Saiyan bitch!"**

 **Summer landed a powerful blow into his guy, only for Jaune to respond in kind. The two traded masterful blows of raw martial arts prowess. Summer used an after-image to catch Jaune off guard and kick him toward the edge of the ring.**

Port's mustache twitched, "Seems she's hoping for a ring out. But that might be difficult…"

 **Scarlet didn't catch on, "Guys! Jaune's gonna ring out!"**

 **Jaune stopped his decent midair and flew back into the ring.**

 **Neptune turned toward his friend, "You just forgot we can fly, didn't you?"**

 **"** **No! I just… I can hope, okay? Is that so wrong?"**

 **Ren grinned, "The fact that you have any hope left is your most admirable quality."**

 **Summer and Jaune continued their fight before Jaune hopped back and brought his hands together and to one side, "KA! ME!" A blue energy began to swell in his hands.**

 **"** **Wha-oh," Summer thought out loud.**

 **"** **HA! ME! HA!" Jaune fired the beam toward Summer who took flight into the air. She was soon engulfed in the beam, leaving Jaune to smirk to himself in the ring. "Killed by her own technique. Ain't that a kick in the head-"**

 **Summer returned and kicked him square in the jaw.**

This elicited a laugh from the good natured. It was as if Jaune set himself up for that one.

 **The two continued to fight ridiculous speeds, appearing for only moments at a time. The two were on a whole other level. The two landed mutual blows before floating in place in the air.**

 **Jaune chuckled, "Good… Very good, Summer! This is exactly what I've been looking for! When I became perfect, I was afraid I'd never get to test these abilities! Like a surgeon without a patient."**

 **"** **Or a grill without a burger."**

 **"** **YES! You get it Summer! That's why we're here today! You're the only one who can complete me… Compete with me! The others? They mean nothing! This has all been for you!"**

Ruby puffed out a cheek, "This is just weird…"

Yang nodded, "No kidding…"

 **"** **This… For our perfect battle… But this just feels… Too constrained. What's say we slip into something more comfortable~" He opened his palm down toward the ground. A moment later and the arena exploded. The two landed on the ground as Jaune smirked, "Killing you will be the hardest thing I ever enjoy." Jaune fired a wave of bolts similar to Raven's. After some dodging, Summer fly up into the sky. "What is she…?"**

 **Neptune craned his neck upward, "What's she doing up there? Ooh! Think she's going for a Solar Flare?"**

 **Summer brought her hands together, "KA!"**

 **Oscar was visibly sweating, "That's** ** _not_** **how the solar flare works!"**

Glynda stood up in sheer shock, "She can't be serious! If that's the attack from before, it could cause serious damage to the planet's integrity! She could destroy the planet!"

 **"** **ME!"**

 **Yang wasn't taking this well, "Getting mom flashbacks here!"**

 **"** **HA! ME!"**

 **Jaune started to laugh, "Yes! I see now!" This** ** _is_** **the only way it can end! This tournament! These fools! This planet! They mean nothing to those like you and I! We will o out together! In a ball of molten rock and death!"**

 **Summer suddenly disappeared in a small swarm of white petals. She had teleported directly under Jaune's guard, her attack charged.**

 **"** **Oh… Oh shit!"**

 **"** **HA!" Summer unleashed the attack into Jaune, causing a massive explosion of power.**

Ruby let her arms fly up, "YEAH! Go mom!"

Yang recoiled with a smirk, "That's going to hurt in the morning."

 **Jaune had been destroyed! His upper torso was blown off completely.**

"Brutal…"

Ruby didn't like the fact that she'd basically seen Jaune die. Again… But he _was_ fighting her mom, so… yeah.

 **Jaune's foot twitched before he hopped back up with a slide whistle effect. Soon, his upper body popped back into form, "Time out! Time the hell out!"**

 **"** **How did you-"**

 **"** **You weren't there for that. TLDR, Oscar's cells."**

 **Oscar shouted from the group, "Okay! I am… 90 percent sure I can't do that!" Oscar's regeneration tops out at his limbs. The rest can't heal the same way.**

 **"** **We'll figure that out later! As for you, Summer, how the hell do you keep popping in and out like that?!"**

 **"** **Instant Transmission. More importantly…"**

 **The two were soon at it again as punches flew and dust kicked up. In time, the two separated again with Summer taking deeper and deeper breathes.**

Ruby was in full cheer mode, "Come on mom! Beat him already and save the world!"

Velvet actually had to agree with Ruby's sentiment. It was clear Jaune was the villain, and a rather odd one at that, so she had to root against the crush.

 **Oscar groaned, "Damn it, this is bad! Last time I saw Summer this winded, she was having a heart attack! She can't keep this up!"**

 **Yang turned toward the group, "Wait! What about the Senzu Beans?!" No one made to move. "The beans that can heal injuries and restore your… stamina?" Nothing. "Okay, guys, if you're bothered by cheating, either loosen your moral codes or stop hinging the fate of the world on** ** _deathmatches_** **!"**

Yang agreed with her counterpart, "The hell?! What is wrong with these people?!"

 **Raven finally chimed in, "I can't believe you're my daughter."**

 **"** **You said it, not me."**

 **"** ** _She_** **isn't like you! She's a full-blooded Saiyan warrior! She'd throw that bean back in your face because it's not the world that's at stake!"**

 **"** **Pretty sure it is…"**

 **"** **But her Saiyan pride! She'll see this fight to the end without any of our help. Even if it kills her."**

Raven smiled. This version… She could respect.

 **Summer's aura fell away, "I give up."**

 **"** **I'LL KILL HER!"**

A few more laughs, mostly at the look on Raven's face.

 **Jaune couldn't have heard that right… "I'm sorry, I'm rather high up here. What did you say, Summer?!"**

 **"** **I give up. You win!"**

 **Ruby leaned forward slightly, "Wait… What is she doing?"**

 **Oscar sighed, "It's your** ** _mother_** **… So she's either saving us or dooming us all."**

Ruby wasn't sure what he meant by that, but she will learn soon. Very soon.

 **Jaune didn't take that well. "What?! But… But we're not finished! I'm not finished! This isn't a victory, this is… I don't know what it is!"**

 **"** **No. It's a victory. You won. I gave up."**

 **Jaune and Raven spoke in unison, "Every word you spoke has made me violently angry! Oh great! Now I'm agreeing with Jaune/Raven! Look what you made me do!"**

This got a few more chuckles form the group.

 **"** **Jaune… You knew what this was. A fight. Nothing more."**

 **"** **You bitch… If you seriously concede, I'll… I'll just blow up the planet like I said! So, unless you want me to turn this rock into an asteroid field, get back up here, AND PUNCH ME IN MY PERFECT JAWLINE!"**

 **Summer let out a single chuckle, "Now, Jaune! Remember. This is a tournament. There's still one fighter left who can take you on."**

 **"** **Oh? Oh~?! Okay! I see. Never pegged you for a prankster, but you** ** _got_** **me~ So who is it? The princess? No, couldn't be. I don't even take my** ** _own_** **sloppy seconds. Blondie? Couldn't be. She looks ready to crush coal into diamonds with her sphincter. Oh! Could it be Lie Ren? Please tell me it's Lie Ren."**

 **"** **Nope. Ruby! Come on and show this guy!"**

Ruby was at attention in no time flat. "Wait, what?"

Salem felt her whole body convulse in anger, "THE FUCK KIND OF MOTHER ARE YOU?!"

This got everyone to back off at least one seat, as if to avoid ground zero.

 **"** **What?! Ruby?! Out of the entire list, you pick Ruby? She wasn't even on the list! Hell,** ** _Scarlet_** **was on the list!"**

 **Scarlet looked up, confused, "Wait, why was I…?"**

 **"** **Half-time entertainment!"**

 **"** **Frankly, I'm just happy to be included."**

Sun and Neptune turned toward each other. They made a vow there and then to include Scarlet in more often. The guy deserved better than… this.

 **Summer flew up to Ruby, who was none to happy, "Okay… Mom… I'm going to have to ask you to back the hell up! What are you doing?!"**

 **"** **I'm sending in the strongest fighter we got. This is what you trained for."**

 **"** **This is what** ** _you_** **trained for! I was just there to help you get stronger!"**

 **"** **Come on, Ruby. You're just being insecure."**

 **Oscar stormed over, "No! No, she's fucking not! She's ELEVEN!"**

Salem was in full tirade mode, "WHO SENDS THEIR ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD CHILD TO FIGHT A MONSTER?!"

 **Neptune walked up next to his old friend, "Summer, we're not going to tell you how to be a parent…"**

 **"** **I AM!" Oscar had other ideas.**

Glynda raised an eyebrow, "Why does he seem so hooked on acting as the parental figure here?"

Ozpin took a sip form his mug, "There may be more going on than we see…"

 **Summer brushed them off. "Guy's trust me on this. I spent a year in the time chamber with Ruby. I know what she's capable of. So, go out there Ruby! You got this."**

 **"** **Do I even have a choice?"**

 **"** **Of course, you do. Either beat him or the planet gets exploded."**

 **"** **So that's a no…" Ruby sighed, "Never been wished back from the dead before. So, hey… at least it'll be a learning experience…"**

 **Jaune was violently angry, "So… the biggest, most important fight of my life walks away, and sends the world's strongest bookworm!" He let out a sigh. "Fine, Summer. I'll play along with your little game. But I want you to know that while I'm busy 'pounding your daughter' I'll be thinking of you the entire time."**

Tai shattered on the inside.

The dirtiest minds in the audience finally made themselves known to the public as snickers abounded among them. They could only hold back so long~

 **Summer smiled, "Oh! Hey, Neptune, can you pass me a Senzu real quick?"**

 **"** **Oh yeah. Sure."**

 **With bean in hand, Summer tossed it in her palm, "Hey Jaune!" Then she threw the magical, all-healing bean.**

Salem had no words. Only roars. Never before did she resemble a Grimm more than in that moment.

Those of a parental persuasion certainly agreed.

 **Jaune caught the bean.**

 **The gang all cried out toward Summer for that action, "What? I'm just being fair."**

 **Oscar's eye twitched. "Which one was it, Summer?! Which one?! Which concussion did you suffer to think that** ** _any_** **of this was a good idea?!"**

 **"** **Oscar… Just watch. You're about to see amazing things out there."**

 **"** **What's amazing about your eleven-year-old daughter getting murdered?!"**

 **"** **She might be eleven, but she's easily a hundred times stronger than I was at her age. She's been keeping pace with us since she was a baby."**

 **"** **Summer…"**

 **"** **You should know, you kidnapped/trained her."**

 **"** **Summer…!"**

 **"** **After that year in the chamber, I know better than anyone what she can…"**

 **"** **SUMMER!"**

 **"** **What?!"**

 **The camera cut to Jaune holding Ruby by her collar and just punching her over and over, "Thinkin' of you Summer!"**

The screen cut, and the round ended.

Salem was still very pissed. "At least it's over…"

King popped back in. "Hardly~"

"Pardon?"

"There's one more part to this set. One last big moment. We're not done here. Not by a long shot~"


	47. My Way

**King: 8000+ words! Dear God, I'm a madman... But, I promised this was the finale of a three chapter set. So, here it is~! In all its mad cap glory! Hope you enjoy the madness!**

 **/\**

The screen returned to form.

 **And nothing changed. Jaune still had Ruby by her collar was was repeatedly punching her in the face.**

Each hit got the group to recoil, not sure how long its been happening given the break.

 **Oscar turned toward Summer, "Summer…"**

 **"** **Just trust me, Oscar. Ruby's got this. All she needs in an opening and then she'll…"**

 **Jaune then proceeded to kick Ruby into the ground. He floated back to earth and smirked, "You're actually quite the treat to knock around, kid. But if you think the only way to win is to not play… Then I've got news for you, you're playing the wrong game!" Jaune forced her back with a beam and proceeded to chase her down with a long-range assault.**

 **Oscar shouted from their cliff, "Ruby! Dodge-!" But she already was! The one thing, the** ** _one God damn thing_** **she never picked up in their training, was being put into practice.**

Tai groaned, more than remembering a similar situation with both his daughters. Ruby was easy to teach that skill to, given her speed, but Yang was still having difficulty internalizing that she's _not_ supposed to get hit! That damn semblance of hers just made that difficult.

 **"** ** _The little one is finally growing up._** **You must be so proud."**

Ozpin nearly dropped his mug hearing his voice come out of nowhere like that.

 **Oscar, having combined forms with the old guardian of Earth, Ozpin, now constantly heard him in his thoughts.** ** _I mean… Yeah… But she could be dodging better._**

Ruby turned toward Oscar and Ozpin, about to ask a question, but her timing proved to be quite odd. She'd caught Oscar as the future Ozpin was in charge. The two sat almost identically, save for the cane and the coffee mug. It was honestly a little weird to her. She just turned back to the screen, her question forgotten. Or perhaps answered?

 **One dodge attempt found Ruby with her back to Jaune, his palm open, "Game over, kid." A blast of pressure sent Ruby careening into a nearby mountain. Jaune stood normally again, turning his head toward the rest of the fighters, "So… Which one of you wants to try to explain the word "filicide" to Summer? I'd ask Ruby, but… Well, she's been filicide-ed."**

Ruby's head tilted, "What does that mean?"

Salem's arms were shaking. She knew. She was about to answer and go off on another tirade but was cut off.

 **Oscar was beyond angry with Summer, "It means Ruby's dead! And it's your fault Summer! You hear me?! She's dead!"**

 **Summer grinned, "Come on Ruby! Stop hiding your power level and get serious already~"**

 **Ruby groaned inside the mountain crater she formed. A second later and the mountain burst as Ruby stepped out, unaffected by the assault.**

Salem was still mad at this Summer, but her confusion at Ruby being, not only alive, but perfectly fine(!), was a little too startling to say anything.

Yang's mouth hung open in shock. Her Ruby was a tough kid, sure, but this tough?! Damn!

 **Jaune groaned, "Oh… goody…"**

 **Ruby walked back over to Jaune. "Can I say something?"**

 **"** **I've been humoring you the entire time anyway. So, why not? But if you're looking to exchange barbs, I'd suggest cutting your teeth on that embarrassment over there…"**

 **Mercury, who survived Jaune's attack, was hiding behind a rock, uncertain of what to believe seeing these people who defied all logic, "Leave me out of this!"**

 **Ruby continued, "I know why my mom sent me out here to fight the biggest wolf in the woods…"**

 **Jaune smirked, "Oh trust me… I'll huff and puff and blow you down."**

 **Neptune felt it best to remind him, "SHE'S ELEVEN!"**

 **"** **I'M SIX!"**

Tai slammed his fist into his chair, "That doesn't make it better! He's an artificial being created in an adult form! His actual 'age' doesn't matter!"

 **Ruby seemed to just let it pass, "It's because, when I get backed into a corner, something snaps. Everything goes red and I lose control of myself. I hurt people…"**

 **"** **Well… what do you to 'em?"**

 **"** **All I see is the person I want to kill. The rest of the world stops mattering. I bet my mom knows that, if I snap here…"**

 **"** **Let me guess. You'll kill me?"**

 **"** **You said it, not me."**

Blake was scared now. She'd seen what this mentality did to people… Turning them into spiteful monsters. If Ruby ever turned out like that…

 **Jaune let out a slow chuckle before bursting into laughter, "Well! Threaten me with a good time~!"**

 **"** **What?"**

"What?!" The audience was just confused. No one really getting why he got excited at that.

 **"** **At first, you had my curiosity… Now, you have my erection~"**

Cue a few laughs from the shameless.

 **"** **Don't you mean 'attention'?"**

 **"** **You all know what I'm about!" Jaune pointed a finger toward Ruby and shot out a beam of energy from said finger. A concentrated beam like that would rip through the body without much issue. Thankfully, Ruby was able to dodge the attack.**

 **"** **That's Cinder's move!" Neptune was scared before. Now, he was panicking.**

This got Cinder's attention. That was her technique, eh? This gave her a few ideas for when finally gathered the maiden's power.

 **Neptune continued, "The one she killed Raven with!"**

Cinder grinned, _this just keeps getting better~_

 **"** **Remember that Raven?"**

 **Raven groaned, "I was there…"**

 **"** **Should really watch out for that."**

 **"** **Didn't she blow you up?!"**

 **Another beam was used to distract Ruby, allowing Jaune move in and grab her in his arms, crushing her. "So, when you break, I die? That right?"**

 **Ruby was straining under the pressure, "That would be the course of events, yes."**

 **"** **Well then, let's see what breaks first~" Jaune squeezed tighter, causing Ruby to yell out in pain.**

Tai recoiled, "This is hard to watch."

Ruby groaned, it was even worse for her given she was seeing herself be crushed. "Yeah…"

 **Oscar was berating Summer again, "In this endless pile of hay, Summer, this is the last straw! If you don't go out there, your daughter, your flesh and blood, will die! No ifs and or buts!"**

 **"** **But…"**

 **"** **No buts!"**

 **"** **I get what you're saying, but this is what I've been planning out this whole time."**

Salem's rage boiled hotter than the sun, "THIS WAS YOUR PLAN?! TO GET HER KILLED?!"

 **"** **You? Had a plan? What could you-"**

 **"** **Os… I'm not going to be here forever. One day, death is going to… stick, you know? So, what then? Someone has to be here when I'm not… And in the time chamber, I realized that someone is Ruby."**

While they hated to admit it, the teachers all understood her sentiment. It was the point of being a huntsman/huntress. You know what you're getting into and you know you won't be around forever, no matter how strong you are… Death will find you. You need to put your bets on the next generation to be able to pick up the fight. To protect what you can't anymore…

 **"** **Well… Seems you thought about almost everything. Unfortunately, you skipped one small detail."**

 **"** **What's that?"**

 **"** **RUBY DOESN'T LIKE FIGHTING, YOU MORON!"**

 **Summer wasn't sure if she could believe what she heard, "Wait, what?"**

 **"** **Have you** ** _ever_** **in your life actually asked your daughter what she likes?"**

 **"** **But… But she went into the chamber with for that year!"**

 **"** **Because she wanted to spend time with you! Her mother! The mother who spends half her time training and the other half dead! Sometimes both!"**

 **"** **Wait… Does everyone else…" Everyone, EVERYONE in the group was more than aware of Summer's situation with her family. "I've made a terrible mistake."**

Qrow was still trying to piece all that together, "The hell's going on now?"

Raven, surprisingly, had his answer, "She's been acting under the assumption that her daughter would take her place. She justified all her actions so far as trying to help, without realizing her reality."

Qrow turned back toward the screen, "View must be great from that glass house of yours…"

 **Summer spun around toward the blue haired fighter, "Neptune! I need another Senzu bean!"**

 **"** **No way! Not after last time!"**

 **"** **I'm serious! I'm going to use it on me this time!"**

 **Jaune swiped the pouch with the beans, "Quick update! These are now tournament illegal. Uh, thank you." Jaune sprang off the cliff and back down to Ruby. "I see now that all roads don't lead to Rome. I'll have to change up my game plan. Torture isn't working, so I'm going drag** ** _each_** **of them down here and kill them one by one until you give me what I want!"**

 **"** **What?! No!"**

 **"** **Oh, don't worry~ I'll save your parent for last. You hear Oscar?!"**

 **Oscar shrugged, "I mean… If you're just going to say it…" In some ways… most… okay,** ** _every_** **way, Oscar/Ozpin was more a parent to Ruby than Summer ever had been.**

 **Summer turned toward Oscar, "I don't get it…"**

 **Ruby tried to lash out at Jaune, but just got kicked back down. "Sit down, this might take a while…"**

 **"** **Enough!" Penny charged in behind Jaune and grabbed him from behind.**

 **"** **16?! Really happy you're finally coming around, but your timing is** ** _less_** **than ideal!"**

Ruby jumped when Penny charged in, "What's she doing?"

Penny's head tilted to the side, mimicking what she'd Ruby do, "I'm not certain. I believe I am weaker than friend Jaune in this reality, so holding him down would be impossible for very long."

 **Penny clutched her arms tighter, "Inside my frame is a high-yield nuclear explosive! I intend to detonate and take Jaune with me!"**

Penny froze for a moment, "A what?"

Ironwood groaned, "Seems Merlot was the paranoid type."

 **"** **Also… probably most of you… My bad…"**

 **Jaune turned his head back toward her, "I do not consent to this!"**

 **"** **Your compliance isn't a factor!"**

 **"** **You had a chunk of your head missing, how do you remember that?!"**

If Penny could gag, she would. That image was burned into her memory banks for eternity now.

 **"** **My countdown has started!" She started to count from 10 as her body primed for detonation. She was going to vaporize Jaune and leave nothing behind!**

 **Yang's face went from shock to realization, "Wait! My dad removed the bomb when he was making repairs!"**

 **Penny froze in place, "WHO GAVE HIM THE RIGHT?!"**

 **Jaune smirked and started to loosen the now distracted automaton's grip. "Zero~" He fired a blast back into Penny, shattering her body into pieces.**

Good news, Penny didn't mind the first image as much anymore. Bad news, she'd just seen herself explode into pieces! That will haunt her.

 **Jaune chuckled to himself, "Guess I have to thank Taiyang for removing the bomb… Honestly, poor 16. Penny, was it? I wanted you to be the wind beneath my wings. Now you've just taken the wind out of my sails… I don't even feel like killing these fools anymore…"**

 **Ruby had a certain confused hope hearing that, "You're not?"**

 **"** **No.** ** _They_** **are…"**

 **"** **The implication being…?"**

 **Jaune's wings raised up and a series of pods grew beneath them. A flew later and the pods fell to the earth, growing into stubby, almost chibi-esc versions of Jaune.**

Everyone was more than a little shocked to see that. Thankfully for them, this wasn't the original version of events, so they were spared that.

 **Jaune took in a pained breath, "That's going to hurt all day… Summer! Since you saw it fit to send your daughter to fight me, I've decided to respond in kind. Now kids, remember to share your toys, don't leave daddy's sight, and bring me the bodies~ But most importantly, have fun!"**

 **Their orders relayed, the Jaune, Jrs (for lack of a better term) flew off to start their fight with the veteran warriors on the cliff. Each, though small, was just as capable as Jaune. Weaker, but faster and more nimble.**

 **Jaune just laughed, "Aren't they precious? My own little family~ Now I'll have someone to keep me company as a trounce about the stars."**

 **Ruby watched as her friends and loved ones struggled against the forces before them, "Please! Stop this! I take back what I said about the hidden power! I don't want to fight you! This is my mom's fight, not mine! So please! Just stop them! Give my mom a Senzu bean and…"**

 **"** **And there it is!"**

 **"** **What?"**

 **"** **That right there! That is why I despise you…"**

Yang tried to figure out the method of his madness but wasn't sure. "Why though? Before he was complaining about mom sending Ruby in. Now he's complaining about her trying to give him the fight back? I don't get it."

Kali placed a hand on her cheek, "It does seem a little odd."

 **Jaune motioned up toward the fighters, "You know what they all have in common? The Saiyans might be fools, the humans might be weak, and Oscar might not belong, but they're still out there fighting! Fighting not just for their lives, but for this worthless rock of a planet!"**

 **Neptune got punted to the ground. A counter appeared in the lower corner of the screen reading [Neptune Own Counter: 37].**

 **"** **See?! Even Neptune is trying his best!"**

 **Neptune groaned as one of the mini-Jaune's kicked him in the side, making the counter increase to 38.**

 **Jaune glared back toward Ruby, "But none of them… Not a single one! Shares that trait with you! You, Ruby, are a coward…"**

 **"** **No! I'm just a pacifist!"**

 **"** **So, a coward patting herself on the back! Tell you what, you can stand proud next to the bodes!"**

Ozpin's grip around his mug threatened to snap the ceramic. In the past, one of his hosts used the same argument against others. They refused… He tried everything he could, but the Grimm overran them in time.

 **The screen moved back to show Mercury with the camera crew. The caster turned toward Mercury, "Mr. Black! Do you have a plan to deal with these sinister spawn?! These… prepubescent predators!"**

 **Mercury nervously chuckled before putting a brave face back on for the camera, "Come on… Those aren't kids. They're just short actors brought in to look like kids!"**

 **"** **Sir… We saw them be born."**

 **"** **No. We saw a signal for them to pop up from preset trapdoors. Honestly, what makes more sense? Kids or actors?"**

 **"** **You have a point…"**

 **"** **Excuse me…" This voice caused all involved to jump.**

Including many of the viewers.

 **The screen panned to show Penny's head lying on the ground in front of the crew, "I seem to be without a body. Could you lend me yours?"**

Penny was thoroughly freaking out on the inside. Her internal systems shouldn't be able to do that, like how a human brain can't function without the rest of the body! Seriously, what is this robot horror?!

 **This, naturally, got Mercury and the crew to scream in fear.**

 **"** **Why are you screaming?"**

 **The caster was first to answer, "Because you're a talking head!"**

 **"** **So are you."**

Qrow broke out into a fit of laughter. Many of the adults also had to stifle their chuckling.

 **"** **That, ma'am… is cutting…"**

 **"** **Listen, I need one of you to help me. I need to get close to Jaune and Ruby, I feel I know a way to end this madness."**

 **"** **Are you nuts?! What makes you think we're going anywhere near that warzone?!"**

 **"** **I'll do it…" Mercury took a step forward and picked up Penny's head.**

Emerald was caught aback by that. "Since when do you care?"

Mercury just kept silent.

Emerald's eyes narrowed. _Something's up with him…_

 **"** **Sir?"**

 **Mercury paused for a moment, "I have a son, Jimmy… no older than the girl out there… And I have a way to end this? Save the world? And all I have to do throw this robot's head in spitting distance to that killer bug monster? It might sound crazy…"**

 **"** **Oh, it's definitely crazy. Larry?"**

 **The cameraman shook, "I have been finding God this whole experience, sir."**

 **"** **Well… Who better to leave it to than the world martial arts champion?" Mercury took a breath and started to run off, assuring himself, "Besides… this all just a bunch of tricks."**

 **Penny, however, set that straight. "It is not. You could die."**

 **"** **Do you have a mute button?"**

 **"** **I** ** _did_** **."**

Penny was just confused now. The head on screen seemed to have most of her neck… where else would a mute button go? She is by no means an engineer or claimed to understand the finer nuances, so she didn't have much to go on.

 **The screen cut to show Scarlet getting repeatedly kicked by one of the mini-Jaunes.**

 **Jaune, himself, hadn't moved from his spot,** ** _Damien sure is kicking the shit out of Scarlet. Man, he doesn't deserve this. But… It sure is funny~_** **He turned toward Ruby, who seemed to be trying to force herself into anger, to no avail. "Seriously… How hard is it to piss off an eleven-year-old?! You should be a stomping mess from me taking your toy away! Meanwhile, your friends and family are being beaten into mulch and the only thing you can do is…"**

 **A droplet fell onto the ground at Ruby's feet.**

 **"** **Cry? She's crying?! Are you serious?! That's it! Kids! Put your toys away! We're leaving! To be clear, I mean kill them all so I can blow up this shit whole and find something better to do. Waste of my fucking Sunday…"**

 **Ruby tried, with all the mental might she could muster, to get well and truly mad. "Hold on! I'm one step closer to the edge! I'm about to…"**

 **"** **Everything! You say to me! Is pissing me off. You had your chance, kid. And in the end, it didn't even matter."**

Yang snickered, despite the scene, "Now their quoting songs at each other?"

 **"** **Wait!" Penny's head tumbled into view between them.**

 **Jaune raised an eyebrow, "Well damn. I'm surprised your still… I was going to say 'kicking' but…"**

 **But she ignored him, "Ruby…"**

 **Ruby was just surprised to see Penny still active. "What are…"**

 **"** **Grow. Up."**

Everyone in the audience was surprised. Eager to see how this would 'end the madness.'

 **"** **Huh?"**

 **"** **You act like you're the only one suffering. But I believe Yang has some stories for you. Many of which, no doubt, end with 'and then he died, too.' And before you start whining about your mother, and I get it, but consider that my father literally created me as a soulless killing machine to kill your mother. And neither of us begins to compare to the complete travesty of parenting that is Raven."**

Tai, Qrow, and Yang… three voices. Three laughs. All laughing at the 'travesty of parenting.'

 **This, of course, pissed Raven off, "You want to come up here and say that?!"**

 **"** **I am a head!"**

 **"** **Then why don't you quit while you are!"**

Yang blinked for a moment before snapping her fingers in defeat, "Damn… I have to give it to her, that's a good one."

 **Penny turned her attention back to Ruby, "Jaune was right… You think you're better than everyone else. Yet, here you stand. The 'good man' doing nothing. While evil triumphs, and your rigid pacifism crumbles into blood stained dust, the only victory afforded to you is that you stuck true to your guns. You are a coward, to your last whimper."**

Ozpin's grip on his mug loosened, but only from sheer shock.

Raven grinned in her twisted way. This was something she could get behind.

 **Penny continued, "Of fear and love, I fear not that I will die… But that all I have come to love will die with me. So please, Ruby…"**

 **Jaune walked up next to the severed head. His foot raised.**

 **"** **Stop holding back!"**

 **Jaune brought his heel down and caved what was left of Penny in. Wire and what appeared to be blood splayed out from the impact. A single chip fell to the ground with a a fading light.**

Penny was stock still. The scene was haunting. She'd just witnessed her dismemberment followed by her death!

 **Ruby was shaking. Everything about this was wrong. A tear fell and something inside her snapped. Greif turned to rage. True, unadulterated hatred. Endless fear taking hold. Ruby roared out as the stone beneath her shattered, the wind grew heated, and lightning crackled around her body. Her tears now glowed and flew upward as her aura expanded beyond itself. Her golden hair not stood on end and toward the sky. She had surpassed even her mother with a form ascendant to that of the Super Saiyan.**

Everyone in the theater was in shock. Seeing the transformation and hearing the song (that I didn't transcribe due to the fact that I still have TWO MORE of these to go through!)… It was just so… It was hard to explain. Somber at Penny's death. Triumphant at Ruby's newfound power. Hopeful that the world may yet be saved.

 **Jaune grinned, "Dear lord of Oz, finally! And here I thought killing 16 was harder for me than it was for you. I'm confused though, were you friends?"**

 **Ruby's face seemed to default to anger. Then again, she was beyond pissed. "The murder of one's own child or children."**

 **"** **What?"**

 **Ruby moved with blinding speed to steal back the Seznu beans, "You wanted me to define filicide." Her voice had lost its usual cheery emotion.**

Team RWBY was scared. Beyond scared! They'd never seen Ruby this mad before. Almost… emotionless…

 **Ruby was suddenly in front of one of the mini-Jaunes. The mini jumped at her only to have its head sliced off by a side chop from Ruby. On impact, the world took on a muted blue tone as the body of the mini exploded.**

Everyone was in shocked silence. The look of apathy on Ruby's face… Unnerving didn't begin to describe it. Even those that didn't know her could see something was very, very wrong here.

 **Raven shook, feeling the pure power coming off Ruby, "Okay… Anyone want to explain, THE FUCK?!"**

 **Oscar groaned, "I kind of don't want to because I think that would mean giving Summer credit."**

 **Ruby moved like lightning to a pair of minis standing over Neptune. One of them picked up the blue haired fighter and threatened to kill him with extendable claws. "Really? You're using Neptune as a hostage? He's died twice already, go nuts. His death is a day trip for us and a free ice cream sundae for him."**

 **One of the minis ran off, leaving the last to try to fight. The mini fired a barrage toward Neptune and Ruby, but failed. Ruby was too fast, able to save Neptune and return to kick the mini hard enough to cause him to explode, causing the blue effect to return.**

Ruby shook in her chair, "Yang… I'm kind of scared."

"We're all scared, Ruby…"

 **Jaune watched in astonishment. Before, he'd only believed Summer to be his match. Yet, here was another, more brutal and decisive! He shook as a grin spread across his face. Before, it was blood lust. Now?**

 **Ruby dismantled each of the minis one after the other. One of them tried to call out of him, "Dad…"**

 **"** **I ain't no helicopter papa. Sink or swim, bitch~"**

Eyes turned to Raven, if only for a moment.

 **The mini tried to fly off, but Ruby was there again, upper-cutting one of them in half. Another bisected by a kick. Another got his head punched off. The last exploded on impact with Ruby's foot after being thrown to the ground. No mini-Jaune's remained.**

 **"** **Gimme… gimme! Gimme! Gimme!"**

 **Ruby turned back toward Jaune and tossed the pouch with the Senzu to Yang, "Yang, try to remember your only** ** _half_** **Raven and don't fuck it up."**

If Yang had a drink, it would be coating the back of the chair in front of her.

 **Jaune chuckled a bit, "Look at you! I'm going to call you Whooping Cough because you just decimated my children. I'm just glad that yarn you were spinning turned out to be true. My final challenge-"**

 **Ruby's fist was then buried in Jaune's gut, "Careful Jaune, your Raven is showing." She then jumped up to kick Jaune back into the dirt and stone.**

 **Jaune groaned. "You know, you're not wrong…" Being made of primarily of the cells of the world's strongest fighters meant he took on more than a few of their traits. Summer's battle lust, Raven's pride, Cinder's superiority complex, you name it… He tried to stand, but only planted his rear on the ground, "Oh man… nothing like a concussion, to really get the blood flowing…" Speaking up, he coughed up a bit of his lime green blood.**

Ruby was amazed on some levels. She'd not the strongest among her friends, not by a long shot. But seeing her being the one to not only save the day, but be the undisputed strongest person there? That felt kind of cool.

 **Ruby glared toward Jaune, "Jaune… You don't get it. I** ** _hate_** **this. The vibrations through my fists on impact. The taste of blood in my mouth. The sound of my heart in my ears… I hate this. But right now, the only thing I hate more than it, is you."**

 **"** **Put that on a Valentine…"**

 **"** **Because you were right about me. I was a coward. Scared of what would happen if I snapped. That I might finally kill someone. But I'm not scared anymore Jaune."**

 **"** **Well… Glad I could…"**

 **Before he could finish, Ruby kicked him clear across the field. "There's no use being afraid of the inevitable."**

 **Jaune was actually scared. "Oh fuck this!" He took to the skies and began to charge another massive beam attack, "I could have just done this from the beginning! But, no! Figured I'd hold a tournament, have a little fun, but fuck you!" He launched the attack down toward Ruby. Ruby responded with her own beam and pushed Jaune's energy back at him.**

 **After the assault, the sideline fighters started to dig themselves out of sand created by the force of the beam.**

Oobleck was caught just before he adjusted his glasses, "The sheer amount of power that would be required for something like that is… Is…"

 **Neptune groaned as he sat up, "Any one else got sand in their…"**

 **"** **YES!" Everyone responded in unison.**

 **Yang was the only outlier, "Everywhere!"**

Yang groaned, "I hate that feeling…"

 **Oscar looked up to the sky, "Uh… guys?"**

 **"** **HOLY SHIT!"**

 **Jaune voice rang out over the wastes, "HEY KID!"**

Mercury's legs fell back to the floor as he leaned forward, "He's still alive?!"

 **Jaune floated in place, his left side destroyed by the attack, his crown halved, and his legs blasted apart. "You missed a spot!"**

 **Ruby, for the first time since she transformed, smiled.**

The smile did not put anyone at ease. It actually made things worse.

 **Summer grinned and called out from the cliffs, or what was left of it, "Alright, Ruby! Time to bring it on home!"**

 **"** **Hold on… I'm not done ripping the wings from this butterfly."**

 **Oscar tensed up, "Red flag!"**

Tai felt a similar effect hearing that, "Oh… that can't be good."

Ozpin, and by extension the future version hiding away in Oscar, saw this sign too many times. The sign of a person without empathy, lacking in morals. A psychopath. The Ruby on screen was likely being deliberate in using these words, knowing their implications.

 **"** **Uh… Ruby? I understand your angry, but…"**

 **"** **But what?** ** _Now_** **you're going to be a parent? Give me advice? Let me guess. I should let him go so he can be a better fight later," a jab at Summer's actions when Raven arrived trying to kill them all. "Or I could let him power up to 100% and teach him humility," referencing Summer's handling of her fight with Cinder. "Oh! I know! How about I give him a God damn Senzu bean and let** ** _you_** **fight him!"**

 **This made Summer more than a little nervous. "I… uh… I see what you're getting at here, Ruby."**

 **"** **Then shut up and back off. You're in the splash zone."**

 **"** **Is that also a red flag?"**

 **Oscar nodded, "Crimson."**

Ruby was actually afraid of herself. It was an odd feeling, to say the least. She'd read stories, mostly from Blake's collection, of people who felt the same thing. Difference was, they usually had a reason to: demonic possession, multiple personalities, and so on. But Ruby didn't have that. Instead, she had a vision of herself, lacking in empathy and more powerful than anything that had come before. It was sobering.

 **Ruby smirked, "You done getting your shit together up there? Cause I'm getting bored."**

 **Jaune regrew his limbs and flew down to put that little brat in the ground! Only have a foot lodge itself into his gut. The viewing group could practically feel the impact. Jaune was pained, groaning in agony. Then his cheeks puffed. A moment later, and the camera cut away as he puked up one of the other androids he'd adsorbed for his perfect form.**

Blake shivered in her seat, "That's just wrong…"

King chuckled to himself, "Funny _you_ should say that."

 **Lying unconscious on the ground was the prone form of Blake Belladonna, callsign Android 18, covered in a slime-like substance of Jaune's vomit.**

Blake froze in sheer disgust.

 **Ruby smirked, "It's a girl… Mazel tov."**

 **Neptune's eyes went wide, "Blake!"**

 **Oscar had to stop him from rushing over, "Later!"**

 **"** **But…!"**

 **"** **I will get a hose!"**

Sun raised an eyebrow and turned to his friend.

Neptune raised his hands, telling him he was just as confused here.

 **Jaune, didn't take that well. "FFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCKKKKK! FUCK! FUCK! SHIT! FUCK! No No NO NO! FUCK!" Without** ** _both_** **androids in his system, his perfect form couldn't sustain itself. He started to steam and revert back to his previous state. When it was done, he appeared less human and more bug. Like some half-and-half creature.**

Ruby was grossed out by the 'perfect form' but this form was even worse. "EW! EW! EW!"

 **Ruby kicked Jaune into another bolder and smirked, fully intent on having her fun.**

 **Jaune was none to pleased.** ** _Damn it! Damn it! This isn't supposed to happen! I'm supposed to be perfect! I was… Then she took that away from me… She took everything away from me!_** **"So, I'll take everything away from you…" His voice was gravely, far from the smoother tone of his 'perfect' form. Jaune's body started to blow up like a balloon.**

 **Ruby scoffed, "What's this supposed to be, then? Make yourself so grotesque I won't want to touch you. Going to be honest, it's working."**

 **"** **Oh… Little Ruby… I finally realized what I've inherited from the cells from** ** _you_** **~ Your** ** _explosive_** **temper."**

Eyes peered toward Yang, the walking time bomb with a temper.

 **Oscar was the first to see where this was going, "God damn it…"**

 **"** **In sixty seconds, my body is going to burst, taking you, and this wretched world with me!"**

 **"** **So, what you're saying is, I have less than a minute to kill you."**

 **"** **Ah! Ah! Any attack could set me off. A punch, a kick, a wafer-thin mint. So why not saver the time you have left before I got pop. HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE VYTAL FESTIVAL! BYE, EVERYBODY! GO FUCK YOURSELVES!"**

Yang punched into her chair, "That's a dirty move you piece of…!" She couldn't finish her thought as went off on a wordless tirade.

 **Ruby grit her teeth as her mind processed the situation. "Damn it… Damn it! I pulled a Raven and fucked everything up!"**

Yang's tirade came to an abrupt halt to laugh at the reference to her mother. It was short lived, though.

 **Summer smiled somberly, "Guess it's time to fix my mistakes…" She reappeared in front of Ruby in a flurry of white petals.**

 **"** **Mom?"**

 **"** **Ruby… I'm… I'm sorry… But, fighting makes me happy. I always strive to be stronger… I just thought it would make you happy to. I'm sorry I never realized…" Summer took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. But I want you to know, that the year we spent in the time chamber, was easily the best year of my life. I'm proud of you… Guess this goodbye again."**

 **"** **Wait… What are you…?!"**

 **White petals fell as both Summer and Jaune disappeared.**

It was a sobering moment. Despite it all… Summer was never a bad person. She wasn't exactly a great parent, mind. But she genuinely believed she was making her daughter happy. Right up to the end. To Ruby, it hurt even more. It was like watching herself lose her mother again.

 **The screen cut to show a version of Glynda Goodwitch, dressed in a flowing black robe. "Summer… You were willing to sacrifice yourself to save the ones you love… I'll see you soon, my friend…"**

 **Summer suddenly popped into form on Glynda's mini-planet, "Hey! Ms. Kai! I couldn't think of anywhere to get rid of Jaune!"**

 **Glynda's face plastered with a fearful smile, before twisting to anger, "YOU ASSH-"**

 **Jaune exploded soon after arriving, taking Summer and Glynda with him.**

Glynda seemed to have a similar reaction to her onscreen counterpart, just with less swearing.

Ironwood used this moment to gain some distance from Glynda before she decided to toss something. "Well… Seems that's over…"

Glynda was able to calm herself, "Quite… Hard to follow that…"

"Um…" Oscar leaned forward, "It's still running."

Eyes turned to the screen.

 **Showing Ruby on all fours, punching the ground in frustration, "Stupid, selfish, impulsive, hypocrite! All you had to do was power up and kill him! But** ** _no_** **, you had to emulate Raven of all people and fuck it all to hell!"**

 **Neptune was by Ruby's side in moment, "Ruby, listen to me…"**

 **"** **What?!"**

 **"** **Dragon Balls."**

 **Ruby's self-loathing subsided. In the moment, she'd forgotten about the all-powerful wish granting orbs with the power to revive the dead. "Oh…"**

 **"** **Yeah."**

 **"** **But… I still screwed up."**

 **"** **And now you're one of us."**

Raven scoffed, "Given what we've seen, is that a good thing?"

Qrow finished a swig from his flask before replying, "Weren't _you_ one of those screw ups in this?"

"Shut it."

"Nope."

 **The screen showed as Neptune picked Blake up off the ground, making a joke to himself, "Guess this gives new meaning to picking up chicks…"**

Yang made a thumbs down motion, "Boo… To obvious."

Weiss rolled her eyes, "By that logic, you were never funny. Which might as well be true."

"Hey! I'm funny."

 **He passed by Raven, who raised an eyebrow, "What are you doing with that?"**

 **"** **I'm taking her to a… Doctor? Mechanic?" Being a cyborg made that distinction difficult. "A Tai. I'm taking her to a Tai."**

 **"** **You put that RealDoll down this instant."**

Blake's eye twitched, "The fuck did you just call me?!"

 **"** **Yeah… How about no."**

 **"** **I can rip you in half!"**

 **"** **I know you can."**

 **"…** **When did you get the balls?"**

 **"** **If I said it had nothing to do with holding a beautiful woman in my arms, I'd be a liar."**

Kali giggled, "He certainly knows how to choose his words~"

"Mom!"

 **The world was suddenly awash with a golden light. Power flowed through the area as wind burst outward. Then, they heard signing, "** ** _P is for Priceless~ The look upon your faces~_** **"**

"Jaune?!" Ruby jumped in her seat.

Pyrrha clutched her chair, "How?!"

 **"** ** _E is for Extinction, of all your puny races~_** ** _R for Revolution, which has been televised~ F is for how Fucked you are. Now allow me to reprise~_** **"**

 **A beam suddenly shot out from the clouds and straight through Yang's chest.**

Yang jumped and clutched at her chest, "Holy shit!"

 **"** **Oh shit! That was meant for Ren. My bad." Jaune was in his perfect form once more and standing before them yet again, "It's hard to parse your power levels anymore. You're all so weak~"**

Ruby shouted up toward the screen, "How… How is he still alive! He blew himself up!"

 **Jaune chuckled, "I can see by your faces that you're confused on how I'm back and** ** _better_** **than ever! And it all begins, right here." He tapped his head. "A single nucleus so small but so durable. It survived my little kamikaze. The important part to this tale being that my inherited Saiyan biology -thanks moms- meant that not only did I return to my perfect form, but I became more powerful than ever!"**

 **Ruby's eye twitched as her power swelled again, "You know what, I'm not even mad you're still alive. I have some shit to work through."**

 **The screen moved to Raven's face as her shock changed to anger. But her features fell when she heard something. Someone speaking, pained and weak.**

 **"** **Help… help… me…" Yang still yet lived. But it won't last long.**

Yang groaned. It was bad enough to that she'd been shot like that, but to survive it? She was going to die! Why did she have to suffer on top of it?!

 **Scarlet rushed over, "Yang! It's okay! I've been where you are! We can still… she's dead…"**

 **The world started to ring as the camera pulled closer to Raven slowly. The voices of everyone else fading.**

 **"** **Been there too, I guess. Honestly, the afterlife part isn't so bad. It's the dying part that's… haunting. Everything just slows down as you feel yourself leave your mortal coil. To this day, I still wonder if I've really been brought back, or if I'm still in the process of dying…"**

Silence accompanied the words. It was a sobering sentiment.

 **Neptune, who's died twice, mind you(!), spoke up, "Oh my God! Someone finally put it into words!"**

 **The ringing stopped as Scarlet continued, "Is it any easier the second time?"**

 **"** **Believe it or not, it's actually worse."**

No one -NO ONE- in that room was ready for what happened next. It just seemed like the kind of thing that would never be said. Never expressed. Perhaps never even felt. In their world, that may just be true. In the reality behind the screen, however, we hear it. Loud and enraged. The voice of a mother.

 **"** **MY BABY GIRL!" Raven roared as she shot forward in a furious rage toward Jaune.**

Qrow, for the second time in his life, actually did a spit take with alcohol.

It was the appropriate reaction. One that Raven would never show. And yet, there it was. A mother in angry grief, lashing out against the person who killed her child. From anyone else, this would be expected and understandable. From notoriously terrible mother Raven Branwen? This was madness.

 **Ruby tried to call after her, "Raven, No!"**

 **But the princess didn't care, "RAVEN, YES!" She unleashed a massive blast of energy that, in any other circumstance, would have atomised the opponent. Unfortunately, this circumstance proved to be a bit tougher.**

 **Jaune flew up through the cloud of dust and smoke left behind, "Raven, no." He back-handed the Saiyan princess to the ground again and readied his own blast. "Goodbye, Raven. And when you get to hell, tell them to make some room."**

Raven glared toward the screen. First, she acted, in her mind, out of character. Then, she got slapped down for it. _This is why connections and bonds are meaningless._

 **Ruby tightened her fists and became a blur. As the blast hit, smoke and rock flew up on impact. When the smoke cleared, Ruby was standing over Raven, having shielded her from the blast. This, in turn, messed up her left arm beyond reason and rendered it unusable.**

 **Jaune shook his head, "For Raven? Really?"**

 **Ren, who made it no secret that he didn't like Raven, had to agree, "Yeah! Really?!"**

 **Ruby ignored them, standing up as best she could. Blood gushed from a wound on her upper arm and fell down the appendage to the ground. "As long… as I'm still breathing… you won't kill anyone else."**

Raven rolled her eyes. "She'd have been better off letting me die."

Tai groaned, "Don't ruin the moment…"

"The moment will be _ruined_ when they're all dead."

 **Jaune chuckled, "Alright. I can free up five minutes." He placed his wrists together in a now familiar hand formation. "Or how ever long it takes to charge this~"**

 **Oscar turned to Neptune, "Neptune! Senzu, NOW!"**

 **Neptune didn't move toward the pouch, "Uh… You know we only had eight beans, right?"**

 **"** **Yeah? And?"**

 **"** **And how many of us are here?"**

 **"…** **So, we're out of…"**

 **"** **WE ARE OUT OF SENZU BEANS!"**

Ozpin's eyes narrowed, "That does not bode well…"

 **Jaune adopted his technique's charging stance, "I want you to know Ruby, that this blast isn't just meant for you. This one goes out to the** ** _entire planet_** **! My swan song to this wretched world!"**

 **Ruby glared toward Jaune, but addressed woman behind her, "Raven, you brain-dead idiot! We could have easily brought back Yang with the dragon balls, but no. You pick** ** _now_** **to be a parent?! Guess I'm not much better. Could've just let you** ** _bite it_** **! Now I'm monoplegic and Jaune's going to kill us all!"**

 **"** **I…" No excuse came from her mouth. No expected words. Only two words, so simple, but never spoken by her mouth. "I'm sorry…"**

The family of the Bandit leader were all in shock. They'd never heard those words from Raven in their lives. Then again, that seemed to be a pattern for the last few minutes.

 **Ruby, who likewise understood the princess to be a self-centered, egotistical ass, was shocked to hear any kind of apologetics from Raven, "Oh God, we** ** _are_** **fucked…"**

 **Jaune grinned, "Honestly, Ruby, the best part about all of this is that, since I am unburdened by the evolutionary failure of aging, I will live forever! Free to roam the stars at my leisure! Going to have to pick up a hobby though… I'm thinking metal work. Make some nice pieces in a forge made of stars~"**

Ruby gasped, "That… actually sounds awesome!"

 **Ruby on screen, who wasn't a weapon nut and** ** _in the middle of something_** **, didn't see it that way. "So this is how I die? Down an arm and killed by an android… Why does seem familiar?" She was unaware, but there were parallels to how her future counterpart died in Yang's future.**

 **"** **Ruby!" Oscar roared out toward her as she hadn't yet moved, "Snap out of it! Your mother wouldn't sit there and take it, and neither should you! If you want to do right by Summer, then don't let that bastard scare you!"**

 **Jaune laughed, "That's right, brat! It's just like you said! No use being afraid of the inevitable."**

 **Ruby clenched her good fist, "Yeah… Good point." She reared her arm back and began to charge her own blast, "KA! ME! HA! ME!"**

 **"** **Magnificent! One last stand against me! A climactic showdown~!" Jaune let out a roaring laugh, "Give me what your momma couldn't! Before I send you home to her!"**

Tai pinched the bridge of his nose. Part of him hoped the innuendos toward his wife and daughter were over… Tough luck, Tai…

 **Both roared out, "HA!" Two massive blue beams started to approach and collided in the center of their battle. Beam struggled against beam as neither side gave an inch. The world, itself, shook as their energies poured out.**

Everyone was dumbfounded. They'd never seen a beam struggle before, not knowing this kind of shit happens every other week in this world. But to them? This was like nothing they'd ever seen. It broke all the rules they understood.

 **Neptune watched the display, beyond any semblance of rational words. Only a joke to try to calm himself, "Really glad beams don't just explode on impact with each other…"**

 **Jaune shouted out over the sound of the beams, "Tell me when that arm starts feeling numb, brat! Then I might actually start trying! Worst case scenario: you die and get stronger. It did WONDERS for me~!"**

 **Ruby strained under the pressure of the assault as Jaune's energy started to push her back. "Any chance of you shutting the hell up?!"**

 **"** **What was that, brat? I can't hear you! Try sign language!"**

 **And now, to Neptune with a philosophical conundrum, "If a person with one arm uses sign language, is that a speech impediment or an accent?"**

The audience watching was silent for a whole new reason now. Would it be an impediment or an accent? Why do we drive on parkways but park on driveways?! Ships are cargo! Cars are shipping! Shipping! Back to brainless fighting!

 **Ruby grit her teeth, trying to fight back as the beam threatened to engulf her,** ** _Damn it! I'm down an arm, about to die, and no one's shutting the hell up!_**

 **"** ** _Oh! Sorry. I'll come back later._** **"**

 ** _Mom!_**

This was enough of a shock to stop their mental breaking.

Ruby looked up toward the screen, "She's alive?! How?!"

 **Summer appeared on the screen, floating in the air with a halo over her head and yellow clouds behind her, "Hi Ruby~! Sorry it took so long to call in, Ironwood's line was the worst."**

 **The screen moved to show a close up of a very angry Goodwitch with eyes closed and a vain popping on her forehead.**

 **"** **I thought I skipped it and went straight to hell~"**

 **Glynda's eyes snapped open as she turned her head. The screen pulled back to show Summer with her hand on Glynda's shoulder, using her telepathic abilities to speak to Ruby. Another note was the halo over her own head, "YOU** ** _SHOULD_** **GO TO HELL!"**

This got a laugh out of some of the audience. Some, rather, agreed with Glynda on screen given what they'd seen of Summer in this reality.

 **The camera returned to the fight as Ruby 'spoke' to her mother,** ** _Mom! I don't think I can do this! He's too strong! And it's all my fault. We're all… We're all gonna…!_**

 **"** ** _Ruby… I want you to listen to me. If you don't do this, Oscar is going to die. Your dad is going to die. Everyone! Is going to die! But before all of that… You're going to die. And you're better than that! You're better than him! You're better than me!_** **"**

 **Ruby found her second wind and pushed the beams back to center.**

 **"** ** _You see! I'm nowhere near that strong!_** **"** ** _Yet._**

Raven grumbled, "Wow… really?"

 **"** ** _You are more than just my daughter. You… are Ruby Rose! Now, dig in your heels, clench your teeth, and show this guy what you're made of!_** **"**

 **Ruby roared as her power surged. She started to push Jaune back again, but he proved none to keen on the idea.**

 **"** **I don't know where you're getting all this power, brat! But it doesn't matter! Behold! The power of** ** _two_** **hands!" Jaune pushed her back again. "Take solace Ruby. Though you have fought alone, you will not die alone. That is my last gift to you! A PERFECT DEATH!" Jaune was suddenly struck in the back. He turned to see Raven hovering above him. "Oh shit."**

 **"** ** _DO IT NOW!_** **"**

 **One last burst of power. The screen seemed to show Ruby and Summed standing together, both launching the blast toward Jaune.**

 **"** **OH SHIT!"**

Yang gasped, "Is this it?! Did she win?! Is the world safe?!"

 **A musical tune started to play. Jaune always had a flare for the dramatic. No one on screen heard it, but the viewers sure did.**

Raven groaned, "Another pointless song…"

Tai shrugged, "I kind of like them…"

Qrow nodded, "Nice change of pace."

 ** _And now… The end is near. And so I face, the final curtain! My friend, I'll make it clear. I'll state my case, of which I'm certain._**

 **The screen faded to a bright white before beginning to show scenes from Jaune's life in this world. From his beginning as his first form to his perfection. The lives he absorbed and the fights he led.**

 ** _I've traveled each, and every highway! But more… much mare than this. I did it My Way~_**

 **The screen then showed his failings on his road. The first being getting repeatedly Ki-Koh-Hoh-ed into a crater by Lie Ren.**

Nora was surprised, but got over it fast, "OH! That's why he didn't like you!"

 ** _Regrets! I've had a few!_**

 **Then there was the time he got his shit pushed in by Raven.**

 ** _But then again, too few to mention. I did, what I had to do! And saw it through, without exemption. I planned, each charted course! Each careful step, along the byway~! And more, much more than this. I did it My Way!_**

 **** **The screen started to show moments they'd seen in previous sets and even this current run.**

 ** _Yes, there were times! I'm sure you knew! When I bit off, more than I could chew!_**

 **Cue scene of Yang pushing Jaune's shit in when her mother decided to be a moron and let him attain his perfect form.**

Yang glared toward her mother, who in turn ignored her.

 ** _But through it all~! When there was doubt! I ate it up! And spit it out! The record shows!_**

 **The screen returned to Jaune in the present, his body slowly disintegrating.**

 ** _I took the blows. And did it…!_**

 **The blast finally pushed through as Ruby unleashed all hell on Jaune. His body dissipated to nothingness. No cells left to regenerate from. Nothing, not even an atom, was left of Jaune from this blast. But, let it never be said he didn't do it…**

 ** _MY~ WAY~!_**

 **The screen closed once again, Jaune removed from the world. Yang would be revived, along with those killed by Jaune's assault on the planet. Summer, however, remained in the afterlife, not wanting to burden the word or her family with psychopathic android menaces or alien threats seeking after her. Summer smiled, knowing the world was in good hands with Ruby.**


	48. Heavy Weapons Guy

**King: Word to the wise, do not tilt the Hoovy! The Hoovy is your friend. Eat Sandvich and stop being tiny babies. If it wasn't obvious before, it better be now!**

 **Inspiration: Team Fortress 2**

 **/\**

With that mass of insanity done, the group started to wish for something lighter. Truth be told, it wasn't like this was that dark, they just didn't want another round with Jaune as the bad guy and/or dying for a while. They knew it would come up again, it always did, but some kind of reprieve would be nice. The screen heard their pleas and, for the first time in its weird life-thing, decided to show mercy without King making it. Granted, this was the screen, so that mercy was both blessing and curse as it judged each world on _its_ standards. And if it wasn't clear yet, that was a _very_ dangerous standard.

 **The new scene opened to show a small base by the side of a desert road.**

Ruby's head tilted to the side, "Okay? So, what's this one?"

Weiss sighed, "I just hope it's something normal…"

 **The camera moved forward, swaying with steps, as it approached the door. A hand reached out and hit an intercom button by the door. "Excuse me?" The voice sounded familiar.**

Ruby racked her brain, "I've heard that voice before! Who is it?!"

Glynda, however, could place the voice. "Lisa Lavender, a reporter from Vale."

"That's it!"

 **The intercom answered her, "** ** _Hello? Who are you? Hell are you doing out here?_** **" Now this voice was easy to place. Nora Valkyrie.**

Nora giggled, eager to see what position she took in this story.

 **"** **My name is Lisa Lavender! If I can, I'd like to interview you and your team."**

 **"** ** _Alright. Wait! You're not a spy, are you?! You French, girly?!_** **"**

 **"** **Um… No."**

 **The door suddenly snapped open, revealing Nora. She was dressed in a red jacket and dark pants, iconic of her place on the team. She also had a helmet on her head that occasionally covered her eyes, "Welcome in~!"**

 **"** **Thank you?" They couldn't see it, but they knew all too well the kind of face Lisa had, confusion. Sheer confusion. "Right… So, if I can, I'd like to interview you."**

 **Nora held up her hand, "No can-do missy! I've got to address the troops!"**

 **"** **Troops? Aren't there only nine of you?"**

Ren smirked, "Knowing Nora, she's likely set up a mini army of rocks out back."

Nora giggled, "Probably~" It did sound like the kind of thing she'd do if she ever got her hands on a uniform like that.

 **"** **Regardless! You'll have to start with someone else! Try Jaune. He's usually around." With no other words, Nora ran off and left Lisa alone.**

 **Lisa was now alone in the headquarters of the infamous Red mercenaries… "The things I do for journalism…" A strange sound caught her attention and camera swung around to a strange device on the floor.**

 **A moment later, and a one-eyed Qrow popped in out of nowhere on top of the device. "WOO!" He chuckled, hand raised with a beer bottle and a case under his other arm. He chuckled before losing his grin. "Uh… Hello?"**

This got a couple chuckles out of Ruby.

Winter, however, just saw this as another nail in Qrow's character coffin.

 **"** **Um… Hi. I'm here to interview all of you for the local…"**

 **Qrow started to drink from his bottle, finishing it quickly. "Yeah?** ** _-hic-_** **Good fa you… I'm too drunk. Go to someone else."**

 **"** **You're always drunk…" The voice of Winter called out from inside the base. The camera spun around to show her in a sharp red suit. "Apologies. But We are quite busy. I'd like to ask you to leave."**

 **Lisa, and by extension the camera, jumped as a hand hit her shoulder. The camera spun around to find Ren.**

Nora giggled. This version of Ren wore a pair of overalls and a hard hat. He looked like a construction worker or something.

 **"** **Sorry about them. But we need to do our jobs."**

 **"** **And I need to do mine!" Lisa tried to argue the point.**

 **"** **I get that. I'm just saying we're busy. But, I think you can get** ** _one_** **interview in. Jaune should be free today."**

 **"** **Okay… Where is he?"**

 **Ren motioned for her to follow him. He led her to a backroom storage, notorious for being Jaune's haunt. "I'll go get him. Just wait here and I'll be right back."**

Ironwood growled, "If I had a nickel for every time some moronic reporter got themselves held hostage like that, I'd be a rich man."

 **The sound of the door creaking open snapped Lisa to attention to see an absolute behemoth of a man walking in. He was easily 7 feet tall and build like a brick wall. His blonde hair was shaved down and his eyes were narrowed. Safe to say, very intimidating.**

Coco let out a whistle, "Damn. You sure that's supposed to be Arc and not, like… a blonde Yastuhashi?"

Velvet shrugged, "I could see that so far…"

 **Jaune walked over and pulled a folding chair off a rack by the door. He placed it down and motioned for her to take a seat. Once she was, he placed a large box in front of it. He returned with another chair, only to be caught off guard when he heard a growling sound.**

 **Lisa cleared her throat, "Sorry. I've been trying to find this place for so long, I forgot to pick up something to eat… Now, about your interview-?"**

 **Jaune moved out the door without a word. After a minute, he returned with a sandwich on a small plate. He placed it down in front of her, "Eat." His voice was clearly that of Jaune (so, not a blonde Yatsu), but also deeper.**

 **"** **Oh… Thank you, but I can just get something after I leave." Her stomach, however, disagreed.**

A couple snickers followed, they could also feel the blush on her face from that.

 **Jaune tapped the side of the plate. "Eat. Is good for you. Help you grow large." He flexed his arms to emphasize his point. Now that he'd said more than one word, they could hear his accent.**

Blake raised an eyebrow, "Never heard that one before."

Weiss sighed, "I have, back in Atlas. It's the kind of thing you hear from the people that live in the northern-most parts of the Kingdom's reach. Sometimes beyond it."

Ruby turned to her partner, "Isn't it really cold that far out?"

"Unbelievably. But people have found ways to manage."

 **Lisa, knowing there was no way out this, picked up the sandwich and took a bite. "Thank you."**

 **"** **Is fine. Sandvich is good for everyone."**

 **"** **You're quite friendly, aren't you?"**

 **"** **I do what I can."**

Pyrrha chuckled to herself, "Definitely something Jaune would do."

 **Lisa finished the sandvich, taking a breath before addressing Jaune again, "So, I'm here to interview you if I can. My first question for you, Jaune, is what do** ** _you_** **do here in the Gulch?"**

 **Jaune stood up from his chair and walked off to the back of the room. He returned carrying a large minigun, bridal style, and placing it on the makeshift table between them.**

Ruby's eyes went wide, "WOAH! Look at that! A gas propelled minigun with a great framework! It looks well taken care of, too!"

Coco grinned, always appreciative to meet someone else with good taste in weapons.

 **Jaune sat back down and pulled his chair in. "I am heavy weapons guy." Jaune looked down to his gun and grinned, "And this…" he clutched the handle on top, "is my weapon."**

Yang chuckled, "Kind of reminds me of Ruby."

Blake and Weiss nodded.

Ruby didn't notice, still gushing over the weapon.

 **"** **She weighs 150 kilograms…"**

Coco turned to Velvet, who sighed, "A bit over 330 pounds."

 **"…** **and fires 200-dollar custom dual cartridge rounds at 10,000 rounds per minute~"**

Ruby gasped, having never even heard of custom ammo! There was dust rounds, but that's no different to just different types of ammo. But truly custom, usable nowhere else, kind of ammo?! That was insane! "I want one!"

Coco grinned, "Same here. I may have to make some adjustments."

 **"** **It costs 400,000 dollars to fire this weapon for** ** _twelve seconds._** **"**

Ruby went stiff. "Don't want it anymore!"

This got a few laughs, but only from those that didn't care as much about the numbers. Those that caught the cost were all stunned into silence.

 **Lisa was just as shocked, saying nothing for a moment.**

 **Jaune started to laugh, "But look on reporter's face is priceless~!" He broke out into uproarious laughter.**

Port chuckled, "At least he has a good sense of humor."

 **Jaune started to slow his laughter and calm down again. He took a deep breath as his hand fell to his gun. He ticked the barrel along its path for a second before his face suddenly turned to shock. "Oh my God, who touched Coco…"**

Velvet was wide eyed and grinning, "He named… his gun… Coco?"

Coco was just surprised. "Okay… Not what I was expecting."

 **"** **Alright…" Jaune stood up, his shock turning to anger, "WHO TOUCHED MY GUN?!"**

Yang burst out into laughter, "Oh man! Now it really does sound like Ruby!"

Said sister was indignant, "Yang! I'm not that bad!"

"You almost bite a guy's hand off for reaching _toward_ your scythe."

Tai thought back to the event, "Oh yeah! I remember that. She'd just build her weapon."

Ruby groaned, "I just didn't want Crescent Rose getting ruined…"

 **Jaune stormed toward the door, "I SWEAR, IF EITHER OF YOU TAMPERED WITH COCO I WILL RIP YOUR TINY BABY SPINES OUT OF YOUR PUNY BODIES!" He slammed the door on his tirade, leaving a large crack on the wall from the impact.**

 **Lisa waited in the room, shaking as she heard the sounds of screaming and bones breaking. She contemplated leaving before Jaune returned, seemingly calmed again. "Um… Was that a good idea? They're your team… Aren't they?"**

 **"** **They will be fine. Doctor Velvet will patch them up good…"**

Velvet blinked. She recognized the pattern that this world followed. Which means she was the Medic from the last time. _She_ was the crazy psycho doctor! That was a fun mental image…

 **"** **Right… And the team opposite you all have the same abilities?"**

 **"** **As far as I am aware."**

 **"** **So… what's stopping them from just patching themselves up after your attacks?"**

 **"** **They always come back, but we can delay them. Push them back like the tiny babies they are. We don't need to finish them off, just keep them back long enough to steal intelligence."**

 **"** **That's… rather wise. You're quite intelligent."**

 **"** **I have doctorate in Russian Literature."**

Oobleck gasped, "He's a doctor?! I had no idea!"

Port chuckled, "Judging books by their covers, Bart?"

"Hardly. His work is that of a mercenary. I made an inferred judgement based on this, believing that none of them possessed such educations. Though, I _am_ happy to be wrong."

 **"** **How often do you use that education? I mean… Your job is just to hold down the trigger, right?"**

 **"** **It comes up more often than you think. We need to think faster than most. Outsmart any one…" Jaune started to gaze off into the world. "Most people think they can outsmart me. Maybe… maybe…" He took a quick sniffle before turning back to her. He held up one of his rounds, "I've yet to meet one that can outsmart bullet."**

 **The door creaked open, revealing Velvet, dressed in the combat medic uniform, "Jaune. We need you on the front line." She spoke with the same kind of accent Jaune had when was the Medic.**

 **Jaune nodded, placing the bullet back on his bandolier, "Interview is over." He picked up his gun and walked out.**

 **The camera uncoupled from Lisa's perspective and showed the interior of the room over Jaune's shoulder. Lisa stood and bowed her head, "Thank you! Both for your time and the food."**

 **Jaune closed the door and walked with Velvet. The medical officer raised her eyebrow, "You shared some of our food?"**

Coco snickered and elbowed her partner, "Looks like _you're_ the Heavy/Medic team this time~ Bet they've got some crazy memories."

Velvet blushed, but kept her calm, more than used to Coco's teasing.

 **"** **She hadn't eaten. Sandvich is good source of protean."**

 **"** **Fair enough." Velvet picked up her Medigun and grinned, wiping off a bit of blood with her gloved thumb. "You ready?"**

 **"** **I am always ready, Doctor."**

 **"** **Good~" Velvet pulled her guns lever and set the healing stream on Jaune. They both walked out and into the warzone.**

 **Jaune roared out as he crested the hill into the canyon. He let out a mocking cry before laughing. "CRY SOME MORE!"**

 **The screen went black as he echoed, "Cry some more~"**

The scene wasn't as dark as the previous variations, and thus got a chunk of the audience to laugh. It was interesting seeing Jaune as the wall of pain. The tank, if you will. Pyrrha, however, got to thinking. Jaune had a large aura pool… He may try to act in a tank roll… Something to deal with in time.


	49. Old Habits Die Hard

**King: Well then... This was fun. Hope you enjoy. This note is shorter than normal because I just want to get this one. Shall we?**

 **Inspiration: Overwatch**

 **/\**

If the screen could speak/think, a single thought would run through its mind. _Kid always wanted to be a hero…_

 **The screen opened to a scene of a large town on a mountain. The distinct roof structures and winding roads of hills reminded them of some of the small territories nearby to Vale. The area was hard to defend from Grimm, but they didn't exist in this world, so it wasn't an issue. Walls occasionally ran along the hillsides to match the homes above them and give some semblance of uniformity on that side.**

Pyrrha smiled, "It kind of reminds me of Mistral. Just, less extremely spaced out."

A **s the screen panned down to the ground level to a café entrance, the door opened and a young girl (around 14-ish?) with dark hair walked out, "I'm not a little kid anymore! Stop treating me like one!"**

This got a trio in the audience to have various reactions. Blake just blinked in surprise, as if to process what she'd heard. Kali had a giant grin on her face. And Gira… was Gira. He had a might grin, but kept his imposing visage.

 **Her mother's voice from off screen followed soon after. "** ** _Listen to me, Blake! Get the flour and get back quickly! No stops!_** **"**

 **"** **Fine!" The girl growled as the door closed and walked on. Now, her face revealed, they could see it was a younger Blake.**

Yang gasped, "Oh my gosh! You were so adorable!"

Kali clasped her hands together, "I know, right~!"

Blake groaned and sunk in her chair.

 **Kali's voice came in as the voice over, "** ** _I worry about Blake. Every day. No longer a child, but nowhere near grown up. She is at a crossroads…_** **"**

 **Blake walked passed a poster. She lingered for a moment, taking in the old visage. It was a poster from the heyday of the Huntsmen, the protectors of humanity against the Omnic threat. The figure on the poster cut a heroic form in his long blue coat, looking off to the upper left. This was once Field Commander Jaune Arc, leader of the Huntsmen. The poster was fading, so it was difficult to tell to most, but those who know him could easily recognize him.**

Nora gasped with a smile on her face, "I knew he could be an awesome and fearless leader!"

Ren and Pyrrha smiled and nodded. They knew, more than anyone, just how capable Jaune was as a leader and strategist. He was improving and may yet be able to match them in strength.

 **Blake turned away as the voice over continued, "** ** _I tell her about the heroes that saved our world time and time again… I told her these to give her hope… I'm afraid she'll have to make a choice that would decide the course of her life…_** **"**

 **Blake walked around the corner to the sound of a metallic strike. She jumped, seeing White Fang gang members huddled near a nearby wall. One of them had a metal bat and reared back. The camera cut back to Blake when the item fell, and another tone rang out. Blake recoiled, knowing what was happening and who these men were.**

Gira let out an annoyed growl. He hated the idea of the once proud White Fang acting like common thugs or terrorists. This just stung.

Sienna agreed, but in a more militaristic way. She was more than happy to retaliate and crush who stood against her, but acting like this? It was annoying.

Ilia raised an eyebrow. Blake seemed scared of these men, but they were White Fang… Why would she act like that?

 **Blake tried to pass by unnoticed, but one of the Fang saw her. "Hey! Hey! Blake! Where you going, girl?!"**

 **Blake recoiled and hoped to just walk by. "N-nowhere…"**

 **"** **Nowhere is right. Come here. Check this out." The thug placed his arm over her shoulders and dragged her over to the group.**

 **Lying, cradled up, on the ground and by the wall was a robotic being known as an Omnic. A large dent was formed on its head and its body sparked as the damage from their assault broke wires and disturbed its frame.**

Penny felt sick again. Sure, this robot seemed less sophisticated in form, but it still seemed sentient. It was looking up toward her as if to ask for mercy.

Ilia growled. She'd met too many people willing to sit on the sidelines and let such actions take place against the faunas. To think Blake would do the same… She glared toward the bow on Blake's head. _She might as well be…_

 **The White Fang grunt chuckled, "Here." He handed Blake the bat, more forcing it on her, and pushed her ahead. "Give him what he deserves!"**

 **Blake was in over her head. White Fang were notorious for their ruthless behavior toward Omnics and she was just one girl. She shook seeing the Omnic twitching in pain, but she couldn't do anything. "I… I need to go."**

 **The thug chuckled before blowing up on her, "DO IT!" He calmed soon after, "It's just a bucket of bolts."**

Penny felt her eye twitch.

 **Blake shook her head slightly, "I need to get to the store before it closes or my mom's gonna kill me." She tried to have a way out. An escape from what was happening.**

 **One of the other thugs took her purse from her pocket and laughed, "Gonna be hard to do that without any money, eh?"**

 **"** **Hey!" Blake tried to get her purse back, but it was constantly tossed around between the thugs. "Give that back! I need it!"**

 **The thugs continued their game until a truck rolled up, hovering off the ground as a song played. "Hey! Get on the truck, let's go!"**

Yang grinned, "It doesn't have wheels, but hovers using music? That's pretty cool."

 **As they left, Blake expected to be given her money back, but was pushed aside as they left. "My money…" She let out a yell and gave chase through the alleys.**

Ozpin sighed, "A foolish decision given what we've seen. If she is just a civilian, it would be better to go to the police."

Ironwood grumbled, "Assuming they can do _anything_ … If that gang was willing to work in the open like that, I doubt anyone in law enforcement is willing to stop them. Or at least that they don't fear the repercussions. But, yes, a civilian shouldn't charge into a dangerous situation like that."

 **Blake hopped up a few boxes and over a wall. She landed in an alley and peered out from a set of planks. She saw the truck arrive and her eyes narrowed. She just needed to get to her purse… She moved to confront them, only to be face to face with one of the members she'd seen by the street. She cried out and fell backward, trying to get away. She heard a thud and looked back to see he collapsed face-first onto the ground.**

 **Another thug cried out from a turn in the alley in front of her. He dropped to the ground and tried to dig his nails into the ground, as to save him from his attacker. "No! No! NO!" He was dragged back into the alley, his nails scraping up bits of the concrete, and his cries ceased.**

This made the audience more than a little nervous. They had yet to see Jaune beyond the poster. It made them more than a little nervous thinking Jaune might be a dangerous psychopath again.

 **One of the White Fang on the truck pointed down the alley, "Go check that out. I'll finish loading."**

 **Two thugs made their way down the street to the unconscious member. As they did, the camera shifted to a side alley, showing someone dragging a body in the other direction.**

All involved were uneasy. There was too little information to work with here. They saw someone dragged into an alley and, presumably, beaten. Possibly killed. All without getting even a glimpse of the attacker.

 **As the two helped their buddy up, the figure in the alley tossed the gang member he had into the fuse box on the wall. The man cried out in pain as he was electrocuted by the box. With the circuit now disturbed, the lights in that section of the alley were knocked out, revealing each White Fang member had glowing tattoos in darkness.**

Yang gasped seeing that, "Okay! This is crazy and all but come on! Glow in the dark tattoos?! That's just awesome!"

Tai nodded, "I can accept that. But how would they work?"

"No idea. Still cool."

 **The White Fang picked up various weapons, including the bat and a board with a nail in it. They moved in a small circle, watching the world around them in the darkness. "You see anything?!"**

 **"** **Who's there!"**

 **Then, one of them fucked up. "Enough games you fuck! Come out and fight!" His back to the alley, he didn't see as the red glow of a visor lit up. He heard a soft hum and turned in time to see the fist that slammed into his jaw. The impact was strong enough to knock him back into the wall behind him.**

This made everyone jump.

Tai whistled, "Damn. That kind of force is pretty impressive. But, it was also a sucker punch, so less cool."

Yang shrugged, "Not all _that_ impressive. I could that easy."

 **The figure moved out from the alley. He was an older man, his hair a light grey. His face was obscured by a futuristic mask with a glowing visor. It was hard to tell anything about him. His attire, however, was more distinctive. He wore a dark grey and white leather jacket with matching combat slacks. The back of his jacket, which they saw briefly, was adorned with the familiar dual arc symbol of a certain blonde knight.**

Nora gasped, "Jaune saves the day! Our awesome leader is a hero!"

 **Jaune fought with one hand, the other holding his pulse rifle. He ducked under one thug's attack and elbowed the third thug in the chin, knocking his bat, spinning, into the air. Jaune swung around and caught the bat, knocking the second thug out with the metal bolted weapon.**

Nora grinned, "Woah! Do you think our Jaune could do that?!"

Glynda adjusted her glasses back up her nose, "Not likely anytime soon. But, it's not unheard of for huntsmen to fight in similar ways. Ms. Nikos would be one such example."

 **Another of the thugs tried to sneak up behind him, only to be met with an elbow in his jaw without Jaune turning around. He followed this with a back hand and dropped his rifle. He grabbed the thug and tossed him into his partner. When the third thug tried to punch him, he knocked the attack away and beat him down again. The third tossed off his partner and charged Jaune. The masked man grabbed his arm and swung him around his body, placing a hand on the other side of the thug's head, and slammed him into the wall.**

Everyone recoiled on the impact.

Yang chuckled, "Holy shit! Pretty sure I saw a tooth come out!"

Roman and Neo looked toward one another, happy that the huntsmen didn't hunt them down like that.

 **Jaune looked off down the alley and toward the truck. He released the thug on the wall and growled. The lone man at the truck jumped seeing the glowing visor and dropped his crate. He whistled and made for a large box. Opening the crate, he dug into a series of pinatas and pulled out a giant minigun.**

Ironwood growled, "Weapon smugglers, then?"

Winter's eyes narrowed. "So it seems…"

 **As the bullets flew by, Jaune ducked behind a wall. Above him, three more White Fang thugs appeared with assault rifles, firing down toward him. Jaune flipped a switch on his rifle and dove out into the street again.**

Pyrrha was a little scared seeing him do that. "Why would he go out like that?!"

 **Jaune rolled to a kneeling position and set his sights toward the truck. He pulled the trigger and fired out a trio of small pod rockets, spinning around in a helix formation. The rockets hit the truck and caused a large explosion.**

Ruby's eyes went wide, "Personal rocket pods?! On a rifle?! How is that even viable?! The amount of recoil and power required to make that happen would never work in a rifle that size!"

 **Jaune ducked through fire and jumped off a box. The world moved in slow motion as a holographic screen appeared in front of his visor. The screen moved to his perspective, showing three target reticles appearing on the three thugs on the roof. The screen moved to show Jaune fire three shots. Each hit their mark without deviation and all three fell into the alley.**

Ruby was officially freaking out, "And he has a personal targeting computer?! How?! Tell me how it works?!"

This should have gotten some laughs from her friends and team, but they were too stunned by the events that had transpired. It was worse by what was on the screen.

 **Jaune stood with the burning truck behind him, his visor glowing as his body shrouded in shadows. He walked forward and toward a downed White Fang. The thug tried to beg. He begged for mercy before the man that had so thoroughly destroyed them. Jaune didn't care. He picked up a still smoldering pinata off the ground as he moved. The thug tried one last burst forward as he crawled, trying to get away. Jaune placed his boot on the man's back before he crouched and slammed the pinata into his head.**

 **"** **THESE!"**

 **SMACK!**

 **"** **AREN'T!"**

 **SMACK!**

 **"** **YOUR!"**

 **SMACK!**

 **"** **STREETS!"**

 **SMACK!**

 **"** **ANYMORE!" One last bash with the still burning party decoration/game knocked the thug out cold.**

Roman and Neo were officially scared. No arrests. No warnings. Nothing. Only brutality to meet the criminals. If they were ever going to be scared straight, this was the time.

Seeing the people get dropped from the rooves and the man get beaten with a pinata filled the students with fear. This was supposed to be Jaune. In this world, he was a hero! He was on a poster for gods' sakes! Why would he act like that?! What kind of hero would just beat people like that?!

 **Blake cried out in fear. This caught Jaune's attention as he looked up toward her. "No! No please! I just…!" She tried to crawl away, but didn't look away from him, eyes frozen in fear.**

 **Another truck appeared in the alley and picked up anyone that was at least conscious. "GET ON THE TRUCK! LET'S GO!"**

 **"** **You don't get off that easy!" Jaune was about to give chase.**

 **"** **Eat this!" One of the thugs pulled a grenade and tossed it toward Jaune. The explosive skipped off the ground and landed in front of Blake, who tried to scramble away from the device.**

Kali placed her hands in front of her mouth in shock. She couldn't say anything, hoping that Blake would find a way out of this. _Please! Don't die!_

Blake readied herself for the worst.

 **Jaune growled. On one hand, this was his best chance to finally take down the White Fang! But a civilian was…** ** _DAMN IT!_**

 **An explosion ripped through the alley.**

Ruby slammed her fist into her chair, "Grenades do NOT have that large an explosive yield!"

Blake closed her eyes and took a breath.

Kali was trying to hold back tears. Even if she had her Blake next to her, she'd still seen her explode!

 **The screen showed Jaune skid across the concrete of the alley, body hunched. He slowly moved and turned, showing Blake huddled below him, eyes wide in shock. He had shielded her from the blast as best he was able. She was, thankfully, unhurt.**

Kali sighed in relief. "Oh thank goodness!"

Blake let herself indulge in a slight smile. She didn't die, and Jaune was a hero after all.

Ruby and Nora were celebrating seeing Jaune act like the hero they knew he could be.

 **Jaune let Blake rest on the ground as he stood again. The blast did its damage. He clutched his side and groaned, fist tightening in pain and frustration. He growled and looked back toward the alley.**

 **Blake looked up toward him, still uncertain, "You… saved me. Why?"**

 **Jaune's attention snapped back toward her, causing her jump back a bit. Jaune sighed, "Old habits die hard I guess. Run home kid. It's not safe out here." He tossed something toward her.**

 **Blake caught the item, which turned out to be her purse.**

"How did…" Blake was side eyed for the first time in a good long while. "He…"

Pyrrha smiled, seeing a bit of her Jaune in this act.

 **Blake watched as he turned away to collect his gun. "You're one of those heroes, aren't you?!"**

 **Jaune paused and turned his head toward her, "Not anymore." He walked off into the smoke left by the explosion.**

 **Blake smiled, "I think you are…"**

Those who knew Jaune… Even some that didn't, couldn't help but agree. Despite what they'd seen, they would still call him a hero. All it took was a single action… After all, most heroes only truly have four or five moments to truly be heroic. Moments that decide the way they will be remembered.

 **The screen faded to show Blake returning down her street with a large bag of flour. As she passed the poster from before she skidded her feet on the stone street and ran back to grab the old paper from the wall.**

 **When she returned, Kali made her mind known, "You're late! I was worried sick!"**

 **"** **Mom! You would not believe what just happened!" Blake's voice faded as Kali's voice over returned.**

 **"** ** _And then there are the times when I see her smile, her eyes filled with hope, and I think… maybe I don't have to worry about Blake after all._** **"**

 **The screen pulled back to show Jaune watching the scene from a nearby roof. He turned and left with the visage of the moon left as the last sight.**


	50. Lullaby for the Moon Prince

**King: Number 50! A huge milestone for me~ I want to gush a little, but I also just want to set into this, you know? So, let's get into this one now, and I can gush at the next milestone. Sound good? Okay! See you at... which ever milestone hits next... I guess...**

 **Inspiration: Lullaby for a Princess by Ponyphonic / My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic**

 **/\**

 _King? King, you there?_ The screen was alone to play the next round. And so, it played one it liked. Not just that, one it felt _had_ to be played.

 **The screen opened to a beautiful stain glass form showing Yang in regal attire, the sun behind her head like a halo. A large crack ran up the middle of the piece, each piece broken along a line.**

Yang locked up. That glass haunted her ever since she'd first seen it.

Tai noticed but wasn't there at the time. "What's up? Is that bad?"

Ruby groaned, "In this reality… Yang and Jaune were siblings and they got into a really bad fight."

"How bad are we talking? Like you-and-Yang bad or Qrow-vs-Raven bad?"

"Magical attacks breaking towers bad."

Yang's fist tightened, threatening to break skin. "I was a terrible sister in this reality. One where I ignored him for years and didn't try to help when he needed me…"

Tai brought his daughter into a hug to help calm her.

 **Yang's voice rang out through the world. "I'm sorry Jaune… For so much…" The camera pulled back to show Yang standing before the glass. A musical tone started to play on the wind in the castle.**

King popped back in and looked around, "What's up? What did I miss?" He jumped at the music and spun around. "Oh… Back here again. And… Oh?"

Yang remained torn for a moment before a realization hit her. Her cowlick stood at attention like an exclamation point. "Hold up! All of these are supposed to have Jaune in them! That means he's not dead!"

"Your counterpart never killed him, though I can understand the confusion. This is likely running to give the new viewers context. And, it that tune is what I think it is, this going to be… emotional."

Weiss raised an eyebrow, "So, we're going to hear Yang sing?"

"Yep."

Ruby groaned, but in a manner that clearly meant it as a joke, "Ugh… Do we have to?"

Yang grinned and punched Ruby's shoulder. She was in a good mood finding out she didn't actually kill her pseudo-brother.

 **Yang walked along the hall and out to a balcony overlooking the kingdom.**

 **And so began her lullaby.**

 **"** ** _Fate has been cruel and order, unkind. How could I have sent you away?_** **"**

Pyrrha looked on with a somber visage, "She's… singing to Jaune?"

Yang took a breath, preparing herself for what was to come.

 **"** ** _The blame was my own… The punishment yours. The harmony's silent today._** **" Her eyes began to glow a bright gold as her hand raised toward the Moon, still etched with Jaune's symbol. "** ** _But into the stillness, I'll bring you a song. And I will your company keep. Till your tired eyes, and my lullabies, have carried you softly to sleep._** **"**

 **The world went white for a moment. When they could see again, Yang was surrounded by what looked like old paintings in a world without form. There were only the painting, Yang, and small bright lights around her. Yang's magic flared out behind her, forming her golden, angelic wings. She reached out and placed her hand against a painting.**

 **"** ** _One did a princess, who shone like the sun, look down on her kingdom, and sigh…_** **" The painting showed Yang sitting atop a throne in profile with her people off the left of the scene. "** ** _She smiled and said 'surely, there is no other so lovely! And so well beloved, as I~!'_** **"**

Yang took a calming breath. She hated this reality. She really did. She'd effectively abandoned her family… Though not in traditional form, she'd effectively left him in her shadow to suffer. It was painful, but there was still hope, right?

 **The scene swapped to show Yang standing in the center with her arms out, ready to embrace the world, her auric wings spread out. "** ** _So great was her reign, and so brilliant her glory, that long was the shadow she cast!_** **"**

 **The scene moved again. Now Yang was addressing her subjects to the scene's left while Jaune sat behind in her shadow. "** ** _Which fell dark upon the young brother she loved and grew only darker while days and nights passed._** **"**

Salem swallowed a lump in her throat. Her heart broke seeing Jaune like that. Her baby boy cast aside and forgotten by his own sibling…

 **"** ** _Lullay my Moon prince, goodnight brother mine. Rest now in moonlight's embrace. Bear up my lullaby, winds of the earth, through cloud and through sky and through space! Carry the peace and the coolness of night, and carry my sorrow in kind. Jaune you are loved so much more than you know, forgive me for being so blind._** **"**

 **The scene changed from a painting to a moment in time. A young Yang stood in the doorway to Jaune's room. He was seated at his desk, clearly distraught.**

 **"** ** _Soon did that princess take notice that others, did not give her brother his due._** **"**

 **Yang tried to grin and strike up a conversation, but the damage had long been done. Jaune slammed his fist into his desk and turned toward her. They couldn't hear them, but it was clear they were arguing. Jaune tossed her out using his magic and slammed the door in her face.**

 **"** ** _And neither had she loved him as he deserved. She watched as her brother's unhappiness grew._** **"**

Nora's face fell to sadness, "I don't remember that part…"

Ren rarely let emotions get the better of him, a side effect to his training and semblance. But this choked him up long enough to need a pause. "It likely happened before the events we see."

"But… then why did they still happen?"

Gira sighed, "Because neither side was really listening. They shouted _at_ each other instead… This doesn't solve problems. It only makes things worse." He glanced toward Sienna, who easily picked up his disappointment in her.

To the leader of the White Fang, the most dangerous woman in all of Remnant, that hurt. She'd failed the man who she looked up to. She failed to truly listen and find compromise with those she called her enemies. She'd failed her… hero…

 **Jaune stood in his room, breathing heavy, as he glared toward the door. Tears formed and fell down his cheeks. A pair of hands in dark armor reach around his head. Standing behind him was Tantabus, the nightmarish form he would soon take, wrapping his arms around the Prince of Dreams, embracing him when no one else would.**

 **"** ** _But such is the way of the limelight, it sweetly takes hold of the mind of its host._** **"**

 **The scene cut to Yang in the hallway. Her eyes wide. This was her chance to stop this. To be there for Jaune when he needed her. Her stubborn pride and anger got the better of her, and she turned away.**

 **"** ** _And foolish princess did nothing to stop the destruction of on who had needed her most._** **"**

Yang slammed her fist into her chair, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! GET BACK IN THERE AND HELP HIM!"

Raven rolled her eyes at her daughter's actions. This weakness of spirit and body was nothing more than the actions of the unworthy. If anything, her respect went to the Arc of this world, willing to rise up and take what he wants.

 **The camera panned up to the glass roofing above her, showing the eclipsed sun.**

Tai went wide eyed, having never seen a total eclipse, "Woah…"

Ruby giggled at his reaction, "I said the same thing."

 **A sudden impact appeared in the skies. Orbs of blue and gold slammed into one another before the eclipse. The camera snapped closer on one impact to show Tantabus and Yang, their fists having collided. Both had their auric wings out and their eyes glowing.**

 **"** ** _Lullay, my moon prince, goodnight brother mine. Rest now in moonlight's embrace._** **"**

 **The pulled back and Tantabus fired a beam toward Yang. She created a shield, but it was easily broken. The Sun Princess was able to dodge the attack but found herself in Tantabus's trap. He grabbed her by her neck, keeping her still, before landing a punch to send her flying downward. Tantabus tried to attack using beams, but Yang would dodge each and fly back upward.**

 **"** ** _Bear up my lullaby, winds of the earth, through cloud and through sky and through space!_** **"**

Neptune leaned to the side slightly, "Kind of reminds me of that bug-Jaune world, the way their fighting."

This got many in the audience to think back, and they had to agree. Granted, this world had magic. Is they could shoot lasers, they'd do so in a heartbeat.

 **Yang pushed Jaune downward with a beam. From the camera's angle, it appeared as though the two were on opposite sides of the moon. Two beams charged and fired into one another, creating a glowing ball that seemed to eclipse the eclipse.**

 **"** ** _Carry the peace and coolness of night! And carry my sorrow in kind._** **"**

 **The two each struggled in this moment. While, her brother struggling to finally take her down, Yang was broken up by heartbreak. Her brother, the only family she'd ever known, was swallowed up by hate and was trying to kill her. The ball moved closer to Yang as Tantabus's fury spurred him onward. He let out a roar of anger, pouring more power into his attack.**

 **"** ** _Jaune, you are loved so much more than you know… May troubles be far from your mind._** **"**

 **Yang was blown away and crashed into the tower holding the maiden stones.**

Yang's whole body tensed up. This was it… This was the moment where she sent him away. She was happy to have learned he wasn't dead, but in some way that made it worse. It meant he was still there, he still hated her. Likely even more so now that she'd done that to him.

 **Yang found the maiden stones as they fell from their perch and to the ground. Tantabus shattered the glass window and flew in to finally finish her. In desperation, she acted without thought. She wielded the Stones as the world turned to slow motion.**

 **"** ** _And forgive me for being so blind._** **"**

 **A burst of power erupted from Yang, turning her dress a bright gold and causing her hair to glow. Tantabus was knocked back. Soon after the camera changed to show as he dissolved, his symbol etching into the Moon. Yang was stunned. So many emotions ran through her head in that moment, but only one truly mattered. Sorrow. Her tears formed, fell, and she cried out in despair for what she'd done.**

Ruby shrunk in her chair, "This is really hard to watch…"

Yang's teeth clenched, "Why… Why do I have to see this again?"

 **"** ** _The years now, before us… fearful and unknown. I never imagined, I'd face them on my own._** **"**

 **The world cut back to the castle. Now, Yang stood in a brilliant golden dress as her hair flowed behind her, glowing like the very sun she commanded. This was a Yang wizened by experience and made regal by station. Princess Yang, Ruler of the Dawn and monarch of all of Vale. She continued to sing her song, her lullaby to her brother.**

Everyone who knew Yang, even only tangentially, were in shock. Before, they saw Yang and were surprised to find out she was a princess. Now, they saw a princess and were shocked to find out it was Yang! Seriously, this Yang was very definition of royalty.

 **"** ** _May these thousand winters, swiftly pass I pray! I love you, I miss you… All these miles away._** **"**

 **Yang raised her hand toward the moon. This had become somewhat of a routine. Her song rang out over all of Vale as her subjects slept. Many believed she sang this to her subjects, to help them find peace in sleep. In reality, she sang for her brother, trapped in the Moon. She'd been singing this lullaby for so many years, now…**

 **"** ** _May all your dreams be sweet tonight. Safe upon your bed of moonlight. And know not of sadness, pain, or care! And when I dream I'll fly away and meet you there. Sleep… Sleep… Sleep…_** **"**

 **The moon set upon the world once more.**

There were few dry eyes in that theater after that. Some tried to hide their tears with their hands, others simply let the dams flow. One Peter Port simply sat in his seat, shedding manly tears, which just means he was crying but didn't hunch over.

 **By tomorrow's dawn, it will have one thousand years since Tantabus was banished to the Moon. The dual Arc symbol seemed to glow for a moment. "** ** _Soon…_** **"**


	51. Nightmare Night

**King: This had to happen. There was no other way this could go. That said, I changed a few things around. Okay, quite a few things. This is how their world plays out, though. Hope you enjoy~**

 **Inspiration: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic**

 **/\**

Yang took a breath. "Why did we have to see that again?"

King appeared and floated down toward her, "What you do in her place?"

"What?"

"What would you do? Your sibling had turned against you. Your situation is life and death. Would you fight?"

"I…" Yang's gaze fell and her breathing hitched, "I don't know. I want to do the right thing… So, I want to say that I'd stop _anyone_ who tries to hurt people. But I don't know…"

King had no face, but they could swear he grinned, "It's the kind of thing you never know until it happens to you. Now, my next question. If that happened and if you stopped your sibling, only for them to return to try again… Could you forgive them?" King disappeared before answer came and the screen picked up what he'd set up.

 **The Sun Princess Yang sat upon her throne. She was looking over the paperwork for the Summer Sun Celebration to be held in the small village of Patch. She'd been working since morning to make sure preparations were complete at the castle but needed someone to go in person to check on the work in Patch. She wanted to go herself, but the needs of her people took precedence over her own whims.**

 **Thankfully, she'd find herself able to deal with two issues at once. The doors to her throne room opened to reveal Blake Belladonna, dressed in attire that just shouted 'bookworm,' running up toward her. "Princess Yang! I need to speak to you."**

"An odd way to address a princess." Roman leaned back and placed his hands behind his head.

Qrow chuckled, "It is a little familiar…"

Blake raised an eyebrow seeing her appear, but soon remembered the situation. Yang may try to hold this over her and use it as teasing fair.

 **Blake was Yang's star student and, if Blake could get past her own hang ups about station, her friend. The fact that she didn't stand on ceremony means whatever she had to say was urgent.**

 **Yang stood from her seat, "What is it, Blake?"**

 **Blake seemed to catch up to herself and quickly bowed toward the Princess, "I'm sorry your majesty! But this is important!"**

 **Yang crossed her arms and grinned, "So I've gathered."**

 **Blake cleared her throat and pulled a chart out of her messenger bag, "I've been studying the magical etching on the Moon. It's been reacting to something! I believe the old stories about Tantabus may just be true!"**

Blake was taken aback, "What on… Why I know what happened?"

 **One thousand years had passed since that night, and it still haunted Yang.**

No one actually expected Yang to have lived that thousand years.

Yang let out an impressed whistle, "Damn! I look good for being quadruple digits~"

 **Yang smiled, however. No one else really believed it happened. It had quickly just turned to stories and legends. A part of that hurt since it meant they forgot Jaune was even real! But she held her tongue for now. After all, no one really kept track of her age, so they forgot she was there for it. "Are you certain?"**

 **"** **Ma'am… It gets worse. The magical seal is weakening! Tantabus is breaking out!"**

 **This actually caught Yang off guard.**

As well as everyone in the audience.

 **Yang took a moment before answering. "You're certain of this?"**

 **"** **Yes, ma'am! I hypothesize that Tantabus will break from his seal and return to remnant soon!"**

 **Yang had a plan forming in her mind. Blake was a recluse and a loner, but it was clear she was meant to do great things. Yang just had to put her on the right patch. So, for now, best to keep this secret. Knowing her, she'll still pursue the issu,e which is what Yang wanted from her.**

The eyes of the inner circle turned toward Ozpin. There was too much that was familiar about that.

 **"** **Blake… You expect me to believe that the old fairy tale, is real?"**

 **"** **Ma'am? We have magic! A third of the population can fly using auric wings!"**

 **"** **Yes, so it seems odd that we still have such fairy tales, no?"**

 **"** **I…"**

 **"** **Blake. What you're telling me is to believe a fairy tale,"** ** _I was there!_** **"For… What reason?"**

 **"** **Princess, we need to take this seriously!"**

 ** _I am! Believe me I am!_** **"If it turns out such an outlandish story** ** _is_** **real, we will deal with it. For now, we need to deal with matters at hand. I need you to travel to the town of Patch and ensure their preparations for our event is running on time."**

 **"** **Ma'am!"**

 **"** **Blake. You will be representing me in the town. Is this understood?"**

 **"** **I… Yes! Ma'am! I won't let you down!" Blake ran off to prepare for her journey to Patch.**

Ironwood smirked, "Starting to have flashbacks here, Oz…"

Ozpin rolled his eyes, "At yet, we remain. I don't like it, but some things are best left unsaid."

"I know, Oz. Believe me, I know."

 **Yang sat back down and smiled. Blake was always earnest, if a bit distant. She knew that her student would give this task her all. And… if she just so happened to come out of her shell and** ** _actually_** **make friends? Win-win~**

 **Yang's smile fell. If what Blake was saying was true, however, she had to be prepared. She had no doubt that Jaune still hated her. He had, no doubt, spent these thousand years simmering in his hatred. She had every reason to believe that he would try to kill her again. She took a deep breath before standing again, her gaze set off to her repaired stained-glass window. Yang had to finish her preparations for tomorrow's sunrise. It was set to be an eventful day. The moon rose once more into the sky, the symbol of a thousand years now gone from its face.**

All involved could see where this was going, or so they thought~

 **The dawn of the next celebration~ Yang woke up earlier than usual to make her way to Patch. When she stepped onto the earth beneath her, a voice greeted her, "Hello again, sister." Tantabus stood before her with his arms crossed before him. "Did you miss me?"**

 **It was a threat, she was well aware, but she did. She missed him more than anything. Her voice never carried her answer as she was swallowed by magical power.**

 **Tantabus stood before a ball of dark energy. He would deal with her soon enough, make her pay for sending him to the moon. Right now, he needed to find the Maiden Stones and ensure no one could stop him.**

Yang's eyes fell downward. A part of her couldn't blame him, but there had to be a way to save him, right?

 **But first… He disappeared into a cloud of midnight blue smoke and made his way to the very event that awaited Yang. He arrived through this miasma of midnight, revealing himself once again to the world, complete with a laugh.**

 **The mayor, one Peter Port, incredulously pointed up toward him, "Who are you and what have you done with our Princess?!"**

Port laughed. He'd never seen himself in a role of politician, but his attire definitely made a case. "Hey, Bart! I seem to have the stereotypical, old-timey mayor look."

Oobleck adjusted his glasses, "I could see that. Probably the mustache."

This got Port to laugh.

 **Tantabus laughed, "What? Has my time spent on the Moon these years taken away my crown? Am I not longer royal enough for you all?!"**

 **"** **What are you talking about?! Where is the Princess?!"**

 **Tantabus growled. "You people never change… But I'm feeling fair. Tell you what, if you can find the Maiden Stones within the next hour, I will release her. Fail, and I shall reign over as I should always have!"**

 **"** **Tantabus!" Blake pushed through the crowd and glared toward the Prince of Nightmares, "We will stop you, you realize that, right?"**

 **"** **You will try." He disappeared into his cloud of night and stars. He reappeared before the orb of magic holding his sister. He created a small wisp of magic, "Follow that girl. Ensure she fails her mission." The wisp flew off to follow its orders. Tantabus could easily tell that the Stones remained in the castle, but they remained dormant and hidden away. He would never find them alone, but to have these fools work for him should make this easier.**

"That's quite devious." Penny's head tilted, "but why would he not just go the castle to look as well?"

 **Tantabus glared toward the orb of magic. A part of him pained by the situation he placed on her, but it was overshadowed by his anger. Now was his time! The night shall reign eternal! Tantabus laughed to himself. "Soon, sister, I will give you what you deserve for what you've done to me!"**

 **He was met with silence. She couldn't talk to him from within the orb.**

 **"** **ANSWER ME!"**

 **She couldn't answer him. He knew that. He took a breath and calmed himself again.**

 **"** **Damn you! Damn you and your stupid followers! DAMN YOU AND DAMN THIS KINGDOM!"**

Weiss's eyes narrowed, "He seems to be breaking down."

Blake nodded, "He _was_ sealed in the Moon for a thousand years… alone."

This just made Yang feel worse.

 **The wisp returned, its mission failed. It seemed as if it begged for mercy, only to be dissipated immediately.**

 **"** **Damn it. I won't let you shine over me again, sister… I WON'T BE THE SHADOW ANYMORE!" His tone fell, and his fists clenched, "I won't go back to the Moon… If you want to stop me… Your little protégé will have to kill me. Do you think she has what it takes? To do what you failed to?"**

Yang clung to her chair. _There has to be another way, right?_

 **No answer.**

 **Tantabus's fist slammed into the orb. "Fine! I'll deal with this myself!" He disappeared into smoke as the orb seemed to crack. After a moment, the camera panned in to show Yang's fist break through the magic.**

This concerned the blonde brawler. Sure, she was happy she escaped, but the method was a little unnerving. It made her think that they may fight again, and if they did… She might have to kill him like he said.

 **The scene flew off to show Tantabus appearing before an old castle. A crumbling reminder of what was. It was the castle he once called home. And now it was a broken ruin for a broken home. "Fitting…" Tantabus flew off as a wraith and into the castle.**

 **He moved like the wind and found Blake, Ilia, Weiss, and Ruby in the old throne room, the apparatus holding the Stones revealed. Jaune stormed ahead and broke their line, pushing them all to the ground. He stood before the Stones and took one of the dormant gems in hand. If he shattered just one, they'd all be useless! This was his chance! He chucked the stone toward the ground as hard as he could, only to have Blake save the gem by catching it.**

Ruby chuckled, "Nice catch Blake!"

Blake, however, didn't agree, "If it landed farther away, maybe…"

"Huh?"

 **"** **DAMN YOU!" Tantabus slammed his heel into Blake's hand, trying to get rid of these gems. "JUST LET ME BREAK THEM! LET ME WIN, DAMN IT! I WILL NOT GO BACK!"**

Qrow groaned, "He sounds like a spoiled child."

"No…" Glynda sighed, "He's a desperate man. If those Stones go off, he'll be trapped again. Think about it, a thousand years of solitude…"

Qrow thought about it for a while before he nodded, "Fair point."

 **"** **Jaune!"**

 **Tantabus's head snapped to the entrance as Yang stood before him. "No… NO! Not again! I won't let you send me off again! I'd rather fall to them! At least then, you would finally know what its like to be overshadowed! That you'll know what it's like to be forgotten!"**

 **Blake and her group were all confused. They didn't know Yang was over a thousand years old. They didn't know what was playing out before them.**

 **"** **You think you can just send me off again?!" Tantabus pointed his opened palm toward Blake, who was still on the ground and shielding the gem, fully intent on blowing her head off. "You think I'll let you just send me away to ignore me?!"**

Yang's teeth hurt as she clenched them harder, tears starting to form, _I wouldn't…_

 **"** **JAUNE!" Tears fell from Yang's eyes. "Listen to me… please…"**

 **"** **NO! I am Tantabus, Lord of Nightmares! You will address me as such!"**

 **"** **No, you're not! You're Jaune Arc. Prince of the Night. My younger brother!"**

 **"** **Why ignore me for so long?! Why forget me when I ruled alongside you?! Why send me to the Moon?! Do you know what I've been through?!"**

Yang knew… She knew what it was like to be abandoned, but she had to get over that young. But she didn't know what it was like to be pushed off like that. To be alone for so long. She still had her family… She had Ruby and their dad. But her counterpart… She didn't have anyone.

 **"** **Loneliness. Isolation. Unable to communicate with others as you lose your mind. That no matter how many people are around you, you feel alone. I don't know what it's like to be overshadowed… But I know what it's like live without my light. Jaune…" Yang took a step forward.**

 **Tantabus stepped backward.**

 **"** **I've had to live a thousand years alone…"**

 **Tantabus growled, "So this is about you now?!"**

 **"** **No. This is about us. I lost my brother. I… I've had something to say to you for a thousand years…"**

 **"** **Let me guess. 'Goodbye?'"**

 **"** **I'm sorry. I'm sorry for not being there when you needed me. I'm sorry for casting you aside. I'm sorry, Jaune…"**

 **Blake squeezed herself out from under Jaune's foot and moved off toward the apparatus.**

 **"** **You think you can fool me?! This is a distraction!" Jaune lashed out and charged toward Yang, fully intent on continuing their fight. He created a sword made of magical energy and swung downward. The screen cut to black for a moment.**

Ruby jumped in her chair, "Please be okay. Please be okay. Please be okay!"

Yang shook in her chair, waiting for what was to come.

 **The sword of magic fell onto the ground in the darkness, shattering into shards of light. The camera panned up to show Yang moved through Tantabus's guard, grabbing him in an embrace. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry… I've been an awful sister! I have no excuse for what I've done!"**

 **Tantabus's eyes seemed to soften. After a moment, tears fell from his own. The darkness of his armor began to fade. His features realigning to how he used to be. Jaune stood in his sister's arms, stunned. The full force of his actions fell onto his conscience. "I…"**

 **"** **I can't make up for what I've done! I can't ask you to forgive me… Just… please come back."**

 **Jaune broke down, his arms wrapping around Yang as tears flowed down.**

 **The screen went white. Yang's voice carried through a voice over, "** ** _A thousand years ago, I would ignore my brother. I cast him into darkness of my shadow and never cast light into his life. A thousand years later, I finally made my peace with him. I have so many mistakes to make up for._** **"**

 **The screen started to form, showing a glowing, stain-glass sun. As it pulled back, it revealed a moon not to far from it. It continued and showed a new stain-glass window to replace her old version. The new glass formed Yang and Jaune side-by-side. Both wore their crowns and formed their grand design together.**

Yang let a few tears fall. She was so happy to know things worked out. That their family wasn't broken anymore… Tai and Ruby moved in for a family hug, prompting Yang to chuckle. She was thankful for so much in that moment.

 **"** ** _And… I think this is a nice start. Don't you?_** **"**

 **"** ** _Yang!_** **" Jaune's voice followed after this, "** ** _Where's the throne room?! I can't find anything in this place! A thousand years and people never learned to build castles that make sense?!_** **"**

 **"** ** _Oh! Right. Hang on Jaune!_** **"**

 **Their voices faded as the screen lingered. A family reunited. A world made whole again. Their story was now over, and another would come to the forefront of the people's minds. But right now, all was right with the world.**

Yang smiled, happy to know there was a happy ending for their world.


	52. Wraith of Beacon

**King: First, some housekeeping matters. This is the last chapter I will write until December. For the month of November 2018, I will be attempting to participate in the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). For this, I hope to channel my creative work in this into that project and pump out a 50,000 word minimum novel in 30 days. Wish me luck. However, that also means that I won't be writing or publishing any fanfiction during this time. Succeed or fail, I'll be back in December. If I royally fuck up, I'll be back sooner, but (while I love you guys) I kind of don't want that to happen, you know?**

 **Any who~ Side thing really quick. This is a Possible variation with a set inspiration. For these, I'll have the inspiration and then write "(RWBY)" after it to signify it's been RWBY-fied. I hope you enjoy. P.S. Seriously, though, check out the game. It gets a lot of flack for some reason, usually being compared to Overwatch, but the game is good. Like, really good. You can get it for like $10 US these days. And, hey, if you get it for Xbox One, we can play a game or two. Who knows~**

 **Inspiration: Battleborn (RWBY)**

 **/\**

Everyone was in a good mood after that, save for the villainous or emotionally stunted. So, of course, the screen had to put something weird into the mix.

 **The screen was black. But they could hear breathing. "** ** _Please… Stay away…_** **"**

Pyrrha froze up in her chair. "Jaune? But… why would…"

Nora groaned, "This is too much like the start to a horror movie…"

"Oh no…"

 **"** ** _Please… Get away from me!_** **" His voice seemed to distort slightly, "** ** _I don't want to hurt you…_** **" A pair of red eyes formed on the screen. Soon, a white mask formed around it, resembling a creature of Grimm.**

Blake had long since associated the mask with Adam, but this was a full-face piece. Regardless, it was a Grimm mask, so whoever wore it had to have something seriously wrong.

 **Blood splattered onto the mask. "** ** _I'm sorry…_** **" The screen faded to white.**

 **When they could see again, they saw Ozpin standing before Jaune in his mid-teens. Jaune was covered in bloodstained clothing and his were a bright red. Ozpin did what he always would in a situation like this. He reached out to this child in need of help. "** ** _Tell me,_** **" The screen cut again. "** ** _Did you want to be a hero?_** **"**

Ozpin wasn't sure where this was going. What kind of world did this reality claim?

 **The screen faded to show Beacon Tower, pride of the Beacon Huntsmen Academy.**

Ruby perked up, "Oh! It's one like our reality again!"

Blake calmed, "Been a while since we've seen one of these."

Kali leaned toward her daughter, "What do you mean?"

"Right… I don't think you guys saw one of those. They're supposed to be versions of our reality that _could_ have happened if everything played out a certain way. The versions we saw were where Jaune was Professor Goodwitch's son or where everyone had their gender swapped. But, they all have the same rules as our world."

 **Jaune stood in the courtyard of Beacon. He was dressed in a futuristic version of his armor. It was likely Atlassian body armor, but clear modifications were made. It was made to resemble a sleek suit of knight's armor, just missing the helmet. Other than that, he just looked like Jaune, complete scragly blonde hair and deep blue eyes.**

Yang chuckled, "Hey. Improvement over his usual style. No offence to the guy, but a hoodie and jeans don't really fit what he's going for."

Coco crossed her arms, "I disagree. Arc's style might not be fashionable or knightly, but it does have effects on others. It makes him come across as an everyman, someone you can go up to and just be yourself."

Velvet smiled and nodded.

"It certainly worked on Velvet, here! Not that she's brave enough to actually talk to him. Seriously, girl, you can kill a Beowolf without flinching, but you freeze up just trying to talk to one guy."

Velvet now tried to sink into her chair and hide in embarrassment.

 **Jaune took a deep breath. "Okay Jaune… moment of truth. You've been training for this… To be a huntsman. Use your skills and powers to help people."**

 **The large drop ship started to dock on the nearby cliff. This was the day before initiation. Zero hour.**

 **Then he heard the explosion. Jaune locked up before breaking out into a run.** ** _An explosion?! Are we under attack?! Who would attack Beacon?!_** **Jaune skid to a halt and found a girl lying on the ground. "Oh my gosh! Are you okay?!"**

 **The girl sat up and clutched her head, "I'm fine…" As she hopped back up, the group could see this was Ruby Rose, with a twist. Unlike her counterpart, this Ruby wore attire in white and red. It looked the same, just a different base color.**

Ruby blinked in surprise. The white and red was a nice esthetic, but it just seemed weird to her. She was so used to her own theme that it was strange to see an alternative style like that.

 **Ruby picked herself up and brushed off her skirt. "Sorry about the scare. I tripped over some girl's luggage that just happened to be filled with dust. Everyone's okay. Worst damage is to the ground."**

 **Jaune sighed in relief. "Oh good…"**

 **Ruby turned to Jaune, "I'm Ruby, by the way."**

 **"** **Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you."**

 **"** **Hey Ruby!" Yang suddenly appeared behind Ruby and draped her arm over the younger sister's shoulders, "I was wondering where you went~"**

 **"** **I've been right here, Yang."**

 **"** **Well, we need to get inside to the orientation!"**

 **"** **Oh! Right! Hey do… you?" When Ruby looked back, Jaune was gone.**

 **"** **Who are you talking to?"**

 **"** **He was… he was right here a second ago."**

Nora gasped, "How did he do that?! That was so cool! You know, as long as it doesn't happen to you."

 **The camera panned back to show Jaune was now hidden away behind a corner. "Damn it… Stupid habits…" He sighed. "I'll need to work on that…"**

 **The camera moved upward showing the sky turn to night. Then it panned back down to show Ruby and Yang sitting opposite to Coco and Fox in the cafeteria.**

This got Coco and Velvet's attentions.

 **"** **Thanks again for helping us find this place. The school is like a maze, I swear…" Yang picked up a French fry from her meal and bit down.**

 **Coco chuckled and waved it off. "No problem. This place is pretty massive and its easy to get lost. So, you both first years?"**

 **Ruby nodded, "Just need to pass initiation tomorrow."**

 **"** **Well, good luck. It's pretty tough."**

 **Fox smirked, "Especially with the Wraith sneaking around."**

 **"** **Fox! Stop that. The Wraith isn't real."**

 **Ruby looked between the two, "Wraith?"**

 **Coco sighed. "It's this stupid rumor around Beacon. Supposedly, the school is haunted. Training rooms end up torn apart, people have this notion their being watched, all that ghost story stuff."**

Weiss thought out loud for a moment, "So, it's likely Jaune is this Wraith."

Neptune crossed his arms, "But ghosts aren't real. This follows our world's laws, and ghosts don't exist. Right?"

This got the intellectuals thinking. Could apparitions exist in their world or was this just hysteria and rumor?

 **The scene changed to show Yang slamming her locker shut, "Seriously Ruby?"**

 **"** **Think about it!" Ruby was walking beside her sister as they approached the cliffside site, "I know what I saw, but when I asked anyone else, they said they'd never seen him! He just appeared and disappeared!"**

 **"** **But, a ghost?"**

 **"** **Stories have at least some level of truth, Yang. I'm not saying he's a ghost, but he might be the Wraith Coco told us about."**

 **The two reached the cliffside and lined up by the rest of the students. Ozpin looked over the group, scrutinizing the initiate students. "Welcome to Emerald Forest. Below is your initiation trial. To the north of the forest is a set of ruins where you find a series of relics. Gather that relic with your partner and return here to the cliff to pass. Now, for partners, the first person you make eye contact with in the forest below will be your partner for the next four years. Am I understood?" Everyone nodded. "Good. Let's begin."**

 **"** **Sir!" A hand raised, and the camera pulled around to show Pyrrha Nikos, her hair cut short under a helmet with blue horsehair draping down the back. "Something is wrong here."**

Pyrrha blinked before a slight frown formed. Her attire was similar, save for being silver and blue as opposed to bronze and red. She didn't know why, but she never liked that color combination. She respected it as esthetically pleasing but didn't like it.

 **Ozpin raised an eyebrow, "How so, Ms. Nikos?"**

 **"** **Sir! There are an odd number of students among us. How can we all form partnerships in this fashion?"**

 **Ozpin took a sip from his mug before answering, "There** ** _are_** **an even number of students this year. One student is already in the forest below, at my request. He remains an option for partnership, however. Now, if all questions are answered, we can begin."**

 **He didn't wait for more questions before launching them all into the forest.**

Kali jumped at the sight, "Did they just drop you all off a cliff?!"

Gira sighed, "Kali… It's a school for Huntsmen. They need to pass rigorous tests and be able to handle any adversity thrown at them. They can't even get in without passing either a combat academy course or a set testing from the professors beforehand."

Pyrrha felt a shiver run up her spine. She'd kept Jaune's transcript secret since she'd learned about it. If they learned it now… what would happen?

 **The camera followed Pyrrha as she flew through the air. At one point during her descent, she fired a bullet from her combination rifle and spun out of the way of the tree line. She impacted the ground and formed a small trench as she skids into the dirt. As she crouched, her eyes darted around at lightning speed, taking in the world around her. This was the kind of environment Pyrrha Nikos thrived in. Her semblance gave her the kind of mind that could process as well as any computer. She took in every detail in an instant. One detail stuck out at her. Something was off to the northwest, a battle. Pyrrha charged through the tree line, avoiding every branch and root without needing to look. After all, she'd already memorized their position.**

Yang winced, "Yikes. And I thought you were scary before."

Pyrrha chuckled nervously.

 **Pyrrha broke through the brush, ready to fight, but stopped in shock at what she saw.**

 **A single armored figure stood in what could only be called a Grimm graveyard. Creatures of Grimm, freshly slaughtered, were dissipating into nothingness. The armored figure carried a great sword and a shield, his shoulders rising and falling. It wasn't exhaustion… No, his pattern matched that of a man calming himself down.**

 **Pyrrha moved her weapon and shield to her side, ready in case he jumped at her, "Excuse me?"**

 **The figure turned toward her, showing his helmet had a Y-shaped visor.**

 **"** **Are you one of the students attending Beacon this year?"**

 **The faceplate divided in three and retracted into his helmet, showing him to be Jaune. "Yeah. Sorry about any confusion." His eyes, however, were a deep blood red.**

Nora hopped up onto her chair, "Okay! Hold up! This version of Jaune! Are his eyes blue or red?!"

Ruby shrugged, "Are Yang's purple or red?"

Yang was about to say something saying her eyes were lilac but conceded the point. She knew her eye color changed as she got angry or used her semblance.

Nora nodded, understanding her point, "So, does our leader have a semblance like Yang's? Is he mad? What's going on?"

 **Pyrrha's eyes narrowed. She watched his eyes as they faded back to blue. "Your eyes seem to have changed colors. Is this normal?"**

 **Jaune locked up for a second before coughing it off, "Yes! Yes, it is. Totally normal."**

 **"** **You'll forgive me if I don't believe you."**

 **"** **Sorry. It** ** _is_** **normal, I just… kind of wish it wasn't."**

Yang tossed up her hand in a feigned insult, "Really? What's so bad about that? It's cool being able to change your eyes like that. Well…" Yang turned toward Neo, "Most of the time…"

Neo smirked and blinked, swapping the position of her pink and brown eyes.

 **"** **I don't follow."**

 **"** **Kind of wish I didn't either… Anyway, I guess we're partners now?"**

 **"** **Right!" Pyrrha looked around to the foliage to help her orientate. "North is this way." The two took off toward the ruins.**

 **But they weren't alone. Grimm flocked to the death of their own. A group of Beowolves started to move through the brush before a large, arachnoid leg slammed into the ground.**

Sun took in a sharp breath, "Guessing that's the Deathstalker…"

Weiss nodded, "Probably."

 **The Deathstalker moved over the screen, allowing it to transition to the ruins as Pyrrha and Jaune arrived. They approached the pedestals to find only two chess pieces were removed.**

 **Pyrrha picked up the black rook piece, "Suppose now we head back to the cliffs."**

 **A shiver ran up Jaune's spine and he turned around toward the forest line, "That might be hard."**

 **The hoard of Grimm started to push through the trees, running after a pair of other students. One was a young man with dark hair in archers' robes and a woman in fur and steel armor. The two ran up to the ruins and took a position next to Jaune and Pyrrha.**

Nora giggled, "TEAM JNPR'S BACK, BABY!"

Ren and Pyrrha smiled. They had to agree that it was nice to see their team together again.

 **Nora spoke through shallow breathes. "I'm Nora. That's Ren. HELP!"**

 **Pyrrha scowled toward the Grimm and readied her weapon. "What's with them? Grimm don't act like this. Why would they be chasing you two?"**

 **Ren took a deep breath to stabilize his breathing, "They aren't. They just started running here and we got caught in the stampede."**

 **Nora nodded, "It was either run or get trampled."**

 **Jaune took a breath and closed his visor again. "Is there anyone else?"**

 **"** **Just a giant Deathstalker following the hoard."**

Ozpin's eyes narrowed, "Strange. Grimm don't travel like that except when striking at a large settlement in panic. They shouldn't move like that in the Emerald Forest."

Ironwood turned toward Oz, "What do you think it is?"

"I suppose we'll find out."

 **"** **Alright… Anyone have any ideas?"**

 **Pyrrha watched the hoard as they started to approach. "Nora, what weapons do you and Ren use?"**

 **Nora looked toward Pyrrha, "I have a spear." She took out a short blade whose handle expanded into a full spear. "Ren uses a bow and arrow set."**

 **Pyrrha nodded, "Okay! Listen up! Jaune and I both have shields. We'll divide with one shield per pair. Ren and I will lay down ranged attacks while Nora and Jaune move in to deal with them as they start to approach. Once their line is weak enough, we make a break for the cliffs. Sound like a plan?"**

Glynda took in the moment and nodded, "It is the best plan they could have in the moment. Ms. Nikos seems to be taking the position of leader in this reality."

 **Nora grinned, "Works for me!"**

 **Ren nodded.**

 **Jaune took in a breath, speaking low enough that they couldn't hear him, "Guess now's as good a time as any…"**

 **Nora and Jaune moved forward as Ren and Pyrrha started their firing line. Pyrrha's rifle was powerful enough to knock a few Grimm out of the fight, so long as she aimed it correctly. Ren, however, had more powerful shots and didn't need to worry about the Grimm's armor. Nora charged in to meet a Beowolf and skewered it on her weapon. She tossed the beast to the side and into another as Jaune sliced them both in two.**

"And they already show excellent teamwork." Port laughed. "They'd be a force to be reckoned with in Beacon."

 **Jaune's breathing picked up pace as he tried to keep himself calm. In time, it was becoming clear the Grimm were focusing their assault on Jaune, almost ignoring the other three. This put him on the front line more often, sword swinging more often. His body seemed to envelop in his dark aura.**

Ruby was a little scared now, "What's going on?"

Yang's eyes narrowed, "If its anything like mine, it should be his semblance. But this kind of weird."

 **"** **Nora…" His voice was slightly distorted. "Step aside…"**

 **Nora was caught off guard and moved away as he stepped forward.**

 **Jaune roared out, the voice rang with a distorted pain over the Grimm. He charged forward and swung his arm, tossing his shield into a large Ursa. Jaune then kicked up over the Ursa and slashed its head clean off and catching his shield. He became a madman cutting his way through the Grimm.**

Yang grinned and slammed her fists together, "Damn! Look at him go!"

Most of the viewers were just surprised seeing Jaune move like that.

 **Nora was awestruck. Jaune moved like a beast… Perhaps… A monster? She was, therefore, not ready when a Beowolf tried to attack her from behind. Jaune's sword flew over her shoulder and embedded in the Grimm's head. If she had so much as flinched, it would have buried into her shoulder.**

 **Jaune growled as he strangled a Beowolf with his shield, "Focus or move back with the others! We're not done here!"**

 **Nora felt a chill run down her spine. "Right!" She picked the sword from the ground as the Beowolf disappeared and charged next to Jaune. She tossed him his sword and the two continued their work of dismantling the Grimm around them.**

 **With Nora and Jaune's assault being more effective than she expected, Pyrrha made a call, "Alright! Let's get out of here before that Deathstalker arrives!" With that, they were gone. The Grimm moved on to try to follow Jaune but were unable to keep up.**

The teaching staff all nodded, content that they made the right choice.

 **As they ran, Jaune's aura subsided.**

 **Once they reached the cliff, Nora chuckled, "Hey! Jaune, was it?"**

 **"** **Yeah?"**

 **"** **What was that semblance? I've never seen anything like it."**

 **"** **Oh! Um…"**

 **"** **And that helmet is really cool! Does the visor move on its own or is there a button? Come on, tell me~"**

Ruby's head tilted slightly. "I might not be as big into armor, but I have to admit, I'd like to know that too."

 **"** **It just…"**

 **Nora placed her hands on the helmet, "Oh! Is it like one of those with a switch?"**

 **"** **No! Wait!" She accidently removed the latches on his headpiece. Once it was free, his aura poured out and over Nora. Jaune scrambled to reseal his helmet, but the damage was done.**

 **Nora shook. The aura was… "What was that?"**

 **Ren moved over and made sure Nora was okay. "What happened?!"**

 **"** **It… it was like… looking into the eyes of a Grimm."**

 **"** **What?"**

 **Jaune re-latched his helmet. After a moment, his visor finally moved to show his face with red eyes. "Please don't do that again."**

"What… Just happened?" Nora was stunned silent, at least by Nora standards.

 **With all eyes on him, Jaune took deep breaths until his eyes became blue again. "I… have a condition, to put it lightly. For years now, I've been cursed with some kind of corruption in my body. As I fight, I get stronger, but lose my temper easily. It's hard to contain, but my armor helps me keep it in check."**

 **Pyrrha thought to herself for a moment. Her mind was running at a hundred miles an hour. "This corruption, it's the reason your eye color changes?"**

 **"** **Yeah. Red eyes are the first stage. Without my suit, you'd see the other stages between first and last. Last stage surrounds me with my aura. Without the suit, you could easily mistake me for a Grimm in the final stage."**

Everyone was surprised to hear that, more so because this was a world based on their own. This was possible in their world! And that… was a sobering thought for all involved. Except Qrow. Man's always drunk.

 **"** **How did that happen?"**

 **"** **I don't know. When it happened, my mind seemed to block out everything. All I remember is Ozpin coming to see me and offering me a chance to attend Beacon. He said it would be good to learn how to control myself in that state."**

 **The screen faded to show Pyrrha thinking to herself again. When it reopened, the team was standing before Professor Ozpin as their team was formed. "Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, and Jaune Arc. You four have done well and collected the black rook pieces."**

Nora giggles, "Still Queen of the Castle~!"

 **"** **For today, you shall be…"**

 **"** **Sir. If I may." Pyrrha raised her hand to interrupt him.**

 **"** **Um… Yes, Ms. Nikos?"**

 **"** **I'm aware of your plan for our team based on our work together. But I'd like to make a suggestion."**

 **"** **That's…" This was the first time anyone ever brought this up at the podium. It wasn't uncommon for team setups to be brought into question after this, but never as the team was being formed. "Ms. Nikos? I'm afraid I can't just…"**

 **"** **I'd like to suggest Jaune Arc be placed as leader of our team." This statement confused both her team and the crowd, causing a murmur through the audience behind them.**

Glynda blinked, "But… Why? She's proved herself to be a very capable leader. Why pass that to someone else? Between the two, Ms. Nikos is the superior option."

Ozpin nodded, but kept watching, knowing her thought process.

 **"** **Ms. Nikos… If I may, you've proven yourself to be a capable leader for your team and you've already formed a bond with your teammates. So, why place Mr. Arc in charge instead of you?"**

 **"** **I only offered a simple strategy. This can easily be done from any position on the team. However, Jaune was able to rally our team during an assault by a mass of Grimm. This is a trait best utilized by a leader."**

 **A slight lie. Ozpin knew that. He sighed and smiled. "Alright then. If that's the case, from now on, you shall be Team JNPR, led by Jaune Arc."**

Penny's head tilted again, "I still don't get it. Why make friend Jaune the leader if Pyrrha is better for the role?"

Of those they expected to have the answer, it hadn't necessarily been Ironwood. But here we are. "Responsibility. Oz and the girl are hoping the position will help Arc have a better handle on his corruption. To better control his temper, and by extension his power."

"I had not thought of it like that."

 **The world closed on that note. And so too did the curtain, waiting until next it would open.**


	53. 12:00 on 66

**King: So... Hi again. Before we get off on any ideas, I'm still working on the novel. I blame Blizzard for pulling me in for this one... But, on the way, I seem to also put a large chunk into that writing... I think this 'dumping ground' of writing is finally doing what it was intended to. Go figure. So, I'll be writing both in tandem. It will take longer for each of these to come out as a result, but if it's helping me write that novel, I'm not about to complain. Keep being awesome and glad to be back. Sooner than I expected, but in a good way~**

 **Inspiration: Overwatch**

 **/\**

 **Curtains opened once more, sooner than they expected.**

King reappeared, "Alright! Round… 53? No, there were intermissions… 51! Alright! Let's get into this and have some real fun." He disappeared again as the screen formed.

 **The screen opened to show a colorful jukebox. The camera zoomed in to show it cycling to a record. The machinery selected the vinyl and placed it to play. The needle moved to the edge and the song started to play. It was a slow country track about outlaws or a shootout waiting to happen. As the song played, the camera moved to show an old diner area, a scene lingering to show a clock with hands marking six minutes before noon. The angle shifted to an apple pie sitting atop a plate.**

Nora grumbled, "Now I'm hungry."

Yang grinned, "So, another western world?"

Tai nodded, "Nice."

 **A gloved hand came in from the side with a fork and cut into the pie, causing juices to run down onto the dish. The camera then showed a coffee cup next to a strange looking computer chip, or at least that was what they thought it was. The gloved hand came in and grabbed the mug, revealing its coaster was a postcard for a place called Route 66.**

Coco bit down on her thumb, "Damn, now _I'm_ hungry…"

 **The clock appeared again to show as the time ticked to 11:55. As it did, the camera returned to the pie. Out the window next to the man and his pie, they could see a train approaching on elevated rails. The gloved hand was about to cut into the pie again when an off-screen explosion ripped apart the train. Cars from the train fell near the diner, barely missing the structure and falling down the cliff slightly.**

Blake felt a shiver run up her spine. She remembered her attack on the Schnee transport train. True, she'd never gone so far as to blow up the rails and/or train, especially not a train carrying dust of all things. But she'd seen too many others do so in the White Fang. At first, it was just to derail the cars and steal the cargo. Then, it was to take hostages. She didn't want to think about how bad it's gotten since.

 **The hand paused before cutting into the pie again when the explosion went off. They didn't hear it but could almost feel a sigh in that silence. The fork then cut into the pie for one last bite. The man behind the pie stood up and grabbed the chip, his hat, and his gun belt with holstered revolver. The door opened with a ringing bell and they could see his silhouette in the smoke. He wore the standard western hat with a wrap poncho and they could swear he had chaps and the boots.**

 **The screen went white to transition outside, showing the wreckage of the train, a few cars still hanging from the destroyed tracks. Below this, various people, dressed in a sort of biker western combo, were picking through the cars on the ground and loading crates onto a large hovercart.**

Winter glared toward the screen. "A planned assault to steal military weapons."

Ironwood sighed, thoroughly disappointed by the situation.

 **The camera moved to show one of the bandits picking though one of the crates and holding up a belt of grenades. They could hear spurred footsteps approaching from off screen until a shadow covered the man. A throat clearing got the man's attention, making him see exactly who was there. His eyes went wide and he scrambled off out of the smoke, "Weiss! We got a problem!"**

Yang burst out into laughter. "Seriously? The Ice Queen is the bandit leader?"

Weiss groaned, "Would you stop calling me that!"

 **The screen now showed Weiss, dressed in a long, sleeveless black coat complete with western motif underneath and in headwear. Her white hair was cut short, a preferable option considering her line of work. As she turned toward the camera, they saw she wore a bandana over the lower half of her face.**

Yang never stopped laughing, "Oh my gods! This is both awesome and hilarious."

 **The camera snapped to the smoke as a figure walked through. The camera tracked from his boots and up his body. Some of his more interesting pieces were a belt buckle reading [BAMF], his robotic left arm, and a cigar in his mouth.**

Roman chuckled, "Ah! Another man of class."

 **Weiss removed her bandana, "Jaune Arc. Been a while. You promised you'd write."**

 **"** **Sorry 'bout that." Jaune pulled out a lighter and lit his cigar. As he exhaled some smoke he looked up toward her, finally revealing his full face. Sure enough, it was Jaune Arc, just older and more rugged. This Jaune had a full beard and his hair a touch longer, draping down from his hat. As Jaune let out a smoky breath, he winked toward Weiss, "Been kind of busy."**

Chills went up the spines of Pyrrha and Velvet. This version of Jaune even sounded like the dashing cowboy. Sure, neither were fans of westerns or anything like that, but you don't need to be a fan to know what a western heartthrob would sound like.

Yang chuckled at the scene, "Guess Ice Queen and Vomit Boy go back in this version."

Weiss just sighed, starting to give up on the idea of getting people to stop calling her that.

 **Weiss placed her lever-action rifle over her shoulder, "We're pretty busy ourselves. So, it's awful convenient you showing up today."**

 **Jaune removed his cigar and held it in his robotic hand, "Yeah. You never were one to shy away from a good tip."**

 **"** **Hey! We worked hard for this score. You best move on now."**

 **"** **All I want," he pointed using his cigar, "is that crate. You can keep the rest."**

Coco raised an eyebrow, "So… Not a sheriff type, just out for his own?"

 **Weiss tapped a large rounded crate with her gun, "This crate?" She looked toward her 'mustachioed' omnic assistant, "Klein. Open it."**

Weiss blinked in confusion, "Klein?"

Yang glanced toward the heiress, "Someone you know?"

"He's our butler back in Atlas, though he's not _that_ tall. He was probably the only thing keeping me from ending up like Whitely. He was caring and always there when I needed him."

"Isn't that his job?"

"His job would be to follow my instructions and do as I ask. But, that was never necessary. He always did what whatever he could to help me be smarter, better… kinder, than my family."

 **As it opened, some form of smoke or mist came up from the opening, but the audience couldn't see what was inside. "Well, well… Now you got my attention." Weiss turned back toward Jaune, "What is it?"**

 **"** **That's none of** ** _your_** **business."**

 **"** **On the contrary." Weiss stepped down from the hovercart, "Way I see it, it's very much our business."**

Ruby snickered, "Okay. I have to admit, it's kind of funny hearing Weiss talk like that."

Weiss rolled her eyes and groaned.

 **"** **It doesn't have to be this way, Weiss." He replaced his cigar in his mouth.**

 **Weiss cocked her gun, "Apparently, it does." Her gang started to surround Jaune with weapons ready. Even her assistant Klein pulled up a road sign, wielding it like a club. The scene moved from camera angle to camera angle, showing different perspectives in that moment. As one scene placed itself looking passed Jaune's side, a tumbleweed bounced through the scene. Throughout the scene, no one moved.**

Ruby tapped her heel on the floor, "Why isn't anyone doing anything?"

Yang smiled and shook her head, "Ruby… It's called building tension. Not everything needs to be fast and flashy."

"I know that! It just doesn't make sense in a fight!"

"Maybe not how _we_ fight."

 **One moment showed the face of the robotic Klein as a bead of a light brown fluid fell down his head.**

"How does a robot sweat?" Yang crossed her arms in thought.

Penny turned toward the brawler, "I am not certain that robotic individuals can sweat. It would most likely be a leak, but it is strange to be only a single droplet."

Qrow finished off another swig from his drink before speaking, "Kid… When you got brought here, we literally saw you get assembled. We know you're a robot."

"You do?"

Ironwood growled. He hoped everyone would just think it was a weird trick like how they all arrived form bubbles and lightning bursts. _Apparently_ , this was the one time they took it at face value.

 **The screen showed Jaune and Weiss glaring toward each other from either side. The tension mounted and about to burst at the tiniest provocation. The screen then showed the top of the clock from before reading 11:59. A couple ticks later and the hands met.**

Tai and Yang grinned. It was a major cliché, but it was one they didn't mind. The showdown at High Noon.

 **As the chime rang out, Weiss and a thug to her side tried to fire toward Jaune, only to have the cowboy duck to the right and fire a shot into the masked thug's shoulder. The impact pushed him into Weiss, who tossed him off in anger. Jaune paused a moment to toss a flashbang toward Weiss and Klein to get them out of the fighting for a moment. With those two thoroughly blinded, Jaune rolled through the incoming fire and shot toward a pair of bandits. The bullet severed a cable between them and released one of the hanging train cars from its perch. As the car swung down, the cabling wrapped around one of the bandits and dragged him up to the sky. The remaining thug ducked under the swinging train.**

Mercury groaned, "I figured he'd get hit by the train. Weak…"

 **An Omnic sniper tried to aim down toward Jaune through the chaos, but the suspended bandit kept swinging into view yelling, "Don't shoot!" The sniper's scope finally found Jaune as he spun to shoot the would-be sharp shooter off his perch.**

 **Weiss was finally able to see again and tried to shoot Jaune, but found her shots missing behind falling boulders knocked loose by his earlier attack. She saw Jaune jump to the side and fire three shots straight at her. She grabbed her hat and tried to duck but was saved by Klein using his roadside weapon as a shield for her. "Klein! Do something!"**

 **The robotic assistant slammed his sign back into the ground, tilted his little bowler hat forward, and held out his arm as a set of six heavy guns started to open fire in pairs.**

Ruby gasped, "Oh my gosh! The firepower he packs into just one arm is insane! Then again, he's a big robot, but still!"

 **Jaune ducked behind a large boulder and tossed away his cigar as he reloaded his gun. "Looks like Klein got some upgrades."**

 **The camera moved back to show Weiss as her gang started to gather around her again, "Smoke him out 'a there!" They all started to fire on Jaune's position, hoping to get him out from cover, but he didn't move. The camera moved back to Jaune, who finished reloading as the sharpshooter got up and shook his head. He pointed his rifle only for Jaune to headshot him without looking.**

Yang pumped her fist in excitement. "Nice! This is so awesome!"

Nora leaned over the back of her chair to place herself over the blonde's shoulder, "Didn't you call another version a showoff for doing that?"

"Yeah. Difference is, that Jaune was a cocky guy with style focused fighting style. _This_ version is focusing on ending the fight as soon as he can."

 **"** **Last chance Arc!" Weiss shot at the side of the boulder and put a large chip in the stone. "Toss out your weapon!"**

 **Jaune looked in front of himself to find a belt of grenades dropped by the first bandit. "Alright, Weiss. Here it comes!"**

Tai took in a sharp breath, "Please tell me he's about to do what I think he is."

Ironwood rolled his eyes, "Hard not to tell what he's doing. He'll toss the grenades and they'll be caught in the explosion or forced out of position, allowing him to gain the upper hand."

Yang chuckled, "You've clearly never seen a western."

 **The grenades flew up from behind the rock.**

 **Weiss's face went pale, "Oh! Sh-!"**

 **Jaune moved out from his cover and fired three shots, each striking a grenade, and causing the mass of explosives to detonate. As the explosion ripped through the area, the camera moved behind Jaune as he spun his gun, placing it back in his holster. The shockwave moved through and made his poncho fly up as the smoke covered the scene.**

Silence. Awe struck by the scene that played out, no one could fin the words for that. Except Nora, who was way too energetic for her own good, "THAT WAS AMAZING!"

 **The screen faded back to show Weiss waking up, her hands bound to the hovercart from before. "What?"**

 **The camera pulled back to show as Jaune placed Klein's head on a circle of ropes to keep him from falling off. "Sorry 'bout that Klein." Jaune placed the robot's hat back on his head, tilting it the way he liked it. "No hard feelings."**

 **"** **Arc! The hell do you think you're doing?!"**

 **Jaune tipped his hat and pressed a button on the cart. "Say hi to the gang for me."**

 **As the cart moved back to their base on the opposite side of the nearby town, they could hear Weiss shouting after him, "Arc! I will not be ignored! I'll rebuild Klein! Then I'll come back and have him rip off your** ** _other_** **arm!"**

Yang chuckled, "No hard feelings, eh Ice Queen?"

Weiss groaned, "Shut up…"

 **Once they were gone, Jaune made his way to the rounded crate and opened it again.**

Ruby was getting excited, "Maybe we'll get to see what's inside."

Blake raised an eyebrow, "Why are you so excited by that? I get that it's a mystery, but…"

"Blake. That was a military train, based off all the weapons and explosives Weiss was picking from the wreckage. If _that_ crate is so different, it must be something experimental or too crazy for normal storage!"

Ironwood shrugged, "She has a point."

 **As the crate opened, Jaune pulled out the small chip from before. He placed it onto a similar slot and it seemed to fuse into the metal around it. The camera zoomed in close to show a pair of holographic eyes open. Eye's looked up slightly and they heard a giggle. "Hey there, cowboy."**

Heads turned toward Yang and then back to the screen. Her voice, or rather a slightly robotized version of it, was responsible for that.

Yang's excitement from the fight before fell off to curiosity. "So, that's supposed to be me? Wait… why was I in a crate…?"

 **Jaune took off his hat with one hand, "Welcome back, partner." He offered his hand to Yang.**

 **A sleek, very futuristic, robotic hand placed atop his cybernetic limb. Yang stood up once more, her pointed legs hovering above the ground. Now they could see the whole form, a beautifully designed and structured robot complete with magnetic joints that allowed the body to form without direct connections. Her face was a golden hologram while the rest of her body was a sleek white. "How long have I been gone?"**

Ruby, who was used to more mechanical looking robots from Atlas or Penny, was dumbfounded. "Woah…"

Penny nodded, "I agree, friend Ruby."

 **"** **Far too long."**

 **Yang turned to Jaune and grabbed his cybernetic hand with both of hers on either side, "What happened?"**

 **"** **That's a story for another time. I got a call. They're getting the band back together. They want me, but really… they** ** _need_** **you." Jaune placed his hat back on his head and started to walk off.**

 **"** **Jaune! What are you going to do?"**

 **Jaune chuckled and turned back to her, "I've got some unfinished business to attend to." Jaune hopped on a nearby white hovercycle. As he turned the key, it revealed [WEISS] was written on the key's accompanying leather. "Say hi to the monkey for me!"**

 **"** **Monkey?"**

A few pairs of eyes, Neptune and team RWBY, turned toward Sun for split second.

 **"** **Scientist… Whatever!" With that, Jaune drove off down the streets and along the route, making tracks with Weiss's personal cycle. The screen closed with a whip crack.**

Yang blinked and turned toward Ren, "Ren, you have a hobby in movies, right?"

"More the set up and filming. Why?"

"You study from a lot of films?"

"Had to somehow."

"Good. Futuristic westerns. How many are there?"

"I can get you a list."


	54. Intermission 3: Game Night

**King: The novel fell through. Not in a bad way, I just fell in love with the characters and wanted to give them the goddamn Moon and the stars. Safe to say, not a month only project. This will take more time. So, this is back on the main burner for now.**

 **Now, for their game. The game they play is based on a Co-op card game called "Sentinels of the Multiverse." I love the game and felt (especially by the title) that it fit. That and t release of RWBY: Combat Ready... So, game night! Keep your eyes out. You might see the world to come soon~**

 **Inspiration: None applicable, unless you include the mini characters to come.**

 **/\**

King was off writing some obscure thing in the theater, so the screen was alone again. _Alright then~ Let's see how this one plays._

 _Oh no you don't!_

 _King?!_

 _They're getting an intermission. Make them aware._

 _Fine…_ The screen changed to show the usher version of Jaune telling them they have an intermission.

Everyone made various tracks in different directions. Yang yawned and passed by to reach the arena but paused halfway. She turned her head to find a new room had been added, "Game Room?" A grin crossed over her features and she tore off to gather her team for an old fashioned RWBY game night. Cause why not, right?

Oddly, she got a few extras to join in. Nora, Ren, and Pyrrha tagged along once Nora heard about the game.

"If you're all going to play, we need a seven-player game…" At first, Blake wasn't really into the game night thing, but it started to grow on her after a while. Though it was hard to tell by her expression.

"What about this one?" Ruby walked over with a large box. "It says you can play with as many as you want."

Weiss looked over the packaging, "Guardians of the Multiverse?"

Blake nodded her head slightly, "It _does_ fit the theme of the area."

Yang pulled off the top and took out a piece of paper, reading it out loud. "In Guardians of the Multiverse, you and your teammates will work together to defeat a villain."

"So, a co-op game." Ren glanced into the box.

Yang kept reading, "This is a special Remnant variant. The base game uses characters from your reality."

Nora dove into the box and pulled out a deck of cards labeled [Pyrrha Nikos]. She started to look through the cards, each of which had various artworks and effects. "Woah~!"

Yang wanted to look through, but kept reading, "Extra expansions have been added to allow for different playstyles across the multiverse."

Nora giggled, "I got an idea! We all play as us, but not the version of us in the main game."

Ruby was getting excited, "That actually sounds cool. We can get a glimpse of our other selves."

Yang nodded, "Alright. First, lets figure everything else." She continued, "After selecting your characters, a villain and environment desks are selected and shuffled. These are not played by any of the players, instead just play the top card each turn. Each hero starts with a four-card hand. Each turn begins when the villain attacks, flipping the first card over to play, and then goes down the line in order. The environment plays its card last each turn. Each player's turn consists of playing one card and then using an ability. The player draws a card at the end of the turn. The heroes win by defeating the villain."

Weiss nodded, "Alright. Let's see what we've got."

Nora jumped to the box, "Hang on! I got another idea! We have someone else pick our versions!"

Yang let the gears turn, "So, I could get to pick Western Weiss for her to play?"

Blake had a small smile, "It _would_ be an interesting twist."

Nora giggled, "Let's do this!"

Each got their variations and started to find their villain and environment. They settled on fighting against Roman Torchwick in Downtown Vale. And so, they drew their hands, but didn't get to look yet, at Nora's insistence, since the villain didn't attack yet. Roman's first card was placed showing Roman holding a red Dust crystal, [Nice try: destroy one hero ongoing or equipment cards.]

Blake looked up from the card, "Lucky we got that now and not later."

Then Roman's effect activated. At the end of the Villain Turn, Roman deals the hero with the highest HP H-1 damage.

"H-1?" Ruby looked toward Yang, who was looking through the rules.

"H is the number of Heroes in the game."

"So… 6 damage to… Yang."

"Yep." Yang's HP decreased from 35 to 29. "Our turn now. Blake's up first."

Blake picked up her cards and raised an eyebrow. "Okay…"

Yang chuckled, "Get something interesting?" She hadn't been the one to give her the deck, that was Ren, but she was intrigued.

Blake shrugged and played her card. It showed a Blake dressed to the nines with a glass of wine in hand, [Infinite Resources: Draw three cards. After this, you play an additional card].

Yang looked over the card and whistled, "So, Blake is the rich girl in this game~"

Blake drew her cards and played another showing the high society Blake backhanding a man in a black and red suit, [Back off Heathen: Deal one target 1 physical damage. If damaged this way, the target cannot deal damage until your next turn]. She added a damage to Roman with a smirk. She also had an ability to use printed on her character card. [Corporate Takeover: Discard the top card of any deck]. She removed the card from Roman's deck. She drew a card and looked to her left, "Your turn Ren."

Ren nodded and picked up his hand. He looked over the cards, glancing toward his character card. It showed a version of Ren in archer's robes with his hair tied back. To Ren, he resembled his father, with some differences, mostly the dragon tattoo on his left arm. He played a card with a scene showing an arrow embedded in a wall with a red silhouette on the other side. [Sonic Arrow: Look at the top card of any deck]. Once complete, he used his ability, [Quick Fire: Play one trick arrow]. He played a card showing Ren with a notched arrow, the arrowhead enflamed, [Dragon Nail: Deal one target 2 projectile damage and 1 fire damage]. Roman was now knocked down to 96 health.

Next was Ruby. Her version showed Ruby dressed in a blue military uniform with a pistol in hand. "Oh! Cool!" She looked over her cards and smiled. "Alright~ I'll play… this one!" The card showed Ruby looking through a sniper's scope, [Hawkeye: As long as this card remains on your field, projectile damage dealt by Ruby deals 2 extra damage]. She nodded and turned to her character card, "Now my ability, Kill Shot, normally deals 1 projectile damage, but this makes it 3 damage! Eat it Torchwick!"

"What am I doing now?" Torchwick was in the door with Neo walking in behind him. He noticed the game and picked up his character card, "Hello~ Who's this handsome devil?"

Neo looked over the game at hand.

Ruby glared toward the criminal, "What do you want, Torchwick?"

Roman chuckled, "Plenty. Right now, though, a break. Figured I'd find a deck of cards or something and play solitaire. Neo, however, seems interested in your game."

Yang and Neo glared toward one another for a while. Yang groaned, "We already started."

Nora, who didn't hold the same level of animosity as Yang, suggested, "You know… We _are_ still on the first turn. We could probably let her in to go last."

Yang sighed, "Whatever." She turned back toward Neo, "We didn't get to pick our own decks and I don't feel like fishing to find one of you, so you get what you get." She picked out a random deck, shuffled it, and placed it in front of Neo. "Don't reveal your character or look at your hand until your turn. I can read your card effects out loud since you're going last."

Neo nodded. The two were trying their truce but working together in a game was a little out there. Roman rolled his eyes and smirked, "Welp! Have fun!" Roman moved further in to find a deck of cards.

Now, they continued their game. "My turn!" Nora revealed her character card. Nora's character showed the siren version they'd seen on the screen. "Awesome! I get space magic!" She picked up her cards and smiled. "I play this!" It showed Nora with her hand on Jaune's back, using magic for healing wounds, [Hand of Healing: Ability: heal one hero target for 3 HP]. "Let's heal Yang!"

"Nice!" Yang returned her health to 32. Not max, but better than she had.

Weiss sighed. "My turn, then." She revealed her character to show a version of Weiss dressed in more high-end looking street clothes: white tank top, black half jacket, blue pants, and heeled boots. She had her arms crossed and a smirk on her face. "Well that's odd…"

Yang grinned, "I don't know. It's looks pretty good."

"Now I know it's odd."

"Hey!"

Weiss picked up her hand and looked over her options. "I guess… this one." Weiss played a card showing her standing in a massive warehouse. [Supply Chain: search your deck for one Dust card and add it to your hand]. She grabbed a card and used her ability after this. [Family Ties: Draw a card]. Two draws ended her turn.

Now it was Pyrrha's turn. She revealed her character card to show her in a dark hoodie, shorts, and tall expeditionary boots. "Interesting." She looked over her cards a part of her had to suppress a chuckle. "Okay then. I'll play this card." The card showed a Pyrrha with her shield up and blocking a Beowolf's attack. [I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING!: Discard one card from your hand and deal one target 2 melee damage]. Then she was able to use her ability which read [Hand-Me-Down: return one card from your trash and add it to your hand]. Pyrrha drew another card and nodded toward Yang.

Yang revealed her own variation to find her character. This was the version of Yang in the armor and jetpack with dual blaster pistols. "Nice! I remember this one!" She picked up her hand and grinned. "Okay. Let's start with this!" She played a card showing the Yang in full, gleaming armor, [Mandalore's Best: Decrease damage dealt to Yang by 1]. "Okay! Now for my ability which deals up to two targets 1 energy damage. There's only one target, though." That was 10 damage total to Torchwick putting him at 65. Yang nodded and turned toward the last of their team. "Your turn, I guess…" She didn't like the idea of Neo sitting next to her, but at least she knew the short psychopath couldn't attack anyone.

Neo looked down to her cards and revealed her character card. It showed Jaune in full plate armor with an ornate halberd in hand. She read the mini-description that referred to him as a Lawbringer. _Ironic…_ She picked up her hand of cards and her eyes went wide. _Lawbringer?! You sure?!_ Eyes were on her and she blinked. _Alright. You asked for it…_ She played a card showing Jaune with his hands wrapped around a man's throat and squeezing. [The Right to Remain Silent: Prevent one target from drawing a card during their normal draw phase]. Based on what she'd seen, she was allowed to use her ability now. [The Law Won: Force a target to discard the top card of their deck]. She knocked a card away from Roman, given that was the point of the game.

Thus, it was the environment's turn. Yang reached over to flip the top card, reaching it out loud. "Back Alley dealings. At the end of the environment turn, play the top card from the villain deck."

She picked the card, since it wasn't the normal draw, and placed it face up on the table. It showed Roman smacking his cane across Ruby's head. [Bludgeon: Deal the hero target with the lowest HP 2 melee damage]. Ren was spared the damage thanks to Blake's turn.

Ruby sunk in her chair and huffed, "As if that would ever happen."

Roman walked passed, deck of cards in hand, and lightly smacked the top of her head with his cane, "Easier than you think, Red." He left the room after that.

Roman's turn was taken away by Neo stopping his cards and Blake stopping the damage. Thus, it was Blake's turn again. She looked over her cards and decided to play one showing her with a blank expression as she stared down the version of Weiss she was using for the game. [Calm Demeanor: You take 1 less damage as long as this card remains on the field. She used her ability to force Roman to drop another card before passing the turn to Ren.

Ren looked over his options and decided to play a card that showed his version with a common arrow notched, [Sniper: Increase the damage dealt by the next trick arrow by 2]. This, coupled with his power, allowed him to increase his trick arrow's damage right now. The card showed a series of mini-arrow bouncing off of various surfaces, [Scattershot: Deal up to five targets 1 projectile damage] which was now increased to 3 damage to Roman.

Next was Ruby who played a card showing her loading a slug into a shotgun. [Tactical Reload: Draw 2 cards]. After that, she fired her ability to hit Torchwick again.

That passed the turn to Nora. She giggled and played a card showing her tattoos glowing, [Siren Blood: If this card remains on the field, you deal an extra 1 fire damage and 1 electric damage when using your Phaselock ability. Using this ability, she dealt 4 damage to Roman, knocking him down to 57.

Now it was Weiss's turn again. She looked over her cards and she felt her eye twitch.

"Something wrong, Ice Queen?" Yang grinned.

Weiss sighed and played the best card for the option. [Ice Queen? Bitch, I'm too Hot to be Ice Anything]. It showed Weiss glaring downward, her eyes glowing the darkness of her scene. [Deal 1 target 1 melee and 1 fire damage].

Yang blinked at the card and started to snicker. "Damn. We _have_ to meet this version!"

Weiss just groaned and used her power to draw a card. "Your turn, Pyrrha].

Pyrrha looked over her cards and could help be feel… familiar, but odd. Like she'd seen something similar from another angle. She played a card showing her counterpart tripping over her shield, [Who Put That There?!: Discard 1 card in your hand and deal 1 target 2 melee damage]. Then, she was able to use her power to pick the card back up from her trash.

Yang's turn came around again. She played a card showing her activating a wrist-mounted flamethrower. [Burn!: Ability: deal up to three targets 2 fire damage]. That used up her ability and making it Neo's turn.

The silent psychopath flipped and played a card on the table. It showed the Lawbringer Jaune attacking someone with his halberd. [I Am the Law: Deal 1 target 3 melee damage].

The game played on over various rounds until they heard a voice over the intercoms. " _Please return to your seats. Intermission will be ending soon._ "

Nora groaned, "Well that sucks. Guess the game's over."

Everyone nodded and started to put the game back in its box(es). Yang grinned, "We have to try to find something like this back home."

Ruby grinned, "Agreed~!"

With that, the teams left the room, leaving Neo alone in the room. She thought to herself about the situation. Before all of this, she'd have just tried to kill them. Unable to attack, she'd have ignored them. But she played their game. Why? _What's going on with this place?_


	55. Flames of Hate

**King: I'm back~ Get ready for this madness and hope you enjoy.**

 **Inspiration: Fullmetal Alchemist**

 **/\**

As the groups returned to their seats Cinder and Emerald hung back in the hall. Cinder pulled her lacky there to discuss their current circumstances. "Something is wrong here, Emerald."

"I agree ma'am. Mercury's ignoring us and Roman and his sidekick just abandoned us altogether."

"That's just it, Emerald. This shouldn't happen at all. There's something going on with this theater that messing with our minds."

"What should we do?"

"Play along for now. But keep your guard up and remember your place." Cinder walked back into the theater, leaving Emerald to follow.

Once everyone was gathered again, the screen popped to form and started the next round.

 **The first thing they saw was a grey sky. They heard a voice playing off screen, "** ** _These people don't deserve this…_** **"**

Sun raised an eyebrow, "Neptune? Okay. What's this going to be?"

 **"** ** _Congrats on the promotion, Jaune! Or should I call you Colonel~?_** **"**

"Colonel?" Ruby turned toward the military group, not realizing how high the rank is.

Winter felt her eye twitch, "It's one rank lower than the one star generals."

"Woah~!" Ruby turned back to the screen. "That's so awesome!"

 **"** ** _Come on~! Look how cute she is! My daughter's the cutest kid in the world!_** **"**

 **"** ** _There's something weird going on here…_** **"**

 **"** ** _Jaune…_** **" As Neptune spoke, the camera fell onto a gravestone. "** ** _Be careful._** **" The headstone read out [Lt. Col. Neptune Vasilias].**

Neptune's body went stiff. "I'm dead?!"

 **The camera pulled back to show an older Jaune dressed in a black uniform coat. He had his military cap in hand as he looked down to the grave of his old friend. "Damn it, Neptune… What did you get yourself into?"**

 **Someone walked up behind him. Ruby Rose, his second-in-command in a similar black coat. It was standard issue for military funerals. "Sir. We need to get back to the headquarters."**

 **"** **Alright, Lieutenant." Jaune placed his hat on, obscuring his eyes from the camera. "This rain is too heavy to stay outside anyway."**

 **"** **Sir? It's not raining."**

 **The camera pulled to a lower angle to show tears flowing down Jaune's cheeks. "Yes, it is, Lieutenant."**

Hearts sank for Jaune. Neptune had been his friend and was, presumably, murdered if his line at the beginning was anything to go off of.

 **The scene went white to show the two in their usual blue uniforms. Ruby had adopted to wear a white cloak over her usual attire. She had a bolt-action rifle on her back and several sidearms hidden under her cloak. Jaune was dressed in his blue officer's uniform, with his white gloves on as well.**

Coco smirked, "Have to admit, Arc looks good in that uniform."

Velvet knew Coco was making a fashion-based compliment, but it still put her on edge that it might be more about Jaune.

 **More people were gathered around a large doorway, all on edge. One notable figure was Yang in a yellow coat with her hair tied back in a braid. Everyone was tense and looking toward a figure standing in an open doorway. It was Emerald Sustrai, dressed in a black crop top, shorts, and an odd set of footwear that only really covered her ankles.**

 **Emerald, or rather the homunculus Envy, smirked, "Sorry, can't come in right now. Place is a mess."**

Ruby tilted her head, "What's a homunculus?"

Oobleck adjusted his glasses ad frowned, "An old alchemical theory of an artificial human."

"Like a robot?"

"Not quite. This would be a human created by alchemy, rather than robotics. It would be flesh and blood but formed artificially."

"Okay… That's kind of weird."

"It's impossible in our world, Ms. Rose."

 **Yang glared. "Envy… If you're here, no doubt we're in the right place."**

 **"** **Oh? Hey there. Fancy seeing you again. I'd suggest just leaving and going home."**

 **Jaune glared toward Emerald. "So, you're one of the homunculi?"**

 **Emerald turned toward Jaune and grinned, "I am."**

 **"** **If you'd indulge me, I'd like to ask you a question."**

 **"** **Go ahead."**

 **"** **I want to know who killed Neptune Vasilias. And I want the truth, homunculus."**

 **Emerald's grin fell away. "It was Nora Valkyrie. You should know that…"**

Nora went stiff. "Wait! I what?!"

 **Emerald continued, "Isn't that why you burned her to death?"**

Nora blanked, "He did what?!"

 **"** **Shut up." Jaune was losing patience. "I know that she didn't kill him."**

 **Emerald's grin returned in full force, "Huh~? You mean to tell me you scorched an innocent girl to a pile of ashes?! Nicely done, you monster~"**

 **Jaune thought back to the moment. He'd used deceptive work and planning to make it seem like Nora had been torched alive, but she was actually safe outside the country.**

Nora sighed in relief and fell back in her chair. "Oh thank goodness!"

Ren released a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.

 **Emerald laughed, "Must have been fun telling her family. Did you cry when you told them? Or did you just sit there quietly and endure their outrage?"**

 **"** **Quit running your mouth, you idiot!"**

 **Emerald's grin was gone again, and she raised an eyebrow.**

 **"** **I'm sick you homunculi giving me the run around when I ask you this question. Tell me the truth or I'll burn it out of you!"**

"Damn." Roman couldn't even smirk. "Kid's mad…"

 **Emerald grinned from ear to ear and started to laugh. After a moment, she placed a hand on her chest and the other out toward him, "Congratulations Colonel Arc. You've finally tracked down your culprit."**

 **Jaune's eyes went wide for a moment before returning to normal. "You're saying you killed Neptune? I doubt a moron like you could pull that off."**

Emerald was officially getting mad at this guy constantly calling her an idiot or a moron.

Mercury, on the other hand, grinned in satisfaction.

 **Emerald just laughed it off. "Moron?!" Her body surged with a strange red electricity. Her body morphed into a new form with light green hair turquoise eyes.**

The student's recognized the face, but not to any significant degree. They'd seen her before as a transfer student but didn't know her name. It was that girl from Haven with the hoverboard… What was her name?

 **Emerald spoke through her disguise, "You tell me who the real moron is! Because I don't think it's me! I prefer to use that term for people who fall for a cheap trick like this!"**

 **Jaune's eyes went wide, first in shock then realization. This** ** _was_** **Neptune's killer.**

 **Emerald laughed, "You should see your face! It's the same face he made before I shot him! The pure shock! Utter confusion! It was amazing! So many little emotions as his own wife shot him!" Emerald continued to laugh through her form.**

 **"** **That's enough!" Jaune clenched his teeth, "You were stupid enough to confess. And even more stupid to boast." The camera fell on his glove, allowing them to see the pattern stitched onto the back. "Everything you've said is fuel on your funeral pyre." His hand rose up as he used the other to tighten his glove over his fingers. "And I think I'll begin… by burning out your tongue!" Simple anger did not paint his features. This was a man consumed by hate and fury, and it showed on his face.**

Everyone shook in their seats. The look of Jaune's face was unnerving. His friends had never seen him truly hate someone. He didn't like Cardin, few did, but Jaune never hated anyone! To see him like this was jarring beyond measure.

 **Jaune walked forward, "Everyone! Stand down. I'll handle her myself."**

 **Yang wanted to argue, but Ruby motioned for her to advance through the door. "Don't worry. We can handle this."**

 **As they tried to move forward, Emerald created a massive monster-esc hand in place of her own to block them. "I don't remember giving you permission to leave."**

Mercury gagged, "That just looks disgusting."

 **"** **I still owe you all for what you did to-" She was cut off by fingers snapping and a burst of fire igniting in her mouth.**

This got everyone to jump.

Yang blinked, "What… just happened?"

Ozpin's eyes narrowed, "If artificially created humans are possible through alchemy, then it must have been a reaction by one of the viewers."

Qrow finished his gulp, "Bet I know which one."

 **The screen returned to Jaune with his hand raised back, "Keep your eyes on me, Envy.** ** _Our_** **conversation is the only one that should concern you." As Emerald returned to her usual form, he continued, "It's interesting how quickly the tongue can be rendered into a bubbling grease."**

Emerald placed a hand over her mouth, "Holy shit…"

 **"** **It's surprising how easy it burns, isn't it?"**

 **Yang turned to Ruby but was just told to move on. "We can handle this. You have more important things to do."**

 **Emerald had to watch as her mouth sparked with red lightning. She had to heal her tongue before she could speak again. "Damn it…" Yang and a few other annoyances got through, but she had bigger issues right now. "So… you've pretty persistent to find Neptune's killer. You were a true friend to the very end!" Emerald morphed into a giant monster. This was no illusion, she truly became this monstrous beast of many eyes and mouths.**

Yang shuttered in her seat, "That just _looks_ wrong."

"It was also a bad move." Tai's eyes narrowed toward the screen.

 **"** **In reverence to your tireless search, I'll give you the fight you're looking for. But I can't exactly tread lightly with this body. So you better give it all you-" A snap later and her eyes erupted in flame.**

 **Jaune had his hand outstretched, ready for another attack. "What's it like having the fluid inside your eyes boil? I'd imagine it might sting a little."**

Neptune winced at the moment. "I'm torn. On one hand, I at least know I had a good friend. But this is just… hard to watch."

 **Emerald was healing, but the pain was still very present. And, unlike with her tongue, she could still scream in agony. "Damn you!" Another snap and she engulfed in flames again.**

 **"** **I can't believe you'd give me a bigger target. Did you think size would give you a better chance at winning? You idiot." As Emerald writhed in agony, Jaune felt nothing but his hatred. "Come on! Get up, monster! Go ahead and regenerate! You'll suffer a hundred deaths before I'm done with you!"**

 **Emerald clenched her teeth.** ** _Damn it, that's right! He's the one that incinerated Lust!_** **She used her monstrous tail to create a cover of rubble before reverting into her humanoid form and escaping into the doorway.**

 **"** **Get back here you coward!"**

 **Ruby called after him, "Colonel!"**

 **"** **You wait here, Lieutenant! I'll deal with her myself!"**

 **Ruby obeyed the order, but she didn't like it. She hated seeing what Jaune was becoming because of this. She clenched her teeth and made a choice. Time had passed, but she ran in after them.**

Ironwood's eyes narrowed, "That was a bad idea…"

"How so?" Ruby turned to the general, not following his thought process.

Port nodded, "If this homunculus can change her form, and they are all aware of this, then it's possible Mr. Arc and Ms. Rose can be played against one another and forced into a situation where they end up coming to blows."

"Oh no…"

 **A blast of fire filled a hall as Emerald scrambled to escape the fires. She ducked behind a corner and had to take time to heal again. Jaune was nearby, waving away the smoke he created. "Show yourself, Envy!"**

 **Emerald growled, "Damn it…" She snuck to the side and away from Jaune.**

 **Jaune walked through the halls. "Show yourself! Or I'll burn your bone marrow!"**

Yang leaned back in her chair, "You'd think he'd be in a hurry to find her…"

 **A pair of boots came into frame from the angle. The camera spun back over Jaune's shoulder to show Neptune standing behind him, "Hey Jaune…"**

Neptune growled to himself, "Bitch… Using my face like that…"

 **Emerald moved to charge, but a snap cut her off as she ignited in flames. She tried to speak through her screams, "What is wrong with you?! You didn't even hesitate!"**

 **"** **Neptune Vasilias is dead. Nothing will change that." Jaune's hate hit new levels, "And you would invoke his image? You must be a glutton for punishment!" Another snap and Emerald was alight all over again.**

 **Emerald was forced into the wall, cracking the concrete. She peeled herself off and roared out, "I'll show you punishment!" Jaune snapped again and her eyes burst into flames once more. "AHH! MY EYES!"**

Emerald cringed at the sight. She had no idea how much that would hurt, but it was clearly painful beyond all reason.

 **"** **Did you think if you could get close I wouldn't be able to use my flames? Didn't you know I could use pinpoint flames? To bad for you, because I can!" Another snap and Emerald was engulfed by flames.**

 **Emerald cried out in pain but had to get away. She ran off and down an open pit to the lower levels. She hid herself away behind thick wiring to allow herself to heal her body. She looked out to see Ruby walking through. A grin covered face with that. She could use this.**

Blake groaned, "Oh… That's not good…"

 **The next thing they saw was Jaune marching down one of the halls. The camera moved on the way to show Ruby crouched with gun in hand. Jaune's eyes darted toward the corner where she was hiding and held a hand out, ready to snap and burn the person on the other side. At the same time, Ruby pointed her gun toward Jaune.**

 **A moment later, and Jaune lowered his hand. "I told you to stay behind Lieutenant."**

 **Ruby moved her gun away from him as well, "I'm sorry, sir. But I couldn't just sit there."**

 **Jaune placed his hands in his pockets and sighed.**

 **Ruby stood up, "Where's Envy?"**

 **"** **Bitch outran me. This place is like a labyrinth. Might as well help me kill him now that you're here. Stay close." The two started to walk further off into the hall.**

 **As they walked, the camera moved to show Ruby behind Jaune with a grin on her face. She slowly moved her hand and leveled the barrel of her gun at the back of Jaune's head.**

This whole shapeshifter thing was making it difficult if this was a good or bad thing.

 **Jaune groaned and raised his hands, "Lieutenant… You** ** _do_** **realize who you're pointing your gun at, right?"**

 **"** **I'm well aware. After all, the Colonel addresses me by my first name, Ruby, whenever we're alone."**

Yang wanted to play the protective big sister, but… "Hey, Ruby~! Look at you! Something you're not telling us?"

"No! No there isn't!" Ruby huffed.

"You sure?"

 **Emerald growled and jumped off, her form shifting from Jaune back to her own, "I had no idea you two were that close…"**

 **"** **I lied." Ruby shot Emerald in the head, "But it was still nice of you to fall for it, Envy."**

Ruby grinned, "See?!"

Yang grinned in her usual, teasing way, "Protesting a little much, don't you think, sis? People might think you're trying to hide something."

"Yang!"

 **Ruby unloaded her gun into Emerald, "And now you an do me the favor of dying." Once that gun was empty, she pulled two more from twin holsters at the base of her back. She continued her assault until they were empty too. Once they were, she spun the bolt-action rifle over her shoulder and fired a few shots into Emerald, pushing her back into a crossing path. Emerald lashed out using an extending form and cut into Ruby's shoulder.**

 **Emerald dropped to her hands and knees, "Damn it! You are really annoying with that thing!" She used her shifting form to dig under the tiles and wrapped the arm around Ruby, slamming her onto the ground. "I'll kill you and dump you at his feet like a rat!" As she yelled, flames erupted from the adjacent hall. The fire flew down the extended arm and stopped just before reaching Ruby.**

 **Another snap and Emerald erupted again. Jaune walked slowly out of the shadows of the hall and glared down toward Emerald, "Just what do you think you're doing to my Lieutenant?"**

 **Emerald had never known fear. She'd always seen humanity as beneath her. But this man… This man scared her. If she was the monster, he was the devil. Emerald became defiant, "You damn human! You think I'll…" Soon she was on fire again. Over and over, never ceasing to burn. She would heal only to be scorched again. Each snap designed to make Emerald's near immortal life a living hell. It was only a matter of time, to die and die again until she stayed dead.**

 **Ruby was shaking. In all their years of service together, she'd never seen Jaune like this. Even during the war, he'd never been filled with hate like this. It stung even worse because… he promised…**

Ruby was shaking in her chair. It was hard for everyone to see Jaune like that. For some (Pyrrha and Velvet), it stung all the more. But to Ruby, it was beyond painful. Jaune was the first friend she'd made at Beacon, her fellow leader, someone she could trust…

 **One last giant flame caused Emerald's body to begin to fade to ashes. A small green creature pulled itself out of her head. It was like a mini version of the giant monster from before, complete with four arms, four legs and a long tail. "Damn it… Not this again." This was Emerald's true, weakened form.**

Mercury started to laugh seeing Emerald as that little thing.

Emerald groaned. Of course she hated seeing her body get burned, but this was just insult to injury.

 **A black military boot slammed down on top of Emerald, "So this is what you really look like." Jaune's voice was a growl as he spoke. "You are disgusting. Fitting, I suppose. Envy is synonymous with jealousy, and jealousy is an ugly emotion." He pushed more of his weight onto Emerald.**

 **Emerald cried, begging for her life, "No! Please! I don't want to die!"**

 **"** **I'm not giving you a choice." Magical energy surged around his fingers, "Now burn in hell!"**

Eyes closed, not wanting to see what happened next.

 **The sound of a cocking gun pulled them back into the screen. Jaune looked to the side to see a distraught Ruby pointing a gun at him. "Lieutenant? What are you doing?"**

 **Ruby took a breath to calm her nerves, "Keeping you from making a mistake. Colonel, when I gave you my father's research into flame alchemy, you made me a promise to use your skills for the good of others. That you wouldn't let hate and anger cloud your judgement. And when we met again in Ishval, you told me that if you ever became like the old generals, that I have permission to shoot you."**

"What's Ishval?" Nora asked.

"If I had to guess," Weiss tapped her chair, "I'd say it's either a city or a country where they fought in some kind of war given how they talked about their generals."

 **"** **You expect me to just let her get away with killing Neptune?"**

 **"** **No sir. Let me deal with her. I won't let you be consumed by hate like them! I won't let you become a monster!"**

 **Jaune's body went stiff, an old memory flooding over his mind.**

 **Jaune was standing in front of a superior officer, "Sir! This is insane!"**

 **The old man was obscured but his uniform said general, "Major… I won't tell you again. This is war. If you don't want to be a soldier, then become a monster and kill them all because I told you to!"**

 **As the memory faded, they heard Neptune speaking again, "** ** _You want to rule Amestrus? Heh… You've got my support, might even do some good._** **"**

 **Jaune was shaking, "Damn it… I found her… I finally tracked her down!"**

 **"** **I know that sir!" Ruby kept her hand up, but her nerves caused her to shake slightly, "But this isn't going to help. Not you, not your country, and certainly not Neptune… This is pure hate. And I won't let it take you! You're better than this…"**

 **The pressure on Emerald eased and allowed her to crawl out from under Jaune's heel. She tried to run, but a gunshot rang out and she stopped. Her eyes were blank, and her body started to dissipate. After a moment, there was only a gleaming red, polished gemstone with a bullet lodged into its form. The gem cracked completely and faded into nothingness. Envy died for the final time that day.**

Yang took in a sharp breath. "Hopefully the next one isn't that emotional."

Blake turned to the blonde, "Can't we use the archive to pick one?"

King reappeared, "The archive allows us to view a world we've already seen. Until we see it, we can't revisit it."

Ruby looked up toward the fireball, "What about the world where Jaune was a super hero? When he was All Might!"

King was silent for a moment. "Alright. One heroic Arc, coming up…"


	56. The Torch is Passed One Last Stand

**King: The archive has spoken! Can I get a Plus Ultra?! Well... that or a USoS~**

 **Inspiration: My Hero Academia**

 **/\**

 **The screen opened to blackness as Ruby's voice played through the speakers, "** ** _During a routine Hero training camp, the League of Villains attacked and kidnapped one of our classmates._** **"**

 **The screen changed to show a very angry Cardin.**

 **"** ** _Cardin is a total ass, but he's still our classmate. They tried to recruit him to their cause, thinking his outbursts meant he was unsatisfied or being held back. He told them off pretty quickly._** **"**

Coco raised an eyebrow, "So… he's still an ass, but at least he's not evil?"

 **"** ** _And we wanted to try to save him, going undercover, but after the incident with Stain, we can't be caught doing the job of licensed heroes. Thankfully, the Pros found the hideout soon enough and broke in to save him. Unfortunately…_** **"**

 **The screen came into view showing a pair of dress shoes. The camera panned up to show Salem dressed in a black suit. An apparatus was hanging around her neck and over her mouth, helping her breath after her first bout with All Might.**

 **"** ** _They never stood a chance…_** **"**

 **The camera panned out to show several costumed heroes lying on the ground unconscious. Each was bloodied, and many were broken.**

A few of the adults in the audience recognized themselves among the defeated. One interesting note was a very short version of Ozpin. They'd seen it before when Jaune was the hero killer, but it was still funny to see.

 **"** ** _All we could hope for, is that she didn't see us. That someone would come to stop her._** **"**

 **"** **Ah~ There you are."**

 **The camera flew up to show the muscular form of Jaune Arc flying through the sky in his red, blue, and yellow uniform. All Might had arrived with a giant cloud of dust on impact.**

Those who were there, and not of villainous persuasion, to see his previous outing as All Might cheered seeing him return in all his heroic glory. The Salem sitting in the audience smiled. She was of another dimension where she was the mother to Jaune Arc, and all he wanted to be was a hero people could look forward to. It was an amazing feeling to see her little boy become what he always wanted to, even if it was another version.

 **Salem chuckled, "One for All… I was wondering when you'd finally show up."**

 **Jaune glared toward the villain, "All for One… So, you** ** _are_** **still alive."**

Ruby's head tilted, "One for All and All for One? I remember the One for All from before, it was that power Jaune could pass on to other people. But what's All for One?"

King appeared for a moment, "Exactly as it says, Ms. Rose. All for One is the power to steal quirks from others for one's own use. It's All for One… Whereas One for All is the power to stockpile the powers over time, to be there for all the people that need. To be the One for All."

Blake smirked, "Poetic."

 **Jaune clenched his fist and charged forward in a cloud of rock. He slammed his fists toward Salem, only to be caught. This was the terror that could match the power of the Symbol of Peace.**

Yang's visage fell into worry, "Holy shit…"

Tai turned to his daughter, "I didn't get to see anything when I was the All Might guy. How strong is he?"

Nora hopped up and leaned over Ruby's chair, "He punched a giant muscle guy into the stratosphere!"

"Seriously?!"

 **"** **I'll have you return my student! All for One!"**

 **Salem growled, "Did you come here to kill me a** ** _second_** **time, All Might?"**

 **An explosion of power ripped across the area, creating a small crater between them. Jaune stood tall again and glared, "I** ** _will_** **be taking back my student. Then… I'm going to lock you away for the rest of your sad, miserable life! Along with your foolish League of Villains!" Jaune charged forward, winding up a punch.**

 **Salem smirked and held up a hand. Her arm seemed to coil outward as she used one of her stolen quirks. "I doubt that." She blew him back using a cannon of air pressure. Jaune flew into the surrounding buildings.**

 **Ruby's voice returned, "** ** _As long as Cardin was still in harm's way, Jaune was holding back._** **" They saw a shadowy hand reach up from the ground and grab Cardin. A moment later and all five of the hero students were escaping through the air by using a ramp of ice, curtesy of Weiss, and propelling forward by Yang's explosions.**

"It was a creative rescue." Port crossed his arms in thought.

"And likely for the best." Oobleck nodded, "Without civilians, Mr. Arc won't need to hold back."

 **Jaune burst out from under the rubble and punched the air behind him, causing him to push forward through pure air pressure. "You're mine!" Salem used a levitation ability to match him in the air, catching his punch.**

 **Salem pushed him back and a set of strange, almost mechanical-esc tendrils extended from her fingers. "Nice try, but you'll find this to be a fight you can't win." Jaune dodged the tendrils as best he could, but soon they snaked around him and dug into his back, "Because** ** _I_** **am here." Salem used this to toss him off into another building.**

The students were on edge seeing this. Not only had this enemy used his own catch phrase against him, but she was winning! Jaune was being pushed back despite that he didn't have to hold back anymore!

 **Jaune clenched his teeth and readied another big punch. Salem smirked again and a wall of silver slime appeared before her, "Warping plus shock inversion." Ozpin was suddenly between the two and took the force of Jaune's attack, however, the feedback was pushed onto Jaune instead as his arm flew back in pain. Salem chuckled, "I was only here to clean up after Cinder's failure. But if you really want your fight that badly, I'll face you as you wish."**

 **Jaune grabbed the now unconscious Ozpin and pulled him out of the warp. "Detroit Smash!" He slammed his fist toward Salem but was caught again.**

 **Salem's eyes narrowed. "You still won't fight me at your full power?" She glanced to the side to see a woman half-buried by rubble. "You can't be serious." She started to laugh. "I see… Then, why don't we get this annoyance out of the way." She raised a hand toward the bystander and her arm coiled with air pressure again.**

Salem glared toward her counterpart.

This was picked up by Ozpin, who raised an eyebrow. "I take it this is difficult for you. Seeing yourself fighting your own son."

Salem sighed. "On the contrary, Ozpin. In this reality, _I_ am the villain that is willing to attack innocent people. Jaune is the hero that needs to stop me. I'd expect nothing less from him. Even in my own world, if I ever turn out like that, I'd hope he'd stop me by whatever means."

 **The wind was released and created a giant explosion of pressure. As the dust settled again, they saw Jaune standing in front of the woman, his arm bloodied, and his form starting to falter.**

 **Salem burst out into laughter. "So, the world will truly see what you've become."**

Ruby groaned in her seat, "Oh… that's not good."

Tai turned to Ruby, "What's going on?"

"Jaune is injured in this world. He can't stay in that tall form for more than three hours. Otherwise, he's basically powerless."

 **A news helicopter spun into frame, the cameras placed square on Jaune in shock.**

 **Salem looked up toward them. "Now they'll all know your little secret. What the Symbol of Peace looks like."**

 **Jaune's muscled form finally fell away to leave only his near skeletal state in its place. He coughed up blood and shook in pain.**

 **"** **It's time to face facts, All Might. Your spark is faded. One for All has passed on from your body. But I wonder… Did you have time to pass on this spark?"**

 **Jaune clenched his fist, but just ended up coughing up blood.**

 **"** **Will the Symbol of Peace die without a… Wait… Cinder told me about a young girl with silver eyes with powers similar to yours." She cracked her neck and chuckled, "Perhaps I'll have to deal with her next."**

 **Jaune tried to stand tall but faltered again. "You won't be getting away…"**

Pyrrha clasped her hands together, "Oh please, Jaune… you can do this…"

 **Salem smirked and looked down on him, "And what can** ** _you_** **do like that? Your spark is gone, All Might."**

 **The screen showed a fading fire in a blizzard.**

 **"** **It's too late to stop me." She started to list off more stolen quirks. "5 strength boosters, shock redirection, 10 times metal bones, 3 muscle enhancements, levitation, 10 times hand of blades…" When she was done, one of her arms was a giant mass of metal and muscle.**

Yang shivered, "That just looks wrong…"

 **Salem chuckled, "Time for One for All to die once more."**

 **Jaune's breathing was labored and blood ran down from his lips.** ** _Damn it! I can't stop her… Is this… where I die?_**

Ruby cried up toward the screen, "Come on Jaune!"

 **"** **ALL MIGHT!" The woman under the rubble called out to him. "You can do it! You can do anything! You're the Symbol of Peace! Our hero! You always find a way to save the day!"**

 **Jaune clenched his teeth and shook. After a moment, he smiled. "Right…" He turned back to Salem. The screen changed to show the cosmic stars, shining again as they connected one to the next. It finally landed on a glowing, golden star. Jaune's hand clenched and expanded to his muscular form. Unfortunately, he only had enough power to expand a single arm. "I will stop you, All for One!"**

 **Salem charged forward and slammed her fist into Jaune's. He held her back for a moment but was soon pushed back. Jaune dug into the stone and finally stopped her assault. Salem's eyes went wide. "I see…"**

 **The fire returned to show Jaune leaning over the flames to shield it from the frozen winds.**

 **"** **The sparks on the edge of extinguishing are resisting. They continue to burn until they fulfill their duty."**

Everyone from Beacon smiled. The Jaune they knew _was_ the kind of man that would fight the impossible battle to help others. He'd find a way to succeed, no matter how out there it seemed at the time.

 **"** **FOOLISH! This is where the Symbol of Peace dies!" Salem pressed her assault again and caused Jaune's arm to erupt with small spouts of blood. His bones were breaking under her attack.**

 **"** **This isn't because I'm a symbol." Jaune clenched his other fist and a small golden spark appeared. "Like my predecessor did for me, I can't die until her training is complete!" The mass from his defending arm shifted to his other. He was now within Salem's guard and too close to dodge. He landed a heavy hit into Salem's face, knocking her off guard.**

This got cheers from the crowd.

 **"** **Is that all? That was weaker than before!" Salem's other arm started to swell with power to take Jaune down once and for all.**

 **"** **That's because I didn't put my back into it!" As Salem tried to focus on his expanded arm, it became skeletal again, his broken arm healing expanded and clenched. Broken bones held together by his muscle for one last big punch.**

 **The stars returned, flowing from one to the other. They heard someone speaking, Jaune's previous teacher and once the holder of One for All. "** ** _This power… It stockpiles the strength of everyone, hoping that through it, it would do good in this world. Now… It's your turn, Jaune._** **"**

 **"** **Fair well, All for One!" Jaune landed the attack clean on Salem's jawline. "UNITED STATES OF…" the screen moved to show as Jaune used his position to slam Salem into the ground. The moment repeated form several angles. "SMASH!"**

 **The resulting force created a massive crater of destruction. A giant, swirling cloud of air rose up into the sky. Entire halves of building were pulled up and nearly atomized by the power put out by Jaune's attack. The sheer force of power was unlike anything the people of this world had ever seen.**

And the same could be said for the audience. Everyone was stunned into silence.

Nora was the first to recover, "That was insane…" but she was uncharacteristically subdued.

 **When the clouds finally subsided, Jaune was skeletal again, standing above an unconscious Salem. The news helicopter moved to show him to the watching crowds. They could here Lisa Lavender through a mic, "** ** _He… He did it! All Might has defeated the villain!_** **"**

 **The city erupted in cheers as Jaune weakly raised a hand in triumph. A moment later and the arm was muscular. The rest of his body followed soon after. He stumbled but remained standing. Jaune took in deep breaths.**

The students in the theater all cheered out in excitement and happiness. The adults smiled seeing a real hero triumph.

 **Ruby's voice carried through the screen again, "** ** _That day, the world learned about All Might's secret. They cheered him all the same. No matter what he looked like, he was their Symbol of Peace._** **"**

 **The screen changed to show what the news showed as Salem was carted off to prison. It was Jaune, pointing toward the screen, eyes averted. "You're next."**

 **"** ** _The world took this to mean that their Symbol would never fade. That he'd always be there when they cried out for a hero. But… I knew what he really meant…_** **"**

Everyone was confused. What else could that mean?

 **"** ** _He was speaking to me through that screen… That One for All had finally faded from his body. That it was_** **my** ** _turn to become the Symbol of Peace…_** **"**

 **The screen faded to show Ruby wiping away tears. A hand landed atop her head and she looked up to see Jaune with a cast on his hand. "Hey! Come on! You've got a lot to learn before you can be the Symbol of Peace. Get to class. Goodwitch will be pissed if you're late."**

 **Ruby wiped away what tears had formed. "Right!"**

 **In a way, All Might was gone, leaving Jaune Arc in his place. But his story wouldn't end just yet. He still had to train her, his successor. The world's next greatest hero. The next Symbol of Peace.**

Yang held off any tears that tried to form, "I though we asked for something less emotional…"

King appeared again. "Yes, but you also asked for All Might Jaune to return. The life of a hero is filled with moments like these. There may only be maybe four or five big moments, but they will always leave something in your mind."


	57. Visiting Hours

**King: *breath in* 1 million views! 1 million, baby! This is awesome! Okay. Gushing over, for now. Now, for your new chapter! Number 57! I hope you enjoy the chapter. And remember~ EDGAR IS THE ONE IN THE HOLE!**

 **Inspiration: X-ray and Vav**

 **/\**

The world began to form anew as the screen moved on to the next. _Hmm… How about… this!_

 **The first thing they saw in this world was Celia Peach, Beacon Academy's resident forge-master, sitting behind a desk. Her red hair was tied back and she wore a dark red suit, a similar color to her forge apron.**

Port chuckled, "I don't think I've ever seen Celia so clean."

 **She looked down at an unopened envelope. "** ** _Super heroes…_** **" She looked up to her visitors, "Really?"**

 **The camera changed to show Scarlet in a blue superhero suit, "Yes ma'am! Official super hero business!"**

Sun started to laugh, "Scarlet? A superhero? Oh man, this should be good."

 **"** **Okay… Fine. You can see the patient. But you play by my rules. Do not approach the cell. Do not take anything from the patient. And most importantly, if he asks you a question, do not answer. He is a master of psychological coercion. You don't want this guy in your head."**

 **The camera changed to show Yang sitting to the other side, dressed in her own green hero suit. "Hey. If anyone is immune to psychological manipulation, it's me."**

Weiss started to snicker, "I could see this set up a mile away."

Yang sighed, knowing full well she'll likely fall for the manipulation.

 **The screen snapped to the inside of the Vale Mental Institution for the Criminally Insane. There was a cell with a plexiglass frame facing them, allowing them to see inside. Jaune was standing inside the cell with his arms resting behind his back, dressed in a blue jumpsuit worn by all criminal patients. "To what… do I owe the pleasure."**

Ruby groaned, "So, another psycho-Jaune?"

"Quite literally, it seems." Weiss crossed her arms.

 **Scarlet held up the note, "There are some questions you need to answer."**

 **Jaune steepled his fingers, "How completely desperate you must be to come to me."**

 **Yang rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that's awesome. Cut to the chase, we don't have all day!"**

 **"** **Oh… But** ** _I_** **do…" Jaune gestured to his cell, "I have all the time in the world, thanks to you."**

Sun chuckled, "Bitter much?"

Neptune thought to himself for a moment, out loud, "Okay… So, Yang and Scarlet are some kind of super hero team and Jaune is a criminal they caught? But now they need his help?"

 **Scarlet crossed his arms, "You can choose to be helpful, or you can be a knob 'ead. Doesn't matter one way or the other."**

Coco turned to Velvet, hoping for her to explain the slang. Velvet just zipped her lips and gestured toward Ruby.

 **Jaune chuckled, "Don't try to play me. I saw your face when you came in. You weren't expecting** ** _me_** **to be in this cell. You're in far deeper than you care to admit."**

 **Yang scoffed, "That's some** ** _great_** **insight** ** _your majesty_** **."**

 **"** **Keen powers of observation are key to learning about those around you. For instance," He took in a sniff and grinned, "You use Valen Primara hand lotion, good for keeping your hands soft through high activity. And…" he took in another. "I detect a strawberry scent from your hair. Deteri Main, the same used by Scarlet. Fancy that…"**

 **Yang's eyes darted around, totally guilty of stealing Scarlet's shampoo.** ** _It's so much better than mine!_**

Yang chuckled, "Got to give my hair the best, after all~"

"But stealing shampoo?" Blake raised a brow, "Really?"

 **Scarlet appeared on screen again, "We just want to know about Mogar."**

 **"** **Ah! So, he's made himself known to our fair city." Jaune crossed his arms and leaned onto the glass. "Forgive my ignorance, I've been cut off from the newspapers after** ** _murdering_** **my second guard in a two-week span."**

Mercury raised an eyebrow, "Seriously? One a week? It's messed up, but I'd have figured he'd have been worse given the cell type."

 **Yang appeared again, "Do you know anything about him?"**

 **"** **More than you, likely. But I'm curious about you."**

 **"** **Yeah. Nice try. You're not getting into my noggin."**

 **"** **You're right, you're probably too stupid to answer my questions anyway."**

 **"** **Oh yeah! I can answer questions! Watch me!"**

Yang facepalmed and groaned. "That was _too_ obvious."

Neptune tapped his seat in thought, "Why isn't Scarlet saying anything right now?"

 **Jaune grinned, "Let's start with the obvious. Why did you come here alone?"**

 **The camera angle showed Yang over Jaune's shoulder. It turned behind him to the shoulder to show Scarlet in Yang's place.**

Tai blinked in surprise. "Okay… Didn't see that coming."

 **Scarlet brushed the question off, "That's how this works Mad King! I'm the one asking the questions."**

 **Then the screen showed Yang, "I'm taking charge of this! Scarlet is distracted! He's just… Never mind…"**

 **Jaune placed a hand on his glass, a smile spreading across his face. This was too easy. "Please, do go on."**

 **"** **Well… there's this reporter chick that he obviously likes. And he's willing to look passed her meddling behavior… But she's just trying to further her career through this whole thing!"**

 **"** **You think she's clouded Scarlet's judgement, eh?"**

Sun crossed his arms, "Can't tell if she's jealous or just being a good friend."

Neptune shrugged, "Could be both."

Yang rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. This was another world, so she couldn't say anything based on her own life.

 **Scarlet held the letter up into full view, "Why were you trying to contact Mogar?"**

"Who the heck is Mogar?" Weiss tapped her heel on the floor.

Sun leaned back in his chair, "I remember him as a character in a comic a bit back. I didn't get too into it, so I don't remember much passed anger and growing up in the wild."

 **Jaune was leaned against his glass again, "Sympathy exercise. Write to someone in need and express compassion for them through the letter." Jaune tilted his head side to side showing he didn't care about the idea in the slightest.**

 **"** **But… How did you know about hi situation?"**

 **"** **You'd be surprised how much information you can get from people who are willing to give it."**

 **The scene snapped back to Yang finishing up the story, "Then! Mogar's treehouse burns down! All because she just had to follow us around and get that scoop! And now, Mogar's probably gone forever!"**

 **Jaune grinned, "Mogar is getting weaker? How very interesting."**

 **"** **Hey! Can we get back to my problems for a minute?"**

"He's not your therapist, Yang." Ruby chuckled at the scene.

Yang playfully punched her sister's shoulder.

 **The scene snapped back to Scarlet, "Do you know who likely kidnapped Mogar's mother?"**

 **Jaune turned and picked up a small box, "One of the few privileges I have left is access to the archive library. This is everything I could find on Mogar and his situation." He placed the box in a tray designed to allow items to transfer to and from the cell, often for food. "I will give it to you." Jaune slid the trey out.**

 **Scarlet grinned, "Thank you for cooperating!" The trey suddenly snapped shut as he reached for the box.**

 **"** **If, you can answer one question. Why are you friends with Yang?"**

 **"** **What?"**

"What's he planning?" Emerald's eyes narrowed.

Cinder smirked, "He's trying to divide them. And he seems to be doing quite well."

 **The scene returned to show Yang on a therapy couch, "And ever since then, I've been afraid of birds. You think that's important?"**

Ruby burst out laughing, "Oh my gosh! I was kidding!"

 **Jaune pinched the bridge of his nose through her story. Now that she was quiet, he decided to let loose. "You want to know what I think? I think you've been lying to yourself."**

Yang raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

 **"** **Your mother left you when you were little. Packed up and abandoned you!"**

Silence was all the Xiao Long family could muster.

 **"** **You've felt alone ever since. But it's been years… and you haven't grown up a bit. You want to show her you're just** ** _fine_** **without her! But you know you're not." Jaune smacked his fist up onto the glass, leaning into his new stance, "It's only a matter of time before Scarlet comes to the same realization! That you're just holding him back! And when it comes time to choose who he** ** _really_** **cares about, he'll cut you loose. Just like your dear mother."**

Yang shook in her chair. That hit a little too close to home.

" **Then, you'll be all alone again, with your pet rock."**

 **Yang's eyes were pin pricks, "H-how did you know about Dwayne?"**

 **"** **I didn't."**

Mercury chucked, "Damn, he's good."

 **Yang shouted in an outburst, "Tell me about Mogar's mother!"**

 **"** **I can't help you Yang. No one can." Jaune turned his back on the would-be hero.**

 **Yang clenched her fist and turned. She stormed off as the scene opposite the glass faded into shadows.**

 **Jaune smirked and moved his head from side to side, "Tick-tock, Scarlet." The screen faded back to show Scarlet standing opposite Jaune again.**

Ren nodded, "That was a rather nice transition, events notwithstanding."

 **Scarlet scratched his nose nervously, "I mean, we've always been friends. Since we were little."**

 **"** **You don't think you've outgrown her?"**

 **"** **Outgrown her?"**

 **"** **You're smarter, more logical, more caring. When you were younger and had no one else, it seemed natural to be friends. But** ** _you've_** **grown up and matured. It must be difficult having her hold you back from your full protentional. Doomed to be the butt of newspaper headlines for the rest of your lives because no one can take you seriously."**

 **"** **No! No, of course not! We're a team!" But Scarlet was getting nervous. The words were getting to him.**

 **"** **Of course, you are." Jaune slid the trey back out. "Take it."**

 **Scarlet's eyes narrowed and he took the box out from the trey.**

Weiss clutched into her chair's arm rest. "And like that, he's failed himself. He wasn't supposed to take anything from Jaune."

"You think he manipulated the records?" Blake turned to the heiress.

"I don't know if he'll have to." Ozpin spoke before Weiss could. "He's already sewn doubt in them both. It's likely that, even with accurate information, that his plan will play out regardless of their actions."

 **"** **Good luck, Scarlet." With that, Scarlet left, leaving Jaune alone in his cell. He smirked to himself. "And like that, everything comes together. Almost." He moves to sit on his bed and glared into space.**

 **After some time, the lights began to flicker. After one interval of darkness, they saw a figure standing in the shadows.**

 **Jaune smiled, "You came. Today must be my** ** _lucky_** **day."**

"So, this must be the Mogar guy." Qrow leaned to the side, head resting on his fist.

Port nodded, "That would be my guess."

 **The figured moved into the light, showing a blonde young man dressed in a pair of fur pants with a tiger pelt wrapped around his waist. A large red and gold staff tipped by blue diamonds was on his back.**

"Sun?" Blake blinked at the screen.

The monkey faunas just shrugged, "I could see it."

 **Sun stepped forward with a glare. "What is it you want?"**

 **"** **To help you. I know who has what you seek."**

 **"** **Tell me!"**

 **"** **First, I'll need you to help me."**

 **Sun growled.**

 **"** **Oh, don't be like that. You'll enjoy it just as much I will. We're going to destroy Scarlet and Yang!"**

Ruby's head tilted to the side, "Why would Sun want to hurt Yang or Scarlet?"

"Well…" Sun placed his hands behind his head, "They did burn down my house, apparently."

Yang turned to the monkey faunas, "Pretty sure I said the reporter Scarlet had a crush on did that."

Neptune shook his head, "No offense, it's not you anyway, but I'm not sure we can take her word for it. If she really does have hang ups about being abandoned again by a friend she's had for so long, she might see this reporter at a threat to their dynamic. It would paint her story too much to be able to trust."

Sun shook his head. "Nerd."

"We've been over this. Intellectual."

 **Sun raised an eyebrow, seeing where he's going and why he should care.**

 **"** **Don't you see it? They've been getting in your way. Keeping you from tracking down your target."**

 **"** **Those fiends. I knew the blue one and the green one couldn't be trusted."**

"That's a weird way to talk about us." Yang looked toward Sun, since he had _some_ kind of idea about the character.

Sun shrugged, "Like I said, raised in the wild. Vocabulary isn't his strong suit."

 **Jaune grinned, "You'll need** ** _me_** **to make this happen. But… alas, I can do nothing within this cell."**

 **"** **Mogar will free you." Sun slammed his fist into his open palm. "Then we will go destroy those two colored people."**

Spit takes! All the spit takes! Choking on nothing! Laughter at failures in wording! All the fun times!

 **Jaune caught the phrasing, "Yes… But… let me do the talking." Jaune steepled his hands again, "Fortunately, the plan has already begun. They're splitting at the seams. And soon, we will rip them apart!"**

 **Sun nodded and reared back his hand. He punched the plexiglass hard enough to shatter it, a feat that shouldn't have been possible.**

Tai whistled in amazement, "Damn. Strong kid."

Kali turned to the elder blonde, "Is it _that_ impressive? I'm unfamiliar with the material."

Ruby looked over to her father, "Yeah. I'm a little lost on that, too."

Tai folded his arms, "Plexiglass is a special type of glass designed to stronger and lighter than its normal counterpart. Punching it would normally just cause you to hurt your hand, assuming you don't have crazy strong punches like Yang or I."

 **Jaune calmly walked onto the glass, "Thank you. That cell was so cramped…" He reached out one arm and a golden crown smashed through the brick wall. One of the spikes was cracked from one side. He placed it onto his head, his grin turning fully malicious. "Soon, everyone will get** ** _exactly_** **what they deserve."**

As the screen ended the scene, Mercury chucked, "Ominous."


	58. The Tale of Two Dragons

**King: Let me tell you a story. A tale of two great dragon brothers. This has been requested constantly, since the first Overwatch chapter. And it's finally here. Side note, 200,000 words of content~! This is freaking awesome! I hope you've been enjoying these chapters. I'm certainly enjoying myself~ Let's do this!**

 **Inspiration: Overwatch**

 **/\**

The screen moved on to the next reality, leaving the last to the archive.

 **The scene opened to a beautiful woodblock painting of a city or a palace in the mountains. The scene moved to the side as they heard a voice over. "** ** _My family tells of an ancient legend. A story of two great dragon brothers._** **" The scene showed two dragons, one green and the other gold, twisting together in a balance. "** ** _The Dragon of the North Wind and the Dragon of the South Wind._** ** _Together, they upheld balance and harmony in the heavens._** **"**

Ozpin blinked. _This sounds eerily similar…_ Not the voice, no one recognized that, but the story.

 **The screen faded to show a large city in the present day. The large building structures and slopes told them it was either Mistral or a location on the same continent. The screen moved down to the ground level as a pair of either boots or cybernetic legs fell into view. The screen snapped up to show Ren looking around. He was dressed in a kimono with a single sleeve, the other arm adorned with a dragon tattoo. He was an archer and looked the part.**

Nora giggled, "I remember seeing that version from the game we played earlier!"

Ren nodded. It was definitely the same version.

 **After a moment, he ran forward through the streets and under an overpass. The camera followed him and pulled back to show a figure standing above him. The camera then moved to show a large wooden door with a design of two dragons circling one another as Ren climbed the door with ease.**

Nora gasped, "Ninja Ren!"

Yang shrugged, "I could see it."

 **Then voice over returned, "** ** _But the two brothers argued over how best to rule their land._** **"**

 ****Ozpin felt his eye twitch. _This is just unnerving…_

 **The screen returned to the woodblock style and showed the green and gold dragons in the same formation. "** ** _Their anger turned to rage and their violence darkened skies. Until the Dragon of the South Wind struck down his brother, who fell to earth, shattering the land._** **" The screen showed the green dragon forcing the golden dragon to the ground, the city beneath them in flames.**

Ozpin sighed. _Okay… that's different at least._

Yang, however, saw a previous version. Siblings at war with one another over rule and one had to destroy the other? It was a little too familiar.

 **The scene returned from the woodblock and showed several men in suits standing guard within a temple area. One of them yawned both in boredom and tiredness given the late hour. One of the men was a robotic being, an omnic to be specific. They saw Ren moving in the darkness above. After a second, Ren notched an arrow and loosed the projectile into the onmic's chest.**

Penny jumped seeing the omnic spark. She hoped he could be repaired somehow, but something in the back of her mind told her he was gone.

 **One of the men noticed just in time for Ren to smack his bow into the man's face. Then he ducked under an attack and swung the man around, kicking him off the elevated area into eh gravel below. The man who yawned saw the event and tried to grab his phone, only to have it bounce around as he tried to grab it. Ren saw these events as he placed another guard into a choke hold with an arrow notched. He fired the arrow, which curved through the wind, and shatter the phone. This caused the man to lose his balance and fall face first into a giant bell. The bell had the same symbol as the giant door.**

Yang blinked in surprise, "Holy shit… Ren beat those guys like they were nothing!"

Blake turned to the stoic one, "I _am_ curious, though. A lot of these have you using a bow and arrow. Is that significant?"

Ren gazed down for a moment, "It was my father's weapon of choice."

Nora placed a hand on Ren's shoulder and the rest of the students went silent, remembering that Ren and Nora were orphaned by Grimm attacks.

 **The woodblock style returned to show the green dragon, alone and with head lowered. "** ** _The Dragon of the South Wind had triumphed. But as time passed and he realized his solitude,_** **" The woodblock showed buildings in flames and a volcano erupting in the distance The smolders formed before the painting. "** ** _The sweetness of victory turned to ash._** **"**

 **The ashes changed to show pink petals flying through the air before a whole moon. The camera moved to show Ren entering a larger structure with the figure from before watching him from above.**

Sun pointed toward the screen, "That's got to be Jaune, right?"

Neptune nodded, "Probably…"

 **Ren walked up to a damaged sword, displayed before a stained scroll with a large cut from one side. The voice over continued, "** ** _For years, the bereft dragon's grief threw the world into discord. And he knew only bitterness and sorrow._** **" The screen showed Ren's face with that last line.**

Ren tapped his seat a moment, "There seems to be a thematic through line here. I seem to represent this Dragon of the South Wind. But if that's true, thematically, I'd have killed my brother."

Neptune took in a sharp breath, "And if the golden dragon follows the same theming…"

No one wanted to say it. But it was very likely that this Ren and Jaune were brothers, and Ren had killed him.

 **The woodblock returned to show a man in a white cloak looking up to the green dragon, "** ** _Then, a stranger came to the dragon and said, 'Oh great Dragon Lord, why are you so distraught?' And the Dragon answered, 'Seeking power, I killed my brother. But without him, I am lost.' The stranger replied, 'You have inflicted wounds upon yourself…_** **"**

 **The screen showed Ren again as he kneeled before the sword and banner.**

 **"** ** _But now, you must heal. Walk the Earth on two feet as I do. Find value in humility. Then, you will find peace._** **"**

 **Ren placed several items onto the floor before him and held incense between his hands. His eyes opened, his expression still rather neutral, "You are not the first assassin sent to kill me. And you won't be the last."**

Ruby's head tilted, "Who is he talking to?"

 **The screen showed a figure in the darkness. After a second, a series of golden lights formed, showing the form of the man hidden in the darkness.**

Kali blinked in surprise. "Oh my… He's quite talented to notice the man not only behind him, but also hidden away so well."

 **The man dropped from the ceiling and into the light, revealing his body. It was a sleek design, possibly robotic, and a bit ninja-like. He spoke with a slight reverb, "You are bold, to come to Shimada Castle. The den of your enemies…"**

"Okay? So, it's not Jaune? Or is it? What?" Ruby was getting confused. He didn't really sound like Jaune but also kind of did? It was weird.

 **Ren slowly reached for his bow, "This was once my home. Did your masters not tell you who I was?!" He suddenly had his bow in hand and arrow notched. He loosed the arrow toward the intruder.**

 **The ninja leaned to the side as the arrow flew past. "I know who you are, Ren, oldest son of the Shimada Clan."**

 **Ren's eyes narrowed. He notched another with a twist and sent it flying in an arc through the air.**

Ruby gasped, "Woah! I've never seen anyone shoot an arrow like _that_!"

 **The ninja ducked under the attempted attack. "I know you come here every year, on the same day."**

 **Ren growled and grabbed three arrows between his fingers. He notched one and let it fly like the last, forcing the ninja behind a lantern placement. Two more arrowed cut through the paper of the holder but missed their target.**

 **"** **You risk so much to honor someone you murdered!"**

Ren sunk a bit in his chair, this was seemingly confirming his suspicions. He'd killed Jaune in this reality. He'd killed his brother.

 **The ninja snapped his wrist upward and a trio of shuriken left from the back of his hand and between his fingers. He moved to the side and launched the three bladed items at Ren, who ducked and used his quiver as a shield. The blades bounced off and into the wall behind him.**

Yang crossed her arms, "I'd have thought those would be more effective."

Blake, however, shook her head. "Shuriken are distraction or light injury weapons at best. They might do more harm when coated with something, but on their own, they don't do too much."

Ruby disagreed, "Thrown by one of us, maybe. The speed they were spinning at and the lack of drag tells me those things were flying, mini-buzzsaws. They might not bury too deep, but they'll hurt like no one's business."

 **Ren grabbed another arrow, "You know nothing of what happened!" He rolled forward and let the arrow fly. Though the ninja blocked it with his short sword, there was enough force to push him through the lamp placement and onto the floor below them. Ren appeared over the edge with an arrow readied. The tip expanded into small, floating spikes. When he released the arrow, the spikes bounced off surfaces all around the ninja. Said ninja deflected each attack and ran up a wall, back to the same level as Ren. He returned his blade to its scabbard and ran off to the balcony behind him.**

"Woah!" Ruby was giddy seeing a ninja in action. Even if it was the flashier kind instead of the stealthy type.

 **Ren followed after him, looking to the world around him.**

 **The ninja's voice seemed to come from everywhere at once, "I know you tell yourself that your brother disobeyed the clan."**

 **Ren snapped to one side and fired an arrow, which flew through the air and into a wall.**

 **"** **That, you had to kill him to maintain order. That is was your duty." The ninja had been behind Ren.**

Raven scoffed, "Completely understandable, if you ask me."

Yang growled to her mother, "Well, no one did."

 **Ren grabbed his last two arrows. "It** ** _was_** **my duty. And my burden." He fired the first arrow, which was deflected into the ground. He pulled the second back, "That does not mean, I do not honor him!"**

 **When this arrow flew, the ninja seemed to react differently. He spun his short sword around and sliced the arrow right down the middle, leaving the two halved to curve in form and fly into the wall behind him.**

Ruby was officially geeking out. "To split that arrow so cleanly… What is that blade made of?! That's so cool! Wait! Why isn't he using the larger katana on his back?"

 **Ren growled and charged forward, using his bow as a bludgeoning weapon. He was actually very skilled, almost using it like a sword, but the ninja was skilled as well, and enhanced. During one attack, the ninja jumped up and kicked Ren into the railing of the balcony. He then jumped up, ready to bury his blade into Ren. Ren was able to stop the attack using his bow, holding the ninja's blade back.**

 **The ninja leaned more of his weight into the attack, "You think you honor your brother Jaune with incense and offerings? Honor resides in one's actions."**

 **Ren looks to the side to see his arrow buried in the floor. "You dare to lecture me about honor?! You're not worthy to say his name!" Ren wrestles out of the situation and tosses the ninja to the side. He ran over and pulled the arrow out of the ground. As he notched the arrow, his tattoo seemed to glow green and expand off his arm.**

 **"** **Ryuu waga teki wo kurau!"**

 **The enery flowed into the arrow. Once it was free, it exploded into a duo of spektral, emerald dragons, twisting around each other in a cycle of power and destruction.**

No one expected something like that to happen.

Nora gasped and tapped Ren's shoulder, "Oh my gods! That's so cool!"

Yang's eyes went wide, "How did he do that?!"

 **The ninja returned his short sword and grabbed the handle of his katana. It clicked open with a golden effect, and the blade was a brilliant golden and steel. "Ryujin no ken wo kurae!" With a twirl of his blade, a single golden dragon formed around him and roared.**

Ruby bounced in her seat, "He can do that too?!"

Ren blinked. Green and golden dragons… The brothers…

 **The ninja swung his blade and his golden dragon flew in between the twin green dragons. It led them around as the ninja guided them with his blade. He swung the blade back toward Ren and the green dragons flew back toward him, engulfing him in their energy. Ren strained under the attack until it flew passed. He fell to his knees as the ninja returned his katana to his back. Small devices opened on the ninja, releasing stored pressure.**

Everyone was surprised. They didn't even know what to expect in the first place, but _that_ was just insane!

 **Ren groaned in pain, "Only a Shimada can control the dragons." He looked up toward the ninja, "Who… are you?"**

 **The ninja's devices returned to their normal state and he charged forward, the blade of his short sword stopping right up against his throat.**

 **Ren's head leaned back and his eyes narrowed. He had no energy to fight. No power to defeat this assailant. "Do it then… kill me…"**

Nora felt a lump form in her throat. She didn't want to see Ren die!

 **The ninja looked toward Ren for a moment in silence. His blade moved forward slightly, tilting Ren's head back a bit farther in instinct. "No." He pulled his sword back and returned it to his scabbard. "I will not grant you the death you wish for."**

Nora placed a hand over her heart and sighed in relief.

 **The ninja looked off as he spoke, "You still have much to do in this life," he turned his back to Ren, "brother."**

 **Ren's eyes went wide.**

As did the Ren in the audience. The story so far seemed to imply he'd killed Jaune, his brother in this world. The ninja even referenced it saying he'd murdered him!

 **Ren stood up and spun around. "Impossible! My brother is dead!"**

 **The ninja grabbed at his mask and pulled away a visor. The skin beneath was leathery and damaged, the face of a dead man. His eyes, however… Those sapphire eyes were too distinct. They held compassion and understanding. There was no mistake.**

 **"** **Jaune…?"**

Sun grinned, "So it _was_ him! Called it!"

 **The woodblock returned, showing the large green dragon kneeling onto the earth below him with the traveler standing before him. "** ** _The Dragon knelt upon the ground. For the first time, he was able to see the world around him clearly and became human._** **" The camera moved up showing green and gold dragons forms dissolving into shadows beneath two humans standing on a mountain. "** ** _The stranger revealed himself as his fallen brother. Reunited, the two set out to rebuild what they had once destroyed._** **"**

Ozpin smiled. There were some similarities to the brother gods, but their story was more… heartwarming. Especially regarding the endings.

 **The scene in the castle returned showing Ren in a state of confusion. "What… have you become?"**

 **Jaune returned his visor his face. "I have made peace with what I am. And I have forgiven you." He moved forward and placed a hand on Ren's shoulder as he passed. "Now, you must forgive yourself." He moved on to the edge of the balcony. "The world is changing once again, Ren. And it's time to pick a side." Jaune leapt off the balcony and onto a small outcropping on the wall nearby.**

 **Ren's face filled with frustration and confusion. His anger… He stormed over and pulled out the arrow in the wall, notching it, and pointing it toward his brother, "Real life is not like the stories our father told us! You are a fool to believe it so!"**

Ruby huffed, "That's why we're here… To make things better."

Yang grinned and wrapped an arm around her sister's shoulders, pulling her into a one-armed hug.

 **Jaune turned his head back to Ren, "Perhaps… I am a fool, to believe there is still hope for you. But I do."**

 **Ren eased the tension in his bow.**

 **"** **Think on that, brother." Jaune made a gesture with his hand and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.**

 **Ren removed the arrow. He looked at it for a moment before returning it to the quiver. He returned to the shrine and sat before it again. The screen panned up to show the woodblock of the twisting dragons from the beginning.**

Ren took a breath and smiled. Artistically, he enjoyed the parallels throughout the world and the story. But more than that, he felt happy to see a world where Jaune, the man he treated like a brother, truly was family. That, despite what he'd done, Jaune retained his compassionate and forgiving nature. Willing to make peace.


	59. Guardian Demon

**King: Anyone noticing anything weird in this? I can't put my finger on it... but something just feels like its changing. Weird... Right, let's get to the chapter.**

 **Inspiration: For Honor**

 **/\**

The screen though to itself for a while. _Hey, King!_

 _What?_

 _Want to go back to that Honor game you've been playing?_

 _Sure. Why not?_

 **The screen opened to a large red gate-like structure with white cording wrapping around the two columns.**

Ruby was wide eyed, "Woah! That looks so cool! I've never seen something like that before!"

Kali chuckled at Ruby's actions, "We actually have similar items in Menagerie. Though, not as large. They're often in front of temples or gathering areas."

 **A voice over played through the screen. "** ** _Those who wish to pass through the gates of Menagerie, must first pass through its keeper._** **"**

Eyes turned toward Kali. She was a speaker in this world. She giggled to herself, happy to have made an appearance of sorts.

 **The screen moved back along the ground to show a pair of wooden sandals with thick tabi socks. The pants above were traditional of Menagerie's old era. One foot moved forward, then the other.**

 **"** ** _These are our guardians, immovable objects to defend their people._** **"**

 **The screen moved up and back to show the man's form. He was large. Very large. Both tall and wide. They saw blonde hair resting on the shoulders of the man.**

Sun raised an eyebrow, "Okay… So, Jaune is a big guy is this?"

Neptune winced a bit. "Went from scraggly to huge…"

Yang chuckled a little.

Gira raised an eyebrow. The version on screen was both large in mass, but also rather muscular. _What is he?_

 **The camera pulled to the back of the man and showed a giant spiked club dragging across the ground.**

 **"** ** _Those who would dare to threaten us…_** **"**

 **The figure stopped and the camera moved up to show a white, demonic mask with teeth extending up from its lower jaw and off to either side. He held his club up and slammed the end onto the ground.**

 **"** ** _…_** ** _must face the wrath of the Shugoki._** **"**

Yang whistled seeing that. "Damn. That's a freaky mask."

Blake thought back to her childhood for a moment, "We have similar masks in Menagerie. But, less defined. They're supposed to ward off negativity."

Gira shook his head. "This is different. This mask represents it. A demon pretending to be a man."

 **The camera moved to show Kali standing opposite Jaune in full samurai armor. The sword she wielded was nearly as tall as she was.**

Ruby gasped, "Woah! A nodachi! That's so cool!"

Blake turned to her mother, "You have one of those?"

Kali chuckled, "Don't see silly. I'm not skilled enough to use a nodachi effectively. I have a katana."

Blake was learning more than she expected about her parents.

 **Jaune reached up and scratched the back of his head, "What brings a Kensei to my gate?"**

Kali froze for a moment. "I'm… a Kensei?"

Ruby turned to her, "What is that?"

Kali was too awestruck, so Gira explained, "It's what's known as a Sword Saint. Said to be a rank of exceptional skill and talent. Many train their entire lives and are never good enough to become Kensei."

"Wow…"

 **Kali looked up toward Jaune, looking him in the eye. "Our people are need of your power."**

 **Jaune sighed behind his mask. "No one ever visits just to say hi." He hoisted his club onto his shoulder. "Alright. Lead the way."**

 **Kali nodded and turned. She led him from the gate and down to the valley below. People were crowding around to see the massive man from the mountain. Jaune rarely spent time in the valley, needing intense bouts of training and focus. He was led through the crowd and toward a massive field. Opposite them was a giant castle flying the banner of the White Fang insurgency.**

 **Jaune chuckled. "So, they made their move then?"**

 **Kali nodded. "Cowardly tactics and dishonorable soldiers. They took over the castle while we were focusing on the war effort. The war ended, only to have a new foe before at our doorstep."**

 **"** **More like** ** _in_** **your house."**

Yang shrug, "He's not wrong."

Kali groaned and placed her head in her hand. The idea of someone taking over her home was ludicrous. Then again, she wasn't a Kensei or live in a castle.

 **Kali conceded the point. "Fair. Will you help us?"**

 **Jaune slammed his club onto the ground. "Is that a joke?" Jaune started to walk off to the castle. The Fang remained behind their gates. If they opened the massive wooden door, they'd be overrun by the larger, better trained soldiers outside. Jaune walked up to the gate and nodded. "Alright." He slammed his club into the ground hard enough to bury it slightly and keep it upright. He cracked his neck and rubbed his hands together. He squatted down and griped the bottom of the gate. His muscles strained, and the gate lurched up an inch.**

Everyone jumped a bit as the dirt on the bottom of the gate was disturbed.

Yang's jaw dropped, "Damn! Strong one this time."

 **Jaune lifted the massive barrier off the ground. Kali's army started to move toward the door, waiting for the obstacle was lifted off the ground. Each was amazed, but they could gush later. Right now, they had a home to reclaim. Jaune lifted the door over his head. "Door's open!"**

 **The Fang retreated to an inner gate, but many were caught by Kali's soldiers. Unfortunately, the Fang had generals to spur their morale. Sitting in the throne room was Sienna Kahn, adorned with lavish armor of a warlord. She was leaning onto one of the throne's arm rests. "This is unfortunate…" Kneeling before her was Ilia, dressed in form fitting attire with twin sickles in either hand, and Adam, dressed in lacquered armor with a katana at his side. Sienna's eyes narrowed, "Kali has called on the monster from the mountain." Sienna turned to Ilia. "Ilia, you will deal with this annoyance. Adam, you will take over the defense of the inner wall." They bowed their heads and left.**

Sienna felt a little bad. She considered Kali an old friend, though a distant one these days. To be on opposing sides like that hurt a bit.

Ilia wasn't sure what to feel. He was loyal to Sienna but, the way this story was playing out, she was clearly the one in the wrong at the time.

 **Ilia made her way along the walls and found Jaune in the main courtyard. He slammed his club into a man's head and sent him flying to the side. Jaune stormed onward toward one of the commanding officers. The man shook in place but remained defiant. Jaune was standing right in front of him and glared down at him. "Run." With Jaune's word, the commander scrambled to escape.**

 **Ilia glared to the man.** ** _I'll deal with him later._** **She leapt off the wall and raked her blades down his back. His armor was too thick to actually do too much damage and just alerted him to her presence. She growled and leapt back a few feet.**

 **Jaune turned back to her and growled through his mask.**

Yang grinned, "This can only end well."

 **Ilia held her blades out at the ready. "I don't care what they call you, you're nothing special! I'll finish you off right here for Lady Sienna!"**

 **Jaune chuckled as the camera pulled off from them.**

Tai chuckled, "We don't get to see the fight?"

Nora laughed, "We all know who would win anyway!"

 **The screen changed to show Kali running in through the inner gate. She slowed as one of her soldiers flew passed her, his arm missing. She looked from him to the cause. Adam stood in the center of the chamber with a bloody katana. Kali stepped forward with a glare. "You will pay in blood for what you've done to our people."**

 **Adam grinned behind his mask, "I do what is best for Menagerie. We must become strong and united under Lady Sienna's banner." He drew his katana and leveled the blade, ready to strike. "And I won't let you get through me so easily." He was suddenly flung back as a body flew into him. Ilia had been tossed through the door and narrowly missed his blade, knocking him down.**

Ilia jumped seeing that. "How in the…"

 **Jaune walked through the door, dragging his club on the ground. "I'll deal with these two. You take care of Sienna."**

 **Kali turned toward him for a moment, "You can't be serious."**

 **Jaune slammed his weapon into the floor. "Move. I've nothing to fear from these two."**

Sienna raised an eyebrow. "It's difficult to tell if he's overconfident or simply that powerful."

 **Kali took a breath and nodded. She took off through the other side and off to the throne room, leaving Jaune to fight Ilia and Adam alone.**

 **Jaune watched as the two White Fang generals got to their feet again. "Kali would want to give you the chance to redeem yourselves." Jaune lifted his weapon off the ground and took some wooden splinters up with him. "But I know better than to ask this of you. Your hearts are loyal to your Lady, almost fanatical." He held his club up and pointed the end toward them. "This will end only with you either broken of spirit or of body."**

 **Adam glared and dropped his stance. A moment later and he charged Jaune, trying to slash at him. But all he met was an open palm to the face. He twisted under the strike and flew back before dragging on the ground. I growled and spun himself back onto his feet.**

 **Jaune turned back to Adam, catching Ilia's sneak attack without looking. "You are weak." Jaune tossed Ilia into the side wall and started to walk toward Adam. Adam tried to slash him, but he caught the blade with his armored hand. He squeezed the metal and snapped the blade in half.**

Gira raised an eyebrow. In his early days, he'd attempted to be able to do that, but found it impossible for him. This made him wonder, _What is this boy really?_

Yang was getting excited seeing that, "Oh! That's so awesome! I've got to learn how to that!"

Tai chuckled, "Then you better put more armor on your gauntlets. Don't want to cut your fingers off trying that."

 **Jaune grabbed Adam by the collar of his armor and pulled up him to headbutt the shorter man. Adam tried to stand again, but a foot held him on the ground. Jaune placed more of his weight onto Adam's spine, "Now, which has broken?"**

 **Adam glared up toward him, "I will never betray my duty to the White Fang!"**

 **Jaune took a deep breath.**

 **Ilia shook her head and pulled herself out of the wall in time to see Jaune rear his leg up and slam it down, popping Adam's head like a grape.**

Ilia went stiff. "Holy…"

The students were getting used to this to the point where they didn't puke, but they still felt sick seeing something that messed up.

 **Ilia was in shock. No way a human should be able to do something like that so easily. She ran off back to the throne room.**

 **Jaune watched as she left. "One of body, the other of spirit." Jaune just slowly made his way after her.**

 **Ilia moved in shadows to eventually reach the throne room. Inside, however, was not a scene she enjoyed seeing. Kali was pushing Sienna back with each motion, breaking her guard and leaving small wounds to make her cede. Soon, Kali struck at Sienna's legs and forced her onto her knees. Sienna looked up to see Kali's blade pointed at her throat.**

Sun grinned, "Damn! Go Mrs. B!"

Kali chuckled hearing that.

Gira groaned.

Blake… was still getting used to seeing her mother as a fighter.

 **Kali showed no hate, no anger. Only concern and pity. "There's still a chance for you, Sienna. End this madness and return to the Menagerie guard. Swear to our people…"**

 **Sienna spit onto the ground. "I've made my choice. I was doing right by my people!"**

 **Kali sighed. "You were once like a sister to me. I shall remember you as you were." Kali slid a foot to the side and her blade swung around and lopped Sienna's head clean off her body.**

Sienna's soul fell in that moment. To be like a sister to one she called a hero… It was the worst feeling knowing she'd betrayed her. Getting decapitated wasn't exactly fun to see either.

 **Ilia turned to try to escape again, only to be pushed back into the room by a waiting Jaune. Ilia scrambled back, away from the man that turned Adam's head into a strain on the floor but backed into Kali.**

 **The Kensei looked down to the shinobi, "Child. I offer you this choice. Will you turn your back on the White Fang, and swear loyalty to Menagerie?"**

 **Ilia saw no way out. She wanted to do what was right for the people anyway, but without her Lady, she was alone. Ilia turned her body and sat on her knees. She bent down, kowtowing to Kali. "I swear on my life, to be loyal only to Menagerie."**

Ilia wanted nothing more than to do what she felt was right. After her parents died in the mining collapse, she felt it was best to join the White Fang and force the humans to see them as equals! By force if necessary.

 **The screen pulled away as Kali's voice over returned. "** ** _It has been many years since that battle. We remain at peace with yourselves, but our peace with the outside world is tenuous at best. The Shugoki, our guardian demon, returned to his mountain._** ** _And no one had seen him since. He's always there when we'll need him."_**

 **A young Blake walked up along the path from the beginning.**

Kali chuckled seeing the little Blake. "It's always nice to see Blake when she was so cute~!"

Blake groaned, "Mom!"

Kali just giggled at her daughter's embarrassment.

 **Blake walked up the mountain path. As she approached, she saw that no one was around. She looked up to the gate for a moment before her sight returned to the ground. She jumped back a bit. Jaune was suddenly sitting beneath the gate, appearing from nowhere.**

Yang blinked for a moment, "How did he get there…?"

 **Jaune's club was lying beside him. "Hello, child."**

 **Blake took a step forward. "Uh… Hi."**

 **"** **What brings you to my gate? What is it you need of me?"**

 **"** **I… My mom told me about how you helped her during the White Fang attack. I wanted to meet you."**

Yang chuckles, "Someone finally came up to say hi."

 **Jaune chuckled and gestured in front of his gate. "Then sit, child."**

 **Blake walked over and sat down before the guardian.**

 **"** ** _But few ever realize what it is that we have._** **"**

 **Jaune was suddenly unmasked. He seemed perfectly normal, save for the pair of Oni horns sticking up from his hair.**

 **"** ** _He is a true Shugoki._** **"**

Gira's eyes went wide. "He was actually…"

Ruby turned to the large man, "Actually what?"

Gira took a breath. "He… Shugoki means Gaurdian Demon. And it seems to actually be such."

"Woah…"

 **The screen moved along and back to show Jaune's club resting on the ground.**


	60. Eternally Retold

**King: This one is very short. I think it's on part with the shorter chapters, but I wanted to get it out. See, here's the thing. I wanted to do something else (a couple things) but they turned out to be sub-1000 words. This happened twice... So, I decided to indulge in something for me instead. So, as my birthday gift to me, one of my favorite game series~ A tale of souls and swords, told once more.**

 **Inspiration: Soul Calibur (RWBY)**

 **/\**

 **The screen opened with a voice over from Ozpin, "** ** _The first person you make eye contact with in the forest will be your partner for the next four years here at Beacon._** **"**

Yang kicked up her feet on the chair in front of her, "Another initiation one?"

 **The screen showed as Weiss skipped across the sky with her glyphs until she landed on the ground. "Ridiculous…" She walked forward and into the forest. She froze when the brush behind her moved. She drew her blade and readied for a fight, only to see that dolt from yesterday.**

 **Ruby ran in and found Weiss to be her partner. "I…"**

 **Weiss felt her eye twitch and took a breath. "Truly ridiculous…"**

Ruby chuckled, "You didn't walk away this time."

Weiss took a breath and sighed.

 **Ruby and Weiss started to make their way northward, running into Blake and Yang. As a group, the four reached the ruins in record time.**

Ruby jumped up from her seat, fist raised in pride, "Team RWBY forever!"

 **They started to slow, however, when they saw a giant Nevermore carcass.**

Weiss sighed in relief. "At least we don't have to deal with that…"

Port was shaking with a sense of unease, "Why is the Grimm not disintegrating?"

"Fresh kill?" Yang shrugged. It wasn't unheard of for larger Grimm to take longer for the process of disintigation to start.

 **Ruby walked around the Nevermore.**

 **Yang tried to stop her, "Hold it, Ruby! It's not breaking down. It's probably still alive!"**

 **Ruby paused on the other side of the Grimm, "I don't think so…"**

 **The side of the Nevermore kidden from them was torn a-fucking-sunder. Its wing was in half along the length of the wing. Its mask was broken in on one side. The body was covered in giant wounds that would cause blood to pool within seconds if Grimm could bleed.**

Everyone in the audience was awestruck. They'd never seen a Grimm corpse, much less one so mangled.

Coco felt a chill run up her spine, "Holy shit… That's just…"

 **Ruby walked around the halved wing, uncertain of what could cause that. She knelt down to find small smoldering effects along the wound. "What happened to cause this?"**

 **"** **More…" They heard a groaning voice within the ruins. A knight in azure armor walked out from the ruins. His helmet was adorned by a single, long horn and blood red horse hair flowing down to his back. One of his arms was almost Grimm like. In the other hand, he carried a giant sword of single edge, its form beneath seeming of flesh. Beneath his helmet, they could see cold, ice blue eyes.**

Pyrrha shivered seeing those eyes. There was no mistaking that this was Jaune. But something felt off about him.

 **The yet unformed team RWBY entered their combat stances.**

 **Yang grinned and slammed her fists together. "Can we help you, pal?"**

 **The knight just groaned again. "More…"**

 **Ruby eased, hoping to help someone in need. "More what? What do you need more of?"**

 **"** **Need… more… souls!" The knight swung his sword toward Ruby.**

 **The hooded scythe wielder tried to block the attack with her weapon, but the swing and weight caused her to fly backward toward the team.**

Tai took in a sharp breath, recoiling a bit, "Shit…"

Ruby felt a nervous chill up her spine. "That sword is just… wrong. It's giving me some seriously bad vibes…"

"No kidding. Yang had to sit normally again, "That's weird looking metal…"

Ruby shook her head slowly, "That's… not metal."

"What?"

"There's metal on the blade and the handle, but the rest of… is actually flesh."

Blake placed a hand over her mouth, "I think I'm going to be sick…"

 **Yang caught her sister and helped her back to her feet, "Okay… Any ideas?"**

 **Ruby groaned, "He's using a zweihander great sword: heavy, good at both attack and defense, and with serious reach. However, it relies on fluid motions. If we can disrupt his movements, we can gain an advantage."**

Ozpin nodded. "Excellent eye for strategy…"

 **Team RWBY started to swarm around Jaune from four different angles. Unfortunately, Jaune swung his sword with the ferocity of a hurricane and blocked or parried all of their attacks with a single arc of his blade. The weight of his attack sent them all flying backward. Jaune groaned under the pain within his body. "Must feed…"**

Nora turned among her associates, "Can he actually do that?"

Ruby nodded, "Heavier weapons at speed produce more force than lighter weapons. If you can't match the output force, you could be tossed off."

 **As Weiss slid across the ground, she slammed the blade of her weapon into the ground and froze Jaune's lower body solid. As he tried to struggle, the ice rose up to cover his torso. His arms encased, only his head and sword were spared the frozen prison. Jaune roared out in frustration and tried to wriggle out of the ice, to no avail.**

 **Yang and the rest of team gathered again, looking toward the frozen man, "So… now what do we do with him?"**

 **Blake shrugged, "We can't leave him. He might attack someone."**

 **Weiss returned her weapon to her side, "I say we take him to Professor Ozpin."**

Weiss nodded, agreeing this was the best option.

 **But they didn't have to wait. A large cloud of dust formed as Ozpin landed into the forest. "I know I said we wouldn't interfere, but I think it best to make an exception. I had hoped you would stay dead."**

 **Team RWBY turned to the headmaster, confused.**

 **"** **But you put yourself together again… Even found a new host. Soul Edge."**

 **The sword in Jaune's hand started to shake before the flesh center quivered separately. A moment later, an eye snapped open within the blade's center, looking directly at the headmaster.**

That was just wrong.

Ruby wretched and fell toward the floor, threatening to vomit.

Velvet went stiff and shivered in fear. The sword was an unnerving sight before it opened its eye. Now, knowing its alive, it was a horror show.

Neptune got caught up on one word. "Host? Wait… is that thing…"

 **"** **Release the boy, Soul Edge. He's not what you want."**

 **Jaune groaned, "I… refuse…" The sword spoke through his voice, its influence holding his mind hostage. "I will devour your soul…"**

 **Ozpin sighed and swung his cane, crystals forming along the end and creating a sword of shimmering, ice-like crystals.**

Ruby gasped, "Woah!" She spun around to the headmaster, "Can your cane do that?! What kind of dust can do that?!"

Ozpin glanced between the screen and Ruby, "It… does not do that…" _But I could make it happen with magic… What is this world?_

 **Jaune roared out and Soul Edge began to exude a malicious aura. The aura spread up to Jaune and the ice started to crack. Jaune's arm snapped forward, the ice shattering apart. He swung the blade and destroyed the rest of the annoying ice in his way.**

 **Ozpin held his sword forward and the cane fell off as the crystals shattered away. He now held a short sword with two interlacing blades that stretch up into the sword-like form.**

Ruby was awestruck. "What is…"

Tai turned to his daughter, "What is it?"

"That sword… It's not any metal I know. Any form that makes sense…"

 **Jaune growled, his eyes turning blood red as the eye of his blade shrank in anger and maliciousness. "Calibur…"**

 **Ozpin swung his blade into a fighting stance, "I won't let you create another Knightmare."**

Yang snickered a bit at the pun since it was Jaune, their favorite wannabe knight.

 **Jaune roared and leapt up to swing his blade down on Ozpin, who parried the attack like it was nothing. He grabbed Jaune's arm and swung it around his body, forcing him to drop the sword. He kicked Jaune away and stomped on the sword's eye.**

Qrow recoiled. "Yikes. That's got to hurt."

 **The sword recoiled, screaming through Jaune. Ozpin held up his blade, ready to break that blade again, only for Jaune to tackle him off the sword. Jaune tried to pick up the blade, but Ozpin kicked him off balance. With a flourish, Ozpin slammed his blade into Soul Edge's eye and out the other side.**

Ruby couldn't hold back the vomit this time. That was just nasty.

 **Jaune roared out in pain, clutching his head. Jaune fell over into the fetal position, unable to handle the pain in his mind and his very soul.**

It was hard for Jaune's friend to see this. He was a person they respected/liked/ _liked_. Hearing him cry out like that was hard to hear.

 **Ozpin looked down at the hand flipped his blade in hand.**

"He wouldn't…" Glynda was more than a little concerned Ozpin would try to kill him.

 **Ozpin grabbed Jaune's hand and placed the sword's hilt into his palm.**

Glynda sighed in relief.

Yang looked over to the teachers, "What's going on?" All she got was shrugs.

 **The calmness of Soul Calibur washed over the young knight. His raging soul began to subside. His mind now at peace. Jaune took a breath, his red eyes returning to their deep blue. His body was now calmed. "Where… am I?"**

 **Ozpin nodded and knelt next to him. "The Emerald Forest. What is your name?"**

 **"** **Jaune… Jaune Arc." Calibur, now with a new wielder, formed into a massive, ice-blue great sword.**

Ruby gasped, "It can change based on its user?!" That was genuinely insane. This wasn't a mecha-shift. This was a complete transmutation.

 **"** **Well, Jaune, I'm afraid you're stuck here for a while. Welcome to Beacon."**

 **As they all left the area, the camera zoomed in on Soul Edge. It opened its damaged eye slowly. This was a story of two swords, eternally retold. So long as Calibur existed, so too shall the Edge.**


	61. What does it stand for?

**King: This was too fun to revisit. I do hope you enjoy it, I know I did~ Let's do this!**

 **Inspiration: Achievement Hunter**

 **/\**

 _Hmm…_

 _What are you thinking, King?_

 _I'm thinking we have some fun. Something funny._

 _…_ _Wait. You mean…_

 _LET'S PLAY!_

 _Okay. Which one?_

 _Do you have a buttfor?_

 _…_ _This is going to be amazing._

 **The screen opened to show Sun walking through a dark-brick hallway with a diamond sword. He was dressed in blue jean shorts, red sneakers, and nothing else. "Fucking hell. This is bullshit. Why are we looking for this stupid skull anyway?"**

 **"** **Achievements!" Jaune popped in over his shoulder, dressed in a suit jacket, dress shirt, and a red kilt. "We'll find one eventually."**

Nora giggled, "I like this Jaune."

Yang chuckled, "Why is he wearing a skirt, though?"

Coco shook her head, "Tsk tsk… That, my friend, is a kilt. You can tell because it goes down passed his knees. Paired with the calf-high socks and suit, it makes him look like a business man from Velvet's old home."

Velvet nodded. "In the northern part of my old village, sights like that were pretty common."

 **"** **This place is fucking huge, dark, and damp… Like a gunt."**

The only one who reacted to what was said Velvet, who just froze with a shocked smile on her face. She thought she heard something else…

 **They heard Scarlet speaking from off screen, but also in events, "Gunt?"**

 **"** **A guy cunt." They heard Sage speak next.**

Ruby's head tilted, "A what?"

Velvet went bright red, "No!"

This got everyone to jump and clam up.

 **"** **Like… Gunt Baker." Sun clarified.**

 **Then, they heard, odd enough, Yang, "It's like a FUPA."**

Now that, some of them have heard of. This got a few snickers.

 **They saw Sun stabbing a tall black-boned skeleton as the camera pulled back to Jaune, "A what?"**

 **The scene swapped to show Yang jumping up a hillside as Scarlet followed her. Scarlet paused a moment to do one of his usual gags, "Yang."**

 **"** **Yes, Scarlet?"**

 **"** **A million lien, but for the rest of our life, you can only eat human FUPA."**

This got a few in the audience to recoil and gag.

 **Yang gagged a bit but laughed knowing how Scarlet worked. "Fuck no!"**

Sun held back a confused laugh, "Why would that be something they could get used to from Scarlet?"

 **Jaune returned to the scene, showing the brick halls, "What's a FUPA?"**

 **Scarlet watched Jaune return to the grassy area through a purple portal lined by obsidian. "You don't know what FUPA stands for, Jaune?"**

 **"** **I do not, no."**

 **"** **Well, what do you think it stands for?"**

 **Sun returned to the grassy area and chimed in as well, "It's an abbreviation."**

 **Jaune nodded, thinking, "No… That I got."**

Yang tried to hold in her laughter, "Is this going to be the whole thing?"

Weiss blinked. Similar to Jaune, she didn't know what it was either. "I don't get it."

Yang burst into a full fit now.

 **Scarlet chuckled a bit. "Well, you know it's like a gunt, so what do you think it is? What does it stand for?"**

 **Jaune thought for a moment. "I'm assuming it's F-U-P-A?"**

 **"** **Yep."**

 **"** **Uh…"**

 **Sun chuckled to himself, trying to keep it quiet. "This is fourth grade…"**

 **Jaune, however, was thinking out loud, "There's not a lot of U words, so it's got to be…"**

 **Then, Yang popped in again, "Jaune, do you have a Buttfor?"**

Yang fell out of her chair, laughing. "Seriously? That old thing?"

Weiss turned to Yang, "A what?"

"Oh my gods… You don't know?"

"Know what?!"

 **Jaune also had no idea what was going on. "A what?"**

 **"** **A buttfor."**

 **"** **Buttfor what?"**

 **"** **No. Do you have a buttfor?"**

 **"** **I don't know, do I?"**

 **Neptune walked up, clutching his stomach and trying not to laugh. "Yang, buddy, that's not going to work on him…"**

 **Scarlet walked by with a bow over his shoulder, "Jaune's of those people."**

 **Jaune turned to the brit, "What does that mean?"**

 **"** **Jaune! Do you have a buttfor?"**

 **"** **I don't know!"**

Weiss was getting a little mad now. "Why won't they just tell him what it is?! Then they can get their stupid answer!"

Now, even Ruby was snickering at her partner's expense, not saying a word.

 **Neptune snickered a little, "Why don't you know, Jaune?"**

 **Scarlet placed the bow into a shared wooden chest, "Now I'm worried he doesn't actually know the joke." Scarlet stood up and turned back to the blondes, "Jaune, were you never on a school playground before?"**

 **Jaune nervously scratched his nose, "I mean… sometimes…"**

 **"** **Or were you just in a book."**

 **"** **Actually… There was a lot of that, yes." Jaune returned to the dark hall through the portal with his enchanted diamond sword. "Now, question is do we…"**

 **Yang cut him off. "Question is, Jaune, do you have a buttfor?" They could all hear each other at all times in this world.**

Weiss growled a little. "This is getting ridiculous. Just tell him what it is!"

 **Scarlet also chimed in, "Question is, Jaune, what does FUPA stand for?! We need to resolve these plotlines."**

 **Sage sighed, "Jaune, please placate them."**

 **Jaune sighed and started to breath out the start to a word with f. "F… Fat Up Pussy Anus!"**

This got a few in the audience to laugh, both at how close he was and what Jaune, of all people, just said.

 **"** **Very close!" Sun laughed, "You got two and a half of them."**

 **"** **How do you get half a word?"**

 **"** **It means you got half of the word! Extend one of your words."**

 **Scarlet popped into the corner in chibi form with a thought bubble showing a grey cat in armor wielding a swordfish. "Pussius!"**

 **Sun's chibi popped up and broke the bubble, "Nope."**

 **Jaune was figuring it out. "Upper."**

 **This got some (semi-condescending) cheers from his friends. "Three out of four!"**

 **"** **Upper…" Jaune thought back to the factor that started this. "I presume pussy…"**

The way he said that just got people laughing.

Roman leaned back in laughter, "Holy shit!"

Neo shook, unable to actually laugh, but the motions were there. This was just that freaking stupid.

 **His tone did get the others to laugh too.**

 **Sun had to take a breath before he could speak, "You have presumed correctly. Very astute Jaune!"**

 **Scarlet laughed at the scene. "You can see him working through it… He's learning~"**

 **"** **A… A…" Jaune sighed in a silent frustration, causing his friends to burst out into laughter.**

Coco was able to speak through her laughter, "This is so stupid!"

 **Sun laughed, "It's like a fucking spelling bee."**

 **"** **Can you use it in a sentence?"**

This got a few snickers, but they didn't dare say why. Let the joke run its course.

 **Sun stuttered for a moment. "I… I've never used it in a sentence in my life. Scarlet?"**

 **Scarlet was sitting by a small lake and pulled a fish out of the water with his fishing rod. He turned back to Sun, "The word?"**

 **"** **Yeah, use it in a sentence."**

 **"** **Nice FUPA."**

 **Thus, they all laughed again.**

 **Jaune groaned, "Not as… Not as illuminating as I'd hoped." Jaune sliced through another tall skeleton and found its skull on the ground. "I got it! I got one!"**

"So, they needed the skull?" Qrow leaned back and took a swig from his flask.

Winter's eyes narrowed, "What for, though?"

 **Sun laughed at the timing, "You got FUPA? Oh hey! He's got a FUPA skull." The joke was too good to let go.**

 **Scarlet took a breath, "I thought for a second there, he looked down and saw a FUPA."**

 **Jaune was wearing the skull on his head and running of to find another skeleton.**

 **Sun laughed, "No. No, he's got it. He's wearing the skull."**

 **Jaune ran off and stabbed through another skeleton, causing it to collapse. A small ping sounded and Jaune's arms shot up, "ACHIEVEMENT!" Jaune removed the skull and placed it on his belt. "Anyone else want it?"**

 **Sun, who had followed him through the portal, took the offer and placed the skull on his head.**

"So, some kind of achievement thing?" Tai sat back and smiled. "That's pretty neat."

 **"** **Still need to finish FUPA."**

 **Jaune sighed, "A… Uh… A words… Aegis."**

Ruby's held tilted, "What's that?"

King appeared for a moment, "The name of a shield, wielded the king of the of Greek gods, Zeus. Made from enchanted goat skin, it was said to be impervious to all attacks."

"Woah…"

 **"** **Apricot!"**

 **"** **You have to think of it all together. You're abandoning the first three words."**

 **"** **A-pple?"**

 **This got a few snickers, "Yes. Fat Upper Pussy Apple."**

 **"** **Anus!"**

 **"** **You tried that already!"**

 **Sage groaned, "At least you're on the body."**

 **"** **Alien?"**

Velvet just felt bad for him at this point. It was clear he didn't know what was going on. But… it was also funny seeing Weiss, the crush of her crush, get just as frustrated by it all.

Weiss growled, "Gods! This is ridiculous!"

 **Scarlet sighed in defeat. "Just forget it."**

 **Yang, however, had a thread to follow, "Jaune, do you have a buttfor?"**

Weiss boiled over, "Not again! I thought we were done with this! Why won't they just explain it?!"

 **Jaune was losing his mind, "I don't know what that means!"**

 **Neptune was walking through a jungle area with a map, "So, ask him about it."**

 **"** **G… I… Use it in a sentence! That's not a question of whether I have one or not!"**

Weiss was just as mentally numbed, "Just explain it!"

 **Neptune finished filling out a map and called through their communication system, "So, if you don' know what it is, what do you do?"**

 **"** **Ask for someone to explain it and hope that they do that instead of saying** ** _what's a buttfor_** **?!" Jaune's mind was boiling at this point.**

Weiss shot up her hands, "So why haven't they?!"

Both Yangs spoke in unison, the viewer to Weiss and the screen-bound to Jaune. Though, the viewer Yang had help from her sister as they all shouted, **"IT'S FOR POOPING, SILLY!"**

Weiss turned deathly pale for a moment, the joke finally registering in her mind. "Unbelievable…"

Yang collapsed onto the ground in laughter as Weiss dealt with her embarrassment.

 **Jaune took that a little better, "Oh…"**

 **His friends were all laughing, not necessarily at him but more at how he acted and how long it took to get there.**

 **"** **That is the stupidest thing…"**

 **Sun had to take a breath or two before he could speak, "I said that!"**

 **Yang slapped her knee and laughed, "Once we knew you had no idea what we were going for, that made it all the sweeter!"**

 **Unfortunately, the human mind doesn't like it when things are incomplete. So, Jaune made this known, "But I still don't know what the A is…"**

Weiss groaned, "This is still going?!"

Yang grinned, "Come on! You have to admit, you can't just let this go, right? You have to know~"

Weiss slammed her hand into her chair, "IT'S AREA! OKAY?! CAN WE STOP?!"

Yang blinked in surprise, as did many in the audience. "Wait. You know what a FUPA is, but you had no idea about the buttfor joke?"

Weiss was unfazed, "It's obvious! It's the only word beginning with A that fits into the larger acronym!"

"Huh… I guess… You're not wrong."

 **Jaune was still going through words. "Angle, arch…"**

 **Sage appeared again, walking through the dark brick halls, "Arch isn't that bad. Not right, but at least closer."**

 **"** **A…"**

 **Neptune chuckled, "Yeah, you smell like updog."**

This time, it was Blake left in the dark, "What the heck is updog?"

Velvet turned toward the feline faunas, "Nothing. What's up with you?"

Blake facepalmed having run head long into that one.

 **Jaune just laughed it off.**

 **Scarlet rolled his eyes, "He knows** ** _that_** **one."**

 **"** **But what's the A…" Jaune returned to the grassy area, thinking to himself.**

 **Sage walked passed to join Sun, "It's more geographical."**

 **"** **Geographical? That didn't help at all."**

 **Yang had walked off and jumped into a boat, filling out a map as she traveled, "If I working on something, it would a general…"**

 **Sage just wanted to keep messing with Jaune, "Contractor!"**

 **But, Jaune was still lost. "Attitude?"**

This got either groans or laughs at Jaune's failings. The situation was just that ridiculous.

 **Neptune groaned, "Oh, come on! It's just…" He sighed in annoyance.**

 **But, this just got another laugh out of Sage, "You're upsetting Neptune."**

 **Yang returned from the portal and laughed, "Neptune's so mad, he's paying attention."**

 **The joke had to end eventually. Time to drop a few hints.**

 **Sun walked over to Scarlet, patting him on the shoulder, "Hey. Where did you find that witch from before?"**

 **"** **She was in the general… area by the base…"**

Weiss groaned, "Please get the hint…"

 **Sun looked toward Jaune, who was working the potion stand, "Like, near the village area?"**

 **"** **Yeah. The hilly area near the base."**

 **Jaune finished his potion, not really paying attention to them.**

 **Yang joined into the hinting, "This area is mostly water. The map underneath I mostly water…"**

 **No reaction.**

Yang and Ruby were leaning against each other laughing. Weiss just groaned. Sun wiped away a tear from his laughing fit.

 **Scarlet walked up behind Jaune, "What's the** ** _area_** **of effect on those splash potions?"**

 **Jaune shrugged, "Don't know."**

 **Neptune snickered a bit, "What's the A of effect?"**

 **Sun pretended to get lost in the base. "Damn it. Where can I find the** ** _area_** **with the portal?"**

 **Scarlet explained it, "It's in the** ** _area_** **by the farm."**

 **Yang called in to Jaune, "So, splash is like an area of attack thing, right?"**

 **"** **Yep."**

 **Scarlet sighed, "So, if I multiply the length by the width of something…"**

 **Yang nodded, "That would be the** ** _area_** **of something."**

 **Jaune paused for a moment, his mind finally taking in what they were saying. "Oh, Area."**

Everyone on the screen and most of the audience burst into laughter. Some loud, some quiet, all laughing. Just, that moment of realization and how he just spoke so casually about it.

 **Sage took a deep breath, "Let's stop!"**


	62. New Millennium

**Screen: Gentlemen~ First things first, I had a lot of fun with this one. I used to have Jaune's speech here memorized! I need to get back to that... Anyway, with the finale coming out over this time, I felt it best to bring this into the fic. Now, I could have made Jaune play the protagonist, but where's the fun in that~?**

 **King: ... The fuck?**

 **Screen: What?**

 **King: Why are you here?! This is supposed to be my space to speak to the readers! How did you even get here?!**

 **Screen: No idea~!**

 **King: Ugh... Whatever. Like the glorified canvas said...**

 **Screen: Hey!**

 **King: This was fun to write and I hope you enjoy it. The next chapter is already decided (you'll see why soon), so keep this in mind. Also, this little skit is totally a filler to get the word count to an acceptable level.**

 **Screen: Nope.**

 **King: Pardon?**

 **Screen: I'm canon, baby~ Not filler.**

 **King: ... shit.**

 **Inspiration: Hellsing Ultimate Abridged**

 **/\**

The screen was allowed to pick this one. This can only end well…

 **The first thing to see was a series of lights passing by. They could also hear footsteps on a metal floor. Then, they heard someone speaking, by the voice they could tell it was that guy Watts that showed up with Salem. "I'd say that was a complete success."**

 **The camera moved to show Watts walking behind Jaune, dressed in a white military uniform. "You zink it vent vell? Herr doctor. I vas zere." He spoke with the same accent as his time as the Medic. "Und much like our former boss…" He turned to Watts and had a large grin on his face. "I killed it."**

Ruby groaned in her seat, "Another Psycho-Jaune…"

 **The two approached as a chair descended from the ceiling, "Zen let's hope ze same does not happen to ze Major~" Sitting on the chair/throne was Blake, complete with her cat ears, dressed in kaki shorts and a tan uniform. "Ve don't have ze freezer space for ze accidental leftovers." It was hard to tell if this Blake was male or female.**

Yang grinned seeing this. "Damn. There's a joke here…"

King appeared for a moment, "And how would you know that?"

"What?"

"The joke is Schrödinger's Cat. A scientific/philosophical experiment where the subject is considered both alive and dead until such a time as it has been observed."

"That's… actually what I was going for… Why do I know that?"

"Hmm…" King disappeared again.

 **Jaune chuckled, "Ah~ Doctor, usually it is considered a faux pa to give a pet as a gift.** ** _But I love her!_** **"**

Blake felt her eye twitch, "Pet?" She was not happy to hear that word.

Yang, however, nodded, "Okay then. Girl. That was figured out."

 **Watts grabbed Blake's shirt collar and pulled her off the chair. "Major! I am so sorry for her disrespect!" Blake was an experiment created by Doctor Watts, and therefore his responsibility.**

"Experi… What?!" Blake was just confused now.

 **Blake had been formed splicing several creature's DNA into a single form. Not quite human, certainly a monster. But… then again, most of them were by now.**

 **Jaune laughed it off and took his seat. "Do not vorry. I enjoy a bit of playful cattiness among my staff."**

Blake pointed an accusatory finger toward Yang and Tai, "Not a word!"

Both were stuck in a pre-pun pose.

 **Jaune smirked, as the chair ascended into a massive room with electronic maps. "Soon, our little Emerald will be in place. Such a clear threat will have to met by the Schnee family's dog. And zen, ve will finally be ready to proceed."**

 **One of the soldiers to the side, dressed in a black uniform with a red armband, called out to the group. "Blackbird jet on route to ze carrier!"**

 **"** **Excellent. Zis fight vill be a slaughter." His plan was simple, lure Neptune off into the sea.**

Neptune blinked in a bit of shock, "Okay… So, I'm the 'Schnee family's dog'?"

 **And once there, he'll be stuck for the foreseeable duration of events. As a vampire, he cannot swim.**

Neptune's eyes went wide, "I'm a what?!"

 **The soldier from before turned around again, "Contact! The plane touched down on the carrier!"**

 **Jaune grinned, "Bring up ze video feed."**

 **The screen showed Emerald, armed with an old musket rifle, standing opposite Neptune dressed in a long red trench coat. The entire carrier was on fire with a giant hulk of metal that used to be an airplane sticking up from the surface.**

 **Emerald was freaking out. This was the hellish vampire, the prince of evil, who is said to cast shadow on darkness itself. She shook, but she regained her composure despite her fears. "** ** _I… I am Emerald Sustrai! And I command your respect!_** **"**

 **Neptune seemed unfazed, "** ** _No. You demand my attention._** **"**

 **Emerald fired her bullet into Neptune's shoulder, only to have it spin around and fly through his gut as well. It continued over and over, puncturing the vampire as it went. "** ** _I don't have to take this from you! You racist, degenerate, patriarch propagating, misogynistic pig!_** **"**

 **Neptune smiled and caught the bullet in his teeth. "** ** _The funny thing is_** **…" He snapped his jaw shut and shattered the lead ball in his teeth.**

Ruby felt a shiver run up her spine. To catch an apparently magic bullet in his teeth _and_ snap it apart with just his teeth! That was just crazy!

 **"** ** _In any other circumstance, you might have had a point there. Except my boss is a woman, I was a chick in the 40s, I hate everyone equally, and there isn't anyone alive who could comprehend my sexual preference._** **" Neptune punched Emerald in the jaw and held her against the steel of the carrier, her ow rifle pointed toward her chest. He pushed the barrel into her chest until popped through the other side.**

Emerald recoiled in pain seeing that.

Even Mercury grumbled. That was just… twistedly messed up.

 **Jaune watched the whole scene. When it ended, he waved his hand, "Zat's enough." The feed ended and Jaune stood, a giant grin on his face. "Gather ze troops~"**

Ruby groaned, "He just watched a girl get impaled on a rifle! Why is he smiling?!"

Winter groaned, "Worst of all… she seemed to be his own soldier…"

 **After some time, a series of men in black uniforms gathered in two columns before Jaune. He grinned as he addressed the troops. "Gentlemen… Operation Gem Bait was a resounding success! Neptune is incapacitated on ze carrier, and our true goal can begin at once!"**

Emerald felt a growl forming her throat, "I was… just bait?"

Mercury groaned, "That's… seriously messed up."

 **"** **However… before ve can begin, I need to address some rumors floating about ze ship. Zere are rumors about stating zat I… like… var!"**

Ironwood was familiar with rumors like that. People constantly believing he was a war hawk or a madman.

 **"** **I vish to dash zese rumors! I do not** ** _like_** **var…"**

Ironwood sighed. He hated the idea of war but saw it as an evil we may never be rid of. Surely, he was the same…

 **"** **I…** ** _LOVE…_** **var!"**

Ironwood was genuinely shocked. He had never met a man that genuinely loved war. Even the worst of war hawks in Atlas only saw it as a tool to a larger goal, not the goal itself.

 **"** **Zrough my life, I have discovered so many kinds of var! You get un in ze morning, you get into your shitty car, und you see a rich CEO who works half as hard as you do drive down the street in his Porsche! Class Var."**

Eyes turned to Weiss and Winter for half a second. It didn't linger given the two had already proven themselves beyond the rich girl stereotypes. Their father and brother on the other hand… not so much.

 **"** **You make it to vork, vhere you find out ze annual drug test is today, and you just so happen to take a puff of your one-hitter a couple nights ago before dinner with your vife's awful parents! Drug Var."**

Roman adjusted his cigar in his teeth. He considered peddling drugs back when, but it never came to anything. He preferred the more noble type of crime, grand larceny.

 **"** **But zen, you find out it is only your black and Hispanic coworkers that are being tested! Race Var."**

Velvet, Blake, Ilia, Kali, Sienna, and Gira sighed in annoyance. But they were able to see their situations better now from both sides. Though, Ilia was still coping with that and would likely snap at someone who tried to challenge her on the issue right now.

 **"** **Zen you try to post about it on your Facebook and everyone gets up in arms about vhat's right und vhat's wrong! Flame War."**

Neo turned to Cinder for a moment, only because of the word 'flame.'

 **"** **You finally get home, and you decide to vatch a program about, vhat's in ze box? Who gets ze box? How much is vhat's in ze box worth? Storage Wars~" Jaune chuckled at his joke based on a television program.**

Yang would laugh, but the situation wasn't exactly too funny so far.

 **Jaune took a breath before continuing, "Vat I am telling you, my Nazi Army of one zousand vampires, is zat I am a purveyor of var!"**

Penny's head tilted, "What's a Nazi?"

King appeared again, "A group in this world formed on the ideal of National Socialism, the principle that the government should control resources and act as a powerful safety net for the people of Germany."

"That doesn't seem that bad…"

"They were also responsible for a bit over 6 million murders in a government-led, mass genocide effort. Acting as the catalysts to bring that very word into existence. Killing men, women, and children by gas, gun, or starvation, only to burn the bodies or bury them all in mass graves."

"Never mind!"

 **"** **Und, vith your help, we are at ze precipice of our true goal! You see, I vant a simple var. No class vars, no drug vars, no race vars, no flame vars, UND CERTAINLY NO COLD VARS!" Jaune's anger gave out for a moment of pained reflection, "Blue-balled for 40 years… Vat I vant is a war only ve can bring! A true var! A German var! Ze sequal, you've all been vaiting for! I… VANT… VORLD VAR III!"**

"World War III?" Ruby looked up to the fireball, silently asking for an answer.

King sighed, "In this reality, there were two large scale conflicts spanning the entirety of the globe. The first was once called the Great War and was responsible for the death of a generation of young men on the continent. The first modern war and the most hellish kind of reality. They hoped it would be the War to End All Wars. They were wrong. Mismanagement of the peace terms and capitulation politics led to a second conflict with equally disastrous numbers. This was the conflict spurred on by the Nazi Party. And now, he wishes for a third war, after nearly fifty years without a comparable conflict."

 **The soldiers all raised a single hand upward at an angle. All chanting, "SEIG HEIL!" over and over again. These were no longer men, but monsters (literally, they were vampires). These were soldiers, but fanatics. And they would soon descend on London, capital of the United Kingdom. For tonight, London shall fall. Buckingham Palace laid to waste. Big Ben toppled to the ground. The Houses of Parliament eradicated. The Tower of London annihilated! But they'll leave the Holocaust museum. No one shall deny what they have done. By night's end, nearly a million people would be dead, the Nazi swastika burned into the city itself. The War has begun~**

As the screen ended, Cinder looked up toward King, "You said there wasn't a war like the last ones for a long time. Why was that?"

King sighed. "You really want to know then? So be it." The next world was set. It would likely last only a moment. But it's effects would ring on for eternity.


	63. I am become Death, destroyer of worlds

**Knox: Hello again~!**

 **King: Long story... You'll see soon enough. Now, let's get something out of the way. A lot of you seemed to expect Omaha, for some reason... Nope. Only one of you got it right at time of writing. Cinder asked why no great war appeared since 1945. So... we gave them the answer. For those unaware, it's MAD.**

 **Inspiration: August 6th, 1945**

 **/\**

King and the screen finally got the next world in place. This… will not end happily.

 **The screen opened to show Jaune in a white lab coat, adjusting the screen itself. "There we go."**

Weiss raised an eyebrow, "Can he see us?"

King appeared again, "No. We are seeing this world through a video recording. We couldn't find a version of reality specific to that world, but we found the closest thing we could. Where the events played out in a realm resembling your world instead…" _And… that may just make what was about to happen worse._

 **Jaune sat down on a chair behind the desk. "Okay. My name is Jaune Arc, lead scientist of the Mjolnir Project."**

Ruby chuckled, "Scientist?"

"The lead, apparently," Blake leaned back in her chair.

 **Jaune looked like a kid in a candy store right now. "We have been given the amazing opportunity to discover a brand new source of energy! In this age of war, we kind of need it." Jaune's visage fell as he said that. "I don't know what will come… I just hope that…" Jaune sighed and shook his head. "Never mind! I just need to move forward and hope!" The first recording ended there.**

 **The second recording appeared, showing Jaune looking over papers. "Okay. We've made a lot of headway in the project. We just need to figure out how to spark the process at will…" He placed the papers down and sighed.**

"What's he working on?" Ruby was getting a bit excited. She wasn't a fan of energy productions, but she realized it was important.

King was silent on the issue, "You'll see… soon enough…"

Tai leaned toward Ruby, "Is he okay?"

Ruby shrugged, "No idea. I don't think we've ever seen him like this."

 **Jaune turned back to the camera. "According to General Winter, the war effort is starting to grind to a slow crawl."**

Winter blinked. "I'm… a general?"

Ironwood shrugged, "Wouldn't surprise me with your current career path."

"I… Thank you, general!"

 **Jaune fell back in his chair, slightly defeated. "She hopes the project will be ready soon… I hope she breaks the stalemate before it is…" The recording ended soon after.**

 **The next recording came to form and Jaune looked both disheveled and on cloud nine. "Happy day! The Navy has pushed through the blockade! The skies are open, and the Air Forces can start to target the military institutions! We may not need the project after all!" The recording ended.**

"Why would he be happy about that?" Weiss looked up toward King. "What's going on?"

"One more recording…" King floated in place. "One more…"

"Um…"

 **The last recording came into form. Jaune had his head buried in his hands.**

Pyrrha's heart hurt to see this, "What happened?"

 **"** **The project… was a complete success…"**

Ruby was just confused, "Why is that a bad thing?"

 **Jaune sighed in genuine, total defeat. "When the war began, the White Fang took over Menagerie…"**

Blake felt her grip on her chair tighten.

 **"** **After this, they pushed out anyone that refused to join them. In the first years, it was exile… We learned recently that anyone who spoke out after this were executed."**

Sienna felt a shiver run her spine. "That's… That doesn't make any sense!"

Blake shook in her chair, "Not to us… But I know someone willing to do just that…"

Sienna growled. She knew Adam was a problem child, but to be this far gone?

 **"** **This included friends and family if they failed to conform. Once their hold was secured, they began to spread onto the continents. By force. They descended upon us with a furious anger fueled by hate for anyone not under their banner. Those that did not fall in were killed. It took** ** _everything_** **between the four largest nations of our world to push them back onto their island. They were fanatics, willing to kill and die at the drop of a hat. They would never allow themselves to be captured, willing to commit suicide to avoid this perceived dishonor."**

This shook everyone to the core. The idea of people being willing to kill themselves to avoid capture… Willing to kill people that disagree… Even if they were family?!

 **Jaune shook his head in his hands, "This fanaticism gave them the conviction to spread into their island and create several new cities and factory compounds. Some worked to death… but, they created enough output to hold us all at bay. We decided to bomb the factories to try to halt the production. But they just rebuilt them in the cities or built towns around them, hoping we'll be constrained. But they created soldiers that despise them for what they've done. They see the White Fang as demons… inhuman… But they were right in that conventional bombs would be difficult to use effectively in larger cityscapes. So, we adapted."**

 **The recording gave away to show a series of planes flying over a city. They released their payloads over a city, small red canisters that spun in the air. As they approached the ground, they burst as columns of fire fell upon the world below.**

 **"** **Fire bombs. The first of their kind… Designed to burn the wooden cities of Menagerie to the ground."**

 **The fire spread quickly, both on the buildings and the people within them. The chemicals causing the fire to seem to stick to the White Fang below. No matter what they tried, the fires found themselves remaining on the bodies.**

Blake shook in fear. She couldn't watch this! She turned to look away, only to have her mother wrap her arms around her. Kali couldn't stand to see it either, but she refused to see her daughter suffer.

"Is… Is this Project Mjolnir?" Weiss turned to the fireball, sickened by what she'd seen.

"No…" King sighed. "That comes soon…"

Cinder raised an eyebrow and smiled a bit. She _had_ to know what this project was and replicate it.

 **The smoke transitioned the scene back to Jaune. "But they remained strong. They held themselves after every attack, every death, only to build themselves back up again. Many tried to advocate for a siege at sea, but the Fang would starve themselves into desperation until they broke through the blockade. Others wanted to initiate a land war and smoke them out of their home. But, they're fanaticism would cost tens of millions of lives… That left us with one option…"**

 **The screen returned to the skies. Through a giant cloud, a single large-scale bomber flew out to the clear skies.**

Cinder was a little annoyed. "Is that it? A single bomber?"

King was silent.

 **This was Enola Gay, the bomber that would change the world. Within it, was Project Mjolnir's final product, labeled the Little Boy.**

Ruby's head tilted, "Little Boy? What the heck is that?"

King's fire was fading slightly. "A bomb."

Cinder would have exploded if not for the damping effect on the theater, "That's it?! One bomb?!"

King was silent again.

 **The bomber approached the Menagerie coast as they heard Jaune speaking, "** ** _I hate what I have brought into this world and will make no attempts to atone. I do not expect to be forgiven._** **" The bomb doors opened, revealing a single, massive bomb resting on the railing. "** ** _Before, they could blame a few for what was created and fell upon them. Now, we are all sons' of bitches…_** **"**

 **The bomb dropped with a metallic ting and it started to fall toward the city.**

 **"** ** _I can no longer call myself human… I am a monster for what I've done… Either monster…_** **"**

 **The screen went into slow motion as the bomb burst before hitting the ground.**

 **"** ** _Or I am their god of death._** **"**

 **A bright white light covered the screen.**

Ruby shivered a little, "What's going on?!"

King was silent again. This was it…

 **The screen faded back to form and pulled away from the blast. Remaining on the screen was a giant cloud resembling a mushroom rising up from the ground. Within was fire, debris, dust, and death. The light from before burned shadows onto the ground and walls, quite literally. The shockwave ripped the city apart like it was nothing. Be it made of wood, concrete, or steel. Everything either shattered or melted. Bodies either burn or evaporate into nothingness in seconds.**

No one could even begin to imagine what they'd just seen. The world they knew didn't have that kind of power output. Even gathering all the dust in existence couldn't recreate that. There was plenty of things they'd seen that were just foreign to them. Things that made no sense to them. But this was just… No one truly had any words to describe the event they'd seen.

 **"** ** _But they refused to surrender after this…_** **"**

 **The screen faded to show another plane.**

Blake shook in fear, "No… NO!"

 **Another bomb fell to the ground and other city was leveled within seconds.**

 **"** ** _Two atomic bombs were dropped on Menagerie. After that, they surrendered to the unified forces of the allied nations. Millions of people were wiped out in seconds. And over time, people would succumb to the radiation released by each bomb, as the particles released by the bombs started to destroy their bodies from the inside._** **"**

 **The screen showed people covered in bandages, bleeding, and others simply charred into a crispy corpse.**

Ruby was about to vomit seeing that. Yang was there to help her through the moment.

 **"** ** _This is what I've unleashed on the world._** **"**

 **The screen changed to show scientists scrambling around a test site.**

 **"** ** _And they're only getting stronger._** **"**

 **The team set off a bomb nearby 50 times more powerful than the bombs dropped on Menagerie.**

 **"** ** _Every one of the allied nations has a stockpile of these weapons. We fear not what we have seen, but what we have yet to see. War shall be avoided by the threat of our mutually assured destruction…_** **"**

King finally spoke again. "That. 50 plus years of that hanging over their heads. There was no mass war, because it would mean all of life would surely die in the unholy bombings."

This shook everyone to their cores.

Even Cinder was shaken. A weapon like that… Even she couldn't bring herself to unleash that hell, if only because she'd have no way to do so and live.

 **The screen returned to Jaune as he pulled away his hands. Tears were falling for the dead he'd indirectly created. "I don't know what hell we'll unleash in a Third World War, but I know for a fact that a Fourth War will be fought with sticks and stones…" He wiped away his tears and looked to the screen. "I cannot begin to ask for forgiveness for what I've done on this site. I can only hope that my work can be used to create, instead of destroy. I found that our project can be used to create power, but its early stage for now… I will do what I can to atone for this terror I've unleashed. But I know there will always be a special place in Hell for me after this…" The final recording ended with one last signature, "This was Project Mjolnir Lead Scientist, Jaune Arc. I'm sorry."**

The screen ended the look into the reality.

King floated for a while. "Go take a break, everyone. We need it…"

"I know I do~!"

King's flames suddenly intensified back to normal at the sound of the new voice. He spun around to see a golden dot on the screen. "No…"

The dot seemed to shake before pulling itself off the screen and becoming a golden fireball. "Ta-da!"

King shook for a moment. "Everyone… Leave. I need to speak with my new friend." Once everyone from the other dimensions was gone, King turned to the golden ball. "What… the hell… are you doing here?! How are you here?! What's going on?!"

The golden one laughed, "Come on… You don't recognize me?"

"You're the damn screen! How did you become a being like me?"

"Don't know… Just kind of here now."

King sighed. "Damn it… Okay. Guess you need a name then…"

"Okay. What've you got?"

"Hmm…" King thought for a moment, simply trying to figure things out. But he had to give the screen a name now… "Gold, huh?" He'll have to figure that out in a moment. "Knox. You'll be Knox."

Knox giggled and spun around, a golden bar appearing on his 'head' like a miniature hat. "I like it~!"

"Right. Okay. Next up, can the screen work with you out here?"

"Yep~" Knox turned to the screen and it lit up with the usual intermission message.

King nodded. "Alright. Welcome to the family, I suppose."

"Thanks for having me~"

And like that, my life got weirder…


	64. Intermission 4-Shadowing?

**Knox: It's that time again~!**

 **King: Intermission.**

 **Knox: But what's that title?**

 **King: Possibilities. One will make an appearance (since it's what I'll be working on now that this is out), but I can hope to get to them eventually. Time will tell.**

 **/\**

As King spoke with the newly born Knox, Salem walked through the halls to reach the lounge area. She stopped seeing Ozpin standing in front of her. "Hello Professor Ozpin."

Ozpin nodded, "Hello…" He seemed to take a moment before speaking again, "How are you holding up?"

"What?" Salem wasn't sure where this was coming from. It felt more… emotional than she'd ever seen him.

"You might not say anything, but I see the look in your eyes. You cheer for Mr. Arc's triumph and feel heartbreak seeing him as the villain. I just want to see how you're doing."

"But… why? I can understand doing so as a teacher, but I'm also aware of your distain for me when I arrived."

Ozpin's head fell a bit. "I admit, when you first arrived, even when you first became yourself again, I saw the Salem I know in my world. A cruel being wishing to rule or destroy anything in her sight. An immortal being out for the death of humanity…"

This Salem, being of another dimension, was human. The idea of anyone being immortal seemed insane! But… Ozpin seemed earnest in his words. She wanted to ask about this…

But, he continued, "But… after you were allowed to be yourself, to interact with all of us… I saw the Salem I knew so long ago… A kind soul and a caring person. Someone who wanted to be free…"

 _Is he saying what I think he is?_

Ozpin shook his head with a somber look on his face. "I'm sorry. For getting emotional and for jumping to conclusions. That's all I wanted to say." Ozpin bowed and started to walk off.

Salem called after him, though, "You loved her, didn't you?"

Ozpin paused, turning back only for a moment, "Once…"

\/

As team RWBY walked through the halls, Yang groaned for a bit. But she shook her head and tried to put on a grin, "Come on! Let's head over to the game room again. Get our mind off things."

Blake's fists clenched, "How can we? After seeing that?"

Yang tried to move on from the topic, "Hey! None of that. Let's just go in and have a bit of fun!"

"How can you just say that?!"

Weiss and Ruby flinched at Blake's tone. But… they also get it. Blake had seen two cities on an island she called home, where her parents lived, be decimated in a second each.

Yang tried to remain calm, "I'm just trying to…"

Blake, however, wasn't. "To what?! You saw what happened! Those things are just…" Blake started to choke up. "If they exist…"

Yang closed her eyes and sighed, "Blake… If they existed, we'd know."

"How?! How can you tell that?!"

"Because no one would be quiet about it! Something like that is way too insane! No one could…" Yang shook her head and took a breath. "We can't think of 'what if' with these worlds. They're separate realities. If we start thinking like that, then we'd think Jaune was a magical, bipolar, zombie or something else crazy like that… There's nothing we could do for that world, anyway. We can just… watch…"

Blake took a few silent breaths before she could speak. "I… Right… Sorry…"

Yang shakes her head. "It's fine. That was just… heavy… I can't let this get to me, and I don't want it to get to any of you either. Let's just play a game and get our minds off things…"

Blake nods and the team starts to move forward again.

When they arrived, Weiss looked around and found a single card on the table. "What's this?" She picked up the card and looked it over.

Ruby continued to search for a game as she spoke, "What is it?"

Weiss flipped the card to look at the back then back to the front. "A playing card?"

Yang looked at the design over Weiss's shoulder, "Trading card. It's not one of the four suits, I think?"

The team gathered again and looked at the card. It was a light tan bordered card with a picture in the upper center of the card. The picture showed a gleaming, white-scaled dragon with piercing blue eyes. The name above it read, [Blue Eyes White Dragon].

Yang raised an eyebrow. "Okay? So, what's this supposed to be for?"

Weiss's gaze lingered on the card. "Not sure… But I rather like it…"

"Oh?" Yang grinned and placed an arm around Weiss's shoulder. "Finally getting into a game, then?"

Weiss groaned and pushed Yang off her. "I just like the esthetic."

"Fair enough, Weiss." Yang laughed before finding a small box. She opened it to find more cards with the same backing. "Oh hey! There's more!" She revealed several cards on the table.

Blake picked up a card showing a black dragon with blood red eyes breathing purple and black fire. "Red Eyes Black Dragon?"

Weiss looked toward Blake's card, "Hmm… Similar structure to the Blue Eyes… Does that mean something?"

Ruby shrugged and picked up a card. "Kunai with Chain?" The card showed a three-pronged blade with a long chain connected to it. It was bordered by a dark pink color. Beneath it, it stated the effects. "Huh… That's kind of cool."

Yang chuckled before reaching to pick up another card. Her hand met with the hardwood. She looked down again to find all the cards had disappeared. "What the heck?"

Everyone jumped back in shock as the cards, three of which were in their hands(!), just disappeared into thin air.

Yang looked among her team, "Well… that happened."

Blake nodded, "Do you think that it has to do with that new fireball?"

Weiss thought for a moment, "It could…"

\/

Gira and Kali were making their way to the lounge, but Kali ended up getting distracted on the way. "Gira, was this door always here?"

Gira turned back to her and looked toward the dark-stained wood door. "I don't believe so. It doesn't seem familiar."

"How strange…" Kali had always been a bit of the curious type. So it didn't surprise her husband when she reached up and pushed the door in to enter.

Inside was a large room similar to the kind they lived in: paper walls, straw mat floor, even similar furniture. In the back, the wall pulled away to show a courtyard with a pond in the middle.

Kali's eyes filled with stars, "Oh my goodness!" She walked inside and looked around. "It's just like home." She tested opening one of the paper walls, she found a smaller room off to the side.

Within this room was the massive, lacquered armor of the Shugoki.

Gira looked at the armor, surprised to see it in person. "What is that doing here?"

Kali shrugged, "I don't know, but its rather impressive to see in person." She ran her hand along the chest piece. "It's amazingly constructed and with good material as well. I'd bet that it might be bulletproof to some degree."

Gira thought for a moment and looked to the side in the room. He saw something beyond the paper walls and left the room.

Kali noticed a moment later and turned back around, "Gira? Something wrong?" She moved to follow him, only to freeze up when she saw him.

In his hands was a steel, kabuto-style helmet with a three-pronged ornament jutting out at the front. He chuckled seeing her face. "Blast from the past, huh?"

Kali ran over and grabbed the helmet. Then, she looked into the room to find her old armor. The actual armor she once wore in her younger years. The armor that should've been broken apart into pieces after a tough battle. Sitting in front of it was a stand holding two swords, two, twin katana; both sealed within their black scabbards with a shared cat pattern etched into them. When together, they formed a picture of a large cat with two tails.

Kali shook in place a moment and slowly entered the room. "Is… How is…"

Gira knew Kali had a connection to the armor and blades. He knew she missed them, but that she also refused to replace them. 'Too many memories' she would say. It _was_ the armor she'd worn when they met… "I don't know. But it _is_ here."

Kali flipped the helmet around to look into the ornament. She smiled and placed it back on the armor stand. "I really is the old armor… Maybe we can ask to bring this back with us when we leave."

"It's worth a try." Gira walked over and paused. Another paper door in the wall had dislodged. He opened it to find the clothing of a wanderer with a wide-brimmed straw hat. To either side were four katana blades. The coat had a twin arc symbol on the chest. "Odd…" He returned the door and returned to his wife.

\/

Knox and King were watching them all from the theater.

Knox hopped in place a bit, "So, what happens now? Do we call them back?"

King shook his 'head,' "Not yet. Give them a little longer."

"You sure?"

"Who's been doing this longer?"

"Fair enough." Knox looked back up to the screen's canvas. "So, what's next then? Something nice or getting messed up again?"

"I've already decided on a few, but I'm not too certain."

"Can I pick?"

"When you pick, it's usually something twisted and seriously disturbing."

"That's doesn't answer my question."

"Soon. But not just yet. You have an idea?"

"I do~"

King thought for a moment. "You're twisted…"

"You can read my mind?!"

"I can."

"Lovely…"

\/

Nora, Ren, and Pyrrha walked by another door after leaving the library. Nora stalled and tilted her head slightly. "What's this room?"

Ren and Pyrrha turned around again to join her at the door. Ren looked to the plaque to the side. "Reference room? I don't remember seeing this before."

Nora didn't hesitate to enter the room. "Woah!" Inside was a smaller version of the main theater. "It's like a mini-theater!" Nora ran in and looked around.

Pyrrha made her way after the bubbly type and found a small nook to the side. "What are these?" Inside was a group of old recordings with various labels.

Ren walked over and looked at the recordings. He picked one up and read the label, "Dead Girl Walking?"

Nora was over his shoulder in a second, "Like a zombie movie?"

Ren shrugged and looked at the rest. A few were rather notable, [Wings of Black], [The Harvester], [One of His Lives], and [The Gift Basket]. He picked out another and read the title out loud, "The Judge and the Gypsy?"

Nora's head tilted, "What's a Gypsy?"

"Likely something from another world…" Ren looked over to see a player under the smaller screen. "Though… I am curious…"

Pyrrha wasn't sure about all this, "Are you sure? I don't think we should watch anything without the others. It seems kind of unfair."

"Well, why not?" Coco and Velvet were behind them and caused them all to jump a bit in shock.

Pyrrha placed a hand over her heart and took a breath. "Hello again… I just think that…"

Coco swiped the disk and moved to the player. "It's here, so why not enjoy it?"

Velvet stopped Coco just as she was about to the recording into the player. "Hang on, Coco. There has to be a reason these are here and not in the main room…"

Coco thought for a moment and turned to the disk. "Maybe…" Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the return signal. She sighed and placed the disk back. "But we're coming back later."

Everyone left the room and returned to the theater.


	65. Duel

**Knox: It's time to d-d-d-d-d-d-DUEL!**

 **King: Having fun?**

 **Knox: Yes~**

 **King: So, this is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy.**

 **Knox: What would everyone's decks be? Any ideas~**

 **King: I have my ideas. But that's not for here. I use Cost Down to summon Chaos Command Magician...**

 **/\**

As everyone returned, they found King and Knox floating nearby with a card game floating between them.

King placed a card on their floating field. "I sacrifice two level six spell casters to summon the Sorcerer of Black Magic. You now have no access to your trap cards."

Knox groaned. "Crap… Uh…" The golden flame noticed the audience and looked between the game and the people. "Oh hey!" He instantly made the game disappear.

"Hey!" King was none to happy. "I was about to win!"

"Intermission is over, King~!" Knox tried to act innocent, a golden halo forming from his fire.

"Ass…" King turned to the groups and sighed. "Right then. Welcome back."

Yang chuckled, "So, going to introduce us to your new friend?"

King nodded, "Everyone, this is Knox, a physical embodiment of the personality created within our screen."

Oobleck looked at the golden flame, "Incredible! How did such a thing happen?"

Knox laughed, "No idea~!"

King sighed. "My life in a nutshell these days… So! Let's start the next one."

Knox giggled, "It's time to duel!"

They both disappeared into a combined flame.

 **The canvas screen opened to show Beacon tower, but of a different kind. This was The Beacon Duelist's Academy. You see, this world plays by a different set of rules. This world doesn't have to worry about large scale war or other conflicts. Instead, the world was gripped by a popular trading card game.**

Yang grinned, "No Grimm, no wars, and everybody just plays a card game? Sign me up~"

 **The best of the best gain sponsorships and become celebrities. The screen showed a man having his fist held up as confetti dropped from the sky. They are given fame and fortune beyond any other path in life. It's a lifestyle very much of the world.**

 **But another piece of the world is the Duelist Academies. Institutions designed to train the best of the best of the next generation. Training to become professional duelists, card designers, or business moguls for the game. But one thing unifies them, dueling. These are people who join for the love of the game, the competition, and the community it created.**

Ozpin smiled. If not for the threat of Grimm, he would love to have created a school like that. One that just brought people together.

 **But… At Beacon, there's also a certain level of competition between three groups of students. Three levels of the hierarchy of the school.**

 **The screen faded to black and showed Blake in a long blue coat.**

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Okay, what's this then?"

 **At the top is Obelisk Blue. These students are considered the best of Beacon.**

Blake felt a certain pride at being, supposedly, one of the best in that school.

 **Blake faded away to be replaced by Yang in a yellow blazer.**

Yang chuckled a bit, "So, I'm not one of the best at a game?"

 **The second tier is Ra Yellow. These are the students that show incredible promise. They may not have yet reached the Blue dorm, but many deserve it, needing only to wait for the promotional exams.**

Yang felt a bit better. "Alright. That's not that bad then."

 **Yang faded, and Ruby took her place in a red blazer with a scarf around her neck, hanging back like a cape.**

Ruby gasped, "Oh! That's so…" Then she remembered the series of events. "Wait a minute…"

 **At the bottom of the barrel is the Slifer Red students.**

Ruby shouted out in annoyance, "Oh come on! Why is Red the worst one?!"

 **These students are usually the least talented, least motivated, you name it. At least, that's the idea.**

 **The picture changed to show Ruby, Penny, Nora, and Ren (all in red) being group hugged by Jaune in the center. Of to the side was Neo and Sun, laughing at the situation with their dorm professor Roman Torchwick smiling in the background.**

Neo chuckled to herself silently. The thought of Roman being a teacher was just too precious~

 **But they also have close-knit friendships and a genuine passion.**

Sun laughed a bit, "Hey, I certainly don't mind. Good friends are better than being the best of anything."

Neptune chuckled a bit and lightly punched Sun's shoulder. "Back at you, man."

 **And that brings us to today. Beacon Academy's midterm/duel exams. These are to test the students' improvement since the beginning of the year. But this year, it'll be a bit different.**

 **"** **A tag duel?" Jaune asked from the gym floor.**

 **Port stood before all the students. He was the Chancellor of the Academy, acting both as headmaster and a governor of sorts. "That is correct~"**

Ozpin blinked and turned to Port, "You as a headmaster?"

Port laughed, "I'd prefer my position as it is. Inspiring students and going out fight the forces of the Grimm!"

 **Port was flanked by Roman and Raven, the dorm masters of the Red and Blue dorms respectively. Port nodded and continued, "I felt it would be better to flip the script a bit~ Keep you all on your toes. You'll be working in randomly selected teams of two. From there, you'll duel another pair. You will be graded based on your performance." When all of the pairs were set, the teachers left for the stands and set the games in motion. The one that this round will focus on is Jaune's battle, obviously. Opposing the team was a pair of students in blue: Cardin Winchester and Sky Lark. On Jaune's team, he was paired with Neo.**

 **The rules are as follows! The two teammates share a combined and shared Life Point total of 8000. If this reaches 0, both members of the team lose. No attacks may be made during the first round of turns. All summoning methods are allowed.**

 **Port raised a hand before bringing it down again, "Begin!"**

 **All four students shouted out "DUEL!"**

Neo smiled a little, being able to hear herself speaking again.

 **[Cardin & Sky – 8000 LP]**

 **[Jaune & Neo – 8000 LP]**

 **The central orb on Sky's duel disk, the odd looking mini-table-like device on his arm, began to glow, indicating he would have the first turn. Sky drew his card to add to the five he started with. "Okay. I'll start by summoning Blackwing – Zephyros the Elite!" As Sky placed the card on his disk, a hologram brought the card to life in front of him, a cross between man, bird, and ninja with long black wings and long beaked mask. A small box appeared reading [1600/1000]. "And, since I have a Blackwing on the field, I can special summon Bora the Spear from my hand!" Another bird man appeared holding a giant, spiral spear in hand, [1700/800]. "I end my turn."**

Yang chuckled a bit. "Crazy looking creatures."

Ruby wasn't so calm, "Holographic technology! That's amazing!"

Velvet watched the scene, curious to see what the others will play.

 **Neo's disk glowed next. Neo grinned and drew her card. Neo looked up from her cards and placed one on her disk. "I summon Performapal Skullcrobat Joker!" The creature that appeared was a man with long blonde hair and very much the stereotypical joker look, complete with puffed pants, curling shoes, and a patchwork top hat with a purple skull design. [1800/100]. "And, when This card is normal summoned, I can add a new monster to my hand. And I choose my Nobledragon Magician. I end my turn with a face down card." A card appeared on the ground with the backing facing upward.**

The joker kind of reminded Neo of Roman to a certain degree. Just, less constrained.

 **It was Cardin's turn now. He drew his card and grinned. "I summon Ancient Gear Knight in attack mode!" The creature that appeared before him was a rusting automaton with a lance and gear-centric shield. It had a single glowing red eye. Cardin placed another card down facedown, "One face down and I end my turn."**

Penny didn't like the look of the Ancient Gear monster. It was like seeing the equivalent of a mechanical zombie.

Nora groaned, "Nothing's happening…"

Ren shook his head. "They're not allowed to attack on the first round, remember?"

Pyrrha looked up the screen, "Well, it's Jaune's turn now."

 **Jaune drew a card and looked over his options. "I play one monster face down in defense mode and two cards face down." The three cards appeared in front of him, all face down, with one sideways in front of the others.**

Nora fell into her chair again, "Man… We don't even get to see what it is…"

 **Now it was Sky's turn again. He looked over the hand and grinned, "I summon Blackwing – Fane the Steel Chain!" A very ninja-esc bird man appeared on the field, complete with mask and attire [500/800].**

Mercury tapped his foot in the air with legs crossed, "Why play something that weak?"

 **Sky chuckled, "Fane can attack my opponent directly! No matter what monsters you have. Now Fane! Attack Neo directly!" Fane disappeared in a flurry of feathers, appearing behind Neo. He attacked the opponent with a knife in its wing.**

 **[Jaune & Neo – 7500 LP]**

 **"** **And, when he deals damage, I can change the battle position of a monster in attack mode on your field. Like your Joker." Fane wrapped a ribbon-like rope around the Joker and forced it into defense mode. "And I'll have Bora attack that Joker with piercing damage!" Bora charged and impaled the Joker. Normally, no damage would go through, but piercing damage meant that Neo took damage equal to the difference between the attack and defense. In this case, 1700 attack minus 100 defense.**

 **[Jaune & Neo – 5900 LP].**

 **When the smoke cleared, however, the Joker was still there.**

 **"** **What?!"**

 **Neo grinned. "I discarded the Perfomapal Rain Goat from my hand to make it so my Joker can't be destroyed this turn.**

Yang started to chuckle, "Rain Goat?!"

Neo just rolled her eyes. She like a joke like anyone else, but blondie was taking this a little far.

 **Sky growled a bit. "Whatever… Place a card face down. So, go ahead you Slifer slacker. Show me why you wanted to keep that card so badly!"**

 **Neo chuckled, "If you insist." She drew her card and placed a card in the back row again, "I set a scale with my Pendulum Dragon. But he won't be there for long. Because I summon my Nobledragon Magician! Next, I Synchro-Summon with my level 3 tuner and my level 4 Joker!" The magician became a set of three rings that surrounded the defending Joker. A bright light surrounded the creature. Neo rose a finger to the sky. "** ** _The Noble magician and the mad jester! Together tune into one who falls to Earth with a destructive force!_** **" The light faded and revealed a massive red dragon with fire-like effects and wings, as though it was flying though the atmosphere. It's eyes, however, were an interesting note; being red and green. "Odd-Eyes Meteorburst Dragon!" [2500/2000]**

Neo went wide eyed. A giant dragon with mismatched eyes… It was an incredible sight, all things considered. Though, she felt a little typecast based on heterochromatic eyes, but she also didn't really mind, either. It was awesome.

 **Neo continued, "And, when this dragon is Synchro Summoned! I can bring one monster in my pendulum zone to the field. Like say… My Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" [2500/2000] Another red dragon with mismatched eyes, though less ornate or designed. It's wing-like outcroppings had a red orb on one side and a blue orb on the other.**

Neo 'gasped' _Is the whole deck like that?!_

 **"** **Meteorburst Dragon can't attack this turn, though. But Pendulum can! Attack Fane the Steel Chain!" The dragon reared back and unleashed a burst of flame into the ninja bird, destroying the monster. "Also, when my pendulum dragon attacks a monster on your field, you take double the battle damage."**

 **[Cardin & Sky – 4000 LP]**

Blake blinked in surprise. "Took out half their points in on move."

Port nodded. "An excellent strategy to grab the Magician last turn and ensure her other creature remained long enough. Good move…"

 **The turn passed to Cardin, who was pissed. "Damn it, Sky! What the hell was that?!"**

 **Sky shrunk a bit. "I'm sorry…"**

 **"** **Sorry doesn't cut it. We can't lose to these chumps in Red…" Cardin drew his card and looked at the field. "I activate the field spell Geartown!" All four were surrounded by the holograms as a city of gears took form around them. "Now, we can summon Ancient Gear monsters with 1 less tribute. So, I only need one tribute to summon my Ancient Gear Golem!" A giant golem of gears and rust formed behind Cardin. A giant of aging metal, looking down on the world below. [3000/3000] "Now! I'll have my Golem destroy that pendulum dragon!" The monster moved slowly, punching the dragon and causing it to explode.**

 **[Jaune & Neo – 5400 LP]**

Neo growled, kind of. She liked that monster.

 **Like that, it was Jaune's turn again. "I flip my monster face up. Elemental Hero Clayman!" The monster was a man made of clay, forming what looked like a super hero [800/2000]. His next play was a spell card. "I play Hero's Bond!" The card formed before him, showing a set of hands meeting in the middle of the picture. "If I have an Elemental Hero on the field, I can summon two more from my hand. I play Sparkman and Lady Heat!" [1600/1400] and [1300/1000]. The Sparkman was a man in blue tights with electric yellow armor with sparks flying through his body. Lady Heat looked like a warrior princess/hero hybrid, with face-framing headpiece and form fitting suit. Her long blond hair curled upward like a fire.**

Nora giggled, "Hero cards? Fits our fearless leader to a T!"

Pyrrha smiled and nodded, "I wholeheartedly agree."

Weiss raised an eyebrow, "The Lady Heat card kind of reminds me of Yang."

Yang took a second and tilted her head. "I could see that."

 **Jaune motioned toward Lady Heat, "Lady Heat's ability allows me to deal you 200 points of damage once per turn for every Hero monster on my field. So, here's 600 damage just for you!" Lady Heat created three fireballs and tossed them at Cardin.**

 **[Cardin & Sky – 3400 LP]**

 **"** **And, I activate Polymerization! I fuse Clayman with Sparkman!** ** _Two heroes together reform to become stronger! Justice shall be served!_** **I summon Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!" A massive bolt of lightning formed before a giant man of purple and gold appeared in its place. [2400/1500]. "Once per turn, I discard a card from my hand," which emptied his hand completely, "and I can destroy one monster on your field with less attack points! I choose Bora the spear!" Lightning flew from the Thunder Giant and fried the Blackwing monster. "And, he can still attack Zephyros!" The giant charged forward by electric current and grabbed the birdman in his hands, electrifying the monster.**

 **[Cardin & Sky – 2600 LP]**

 **"** **And that's my turn."**

Yang slammed her fists together. "Nice! They're steamrolling their way through those jerks!"

Blake, however, wasn't so enthusiastic. "That Golem will still be a problem."

 **Sky growled and drew his card. His face did a complete 180.**

Coco groaned, "That's not good…"

 **"** **I summon Kochi the Daybreak!" A bird with black wings and red and white feathers appeared. "And, I have another Bora I can special summon now!" Another copy of Bora appeared. "You're not the only ones that can Synchro Summon!** ** _Two birds of black wings, tune together and unleash your dragon of black!_** **I summon Black-Winged Dragon!" A dragon formed behind Sky, a cross between dragon and raven. [2800/1600] "I'll have him attack the Lady Heat!" The dragon reared its wings back and rained a flurry of feathers into the Hero, destroying the monster.**

 **[Jaune & Neo – 3900 LP]**

 **Jaune flung his arm toward one of his face downs, "I activate my trap card, Hero Signal! When a Hero monster on my field is destroyed, I can summon a level 4 or lower Hero monster from my deck. I choose Elemental Hero Woodsman in defense mode!" A man with a green body and a wooden half formed on one knee with arms crossed, defending himself. [1000/2000]**

 **Sky ended his turn with a face down card.**

Yang groaned, "But the Golem can punch through defenses…"

 **Raven grinned at the events from the stage. "Slifer lackies… Our school would be better off without them to drag us down."**

Ruby growled, "Jerk…"

Yang nodded, "Sounds about right." She scowled back at Raven as she spoke.

 **Roman chuckled, "And that's why they're about to lose."**

 **"** **Pardon?"**

 **"** **You Blue Dorm types are powerful duelists, I'll give you that. But you have no passion for the game. No sense of community with one another. That's a hindrance in a tag duel, where you need to work together."**

Raven rolled her eyes. The idea of the team over the individual was a foolish notion in strength. You must become the strongest. That's all that matters.

 **"** **Trust me… We're aware."**

 **Neo, however, grinned. "I activate my spell card, Spiral Flame Strike! If I control an Odd-Eyes monster, I can pick one target on the field and destroy it. Like that Golem, for example!" The Golem exploded in a red and black flame, much to Cardin's annoyance.**

 **Neo then placed two cards on either side of the back row. "Now, I set the pendulum scales with my Persona Dragon and My Arc Pendulum Dragon! From 1 to 8! Now, I Pendulum Summon!" A large circle appeared in the sky and four lights fell to the world. The Joker, the Pendulum Dragon, the Magician, and a new dragon appeared. The new dragon was similar to the Pendulum Dragon, but also covered in green effects.**

Neo jumped. She'd just brought out four monsters at once, which was fairly jarring. But she had no idea…

 **Neo's hand swiped across her body, "I tribute my Pendulum Dragon and my Joker to special summon my Supreme King Dragon Starving Venom! Then I activate Odd-Eyes Fusion to fuse my new dragon with my Meteorburst to summon Odd-Eyes Venom Dragon!" The new dragon appeared, a purple and white dragon with red and green eyes formed. [3300/2500]**

 **Sky thrust his hand outward, "I activate call of the haunted to summon Bora from my graveyard in attack mode." The monster appeared again on the field.**

 **"** **Doesn't matter! I activate the ability of my dragon!"**

 **"** **No you don't! I activate my second trap, Blackbird Close! I tribute Bora, negate your effect, and destroy your dragon!"**

 **The Venom Dragon cried out in pain before exploding.**

 **"** **And, I get another Black-Winged Dragon!" There were now two dragons on Sky's field.**

 **Neo clenched her teeth and sighed. "I end my turn."**

Neo would groan if she could. The idea of getting out played by that weird little creep was annoying as hell.

Yang's eyes narrowed, "Hold on…"

Ruby turned to her sister, "What's up?"

"Why didn't she attack Cardin? She could have won the duel there."

Neo blinked for a moment before returning her gaze to the screen.

 **Cardin's turn again. He drew his card and scowled. "Alright. I activate Ancient Gear Catapult! I have no monsters, so I can tribute my Geartown to summon another Ancient Gear Golem, ignoring its conditions." Another giant Golem appeared on Cardin's field. "And, I activate Call of the Haunted to summon my Ancient Gear Knight again to tribute for Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Chimera!" The creature that appeared was a horror-like amalgamation of gears and rusting metal with three heads and a serpent-like tail. [2300/1300] "My Golem will destroy the Thunder Giant and the Chimera will break that Woodsman!" Both monsters destroyed Jaune's.**

 **[Jaune & Neo – 3300 LP]**

 **"** **And, I'll play a Mystical Space Typhoon to take care of that face down." A whirlwind of magic ripped through the card and broke it.**

Oobleck adjusted his glasses. "If I'm understanding the game correctly, that was a good move. Tributes can't happen without monsters, leaving Mr. Arc with fewer options."

 **Jaune growled and drew his card. "Huh… Guess I have to thank you Cardin. If my my face down was still here, I wouldn't be able to play this! Fifth Hope! I can return up to 5, in this case all, of my Hero monsters in my graveyard to the deck and draw three cards since my hand is empty. One of which is the Pot of Greed, to give me two more cards. Now, for my monster. I summon the Winged Kuriboh!" A puffball of brown fur appeared, a pair of mini angel wings sticking out from its back. [300/200]**

Coco snickered a little, "Oh my gosh! That thing is adorable~!"

" **Then I place a card face down. Your turn Sky."**

 **Sky scoffed, "An obvious trap. But that's fine. I'll just break that little thing. The Arc Pendulum will activate if I destroy the other dragon. So… First, I'll have one dragon destroy the Magician!"**

 **[Jaune & Neo – 2200]**

 **Cardin and Sky have taken the lead in the duel.**

Velvet clasped her hands together, "Come on!"

Yang groaned, "Sky can win this by attacking Jaune's puffball…"

 **Sky grinned, "Now! Destroy the Winged Kuriboh!"**

 **Roman grinned, "Game over."**

 **Raven's eyes narrowed, "You're pretty chipper for your dorm being beaten like this."**

 **"** **I believe that's my line for you."**

 **Jaune grinned. "I activate Transcendent Wings! I discard two cards in my hand and turn my Kuriboh from level 1 to level 10!" The miniature ball of fur was now adorned with golden, dragon-shaped armor with giant white feathered wings.**

Nora gasped, "Woah! That looks so cool!"

Weiss was a little concerned though, "But it isn't any more powerful."

 **Jaune thrust his arm forward. "And, by tributing this new form, I can destroy all the face up, attack position monsters on your fields," all four monsters ripped apart and exploded, "and you'll take damage equal to their combined attack points. In case you're not paying attention, that's 10,900 damage!"**

 **All four of the exploded forms sunk together and blew up in a secondary explosion around Cardin and Sky.**

 **[Cardin & Sky – 0 LP]**

 **The screen had an effect that read [Jaune and Neo – Win!] before fading to end the viewing.**

The students cheered for Jaune and Neo's win. It was a crazy play and an awesome match. Some of them started to wonder if they could find a similar game back home.


	66. A Message

**Knox: Can I have my turn now?**

 **King: It's chapter 66. I** ** _should_** **do a Star Wars chapter.**

 **Knox: But everyone would expect that!**

 **King: You're going to pester me until you get to, aren't you?**

 **Knox: Yep~**

 **King: Fine...**

 **Knox: Yey~!**

 **Inspiration: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare**

 **/\**

Knox appeared first. "Alright! Who's up for the next round?!"

King appeared a moment after, silent.

Ironwood looked up to the purple flame. "Something wrong?"

"Eh… Knox got to pick this one."

Knox laughed evilly. "Yes~"

Winter's eyes narrowed, "Should this concern us?"

"Absolutely~" Knox let out a full cackle.

King and Knox disappeared, and the next world started to play.

 **The world opened to a green line across the middle of the screen. It started to move in time with Ironwood's voice over. "** ** _We sent in an operative, undercover. His mission is to gain the White Fang's trust and gather intel._** **"**

Ironwood gripped his chair a bit tighter. "Oh… this can't end well."

Weiss turned back to the general, "How so?"

"An undercover operative is often forced to… act like the targets."

 **The sound of an elevator ding was accompanied as the green line was replaced by a bright green [B3] on the screen. A moment later, it became [B2] with another ding.**

Ruby's head tilted, "An elevator?"

Penny copied Ruby's action. "It seems so."

 **[B1]**

 **[T]**

Yang raised an eyebrow, "T? What's that about?"

Tai thought for a second, "Terminal? It's usually used in elevators for a floor like that."

Yang nodded, "That makes sense.

 **[Remember…]**

"Uh… What?"

Now, it was Ren's turn to explain, "Likely a transitional piece. This isn't actually on the elevator but is used to transition to the next scene."

 **[No Russian.]**

"Russian?" Yang leaned back with a slight grin, "That supposed to be like 'take it slow'?"

Knox appeared for a moment, "It's a language in this world and the language used by our… protagonists." He disappeared again before giving anything else away.

 **The elevator stopped, and they saw a door open to a scene of an airport terminal. A large crowd of people was on the other side of a security rope, with a security guard between the screen and the crowd. The guard turned, and his eyes went wide with fear.**

Blake was getting a bad feeling about this…

 **The guard tried to pull his gun before the symphony of mechanized death spilled forth from the elevator. Heavy caliber bullets tore through the man and into the crowd behind him. Screams, haunting screams, rang out from the people trying to flee for their lives.**

Ruby placed her hands in front of her mouth in shock, and to stop from vomiting from the stress. "What on…?"

Blake knew only one person that could be behind this…

 **The camera spun around to show two men in masks. Both were armed to the teeth and carrying light machine guns in their hands. Extra ammo belts hung over their sides and grenades hung from the other. They both moved out of the way to reveal two more. One was the obvious form of Adam Taurus.**

Sienna growled, "I knew it…"

Blake groaned with the same sentiment.

Knox laughed to himself in his invisible state.

 **The other was a blonde in a full-face mask, armed like the rest.**

Nora groaned a bit, "Why is Jaune there?"

Ren turned toward her, "The undercover agent?"

Nora instantly perked up, "Oh right! The man on the inside!"

 **The two men up front continued to fire into the fleeing crowd. Though, Adam hadn't fired yet. He turned toward Jaune, who had yet to fire as well. Jaune glanced toward Adam, eyes locking from behind their masks.**

"I think he's been found out." Qrow took another swig from his flask.

Pyrrha clasped her hands together, praying Jaune makes it out of this alive.

King sighed in the plane beyond them. _You're just… twisted Knox._

 _Thank you~_

 **Jaune turned back to the crowd and leveled his weapon. He started to fire into the now sparse crowd. With Jaune now in line, Adam followed suit, the team moving forward slowly.**

Ruby frowned, "This doesn't make any sense… Why would he have to fire at innocent people?"

"To gain their trust," Ironwood growled. "I don't like the idea, but at the base, he needs to _become_ one of them to bring them down. That can mean taking up their guns as well…"

 **The four moved slowly, over encumbered by their ammunition. They stepped over still bleeding bodies, sometimes atop them. One of the larger men noticed someone trying to crawl off and shot him in the back again, an execution.**

Emerald felt a chill go up her spine. She'd done some terrible things, but never liked it. She just wanted somewhere to call home, finding it through Cinder. But they'd also never seen an attack like this.

 **They continued to walk until a bullet whizzed by one of their heads. The security forces were amassing to hold them off until the reinforcements arrive. Unfortunately, they didn't have the same prep time as their attackers. One of the men tossed a grenade into the forces and killed more than a few in the explosion. The other three cut down any of them that tried to get away.**

This… this was just fucked up. A sickening attack on civilians and innocent people. Those in the audience wanted these attackers to get what's coming to them. Save for one. Cinder was taking notes. This was an excellent way to sew chaos and fear into the people.

 **The security tried everything they could to stop them, but lives were lost. In time, military forces entered the terminal and started to fire into the terrorists' line. The four had to duck behind thick concrete to try to avoid these high caliber rounds.**

 **One of the larger men growled, "What now?!"**

 **Adam looked around and pointed his gun at the glass windows to their side. He fired into the barrier and shattered it. "Through the window!"**

 **All four jumped through the weakened glass and onto the tarmac. The drop caused them a bit of pain, but they were trained enough, and enough adrenaline was going through their veins, that they were able to shake it off for now. The other large man shook his head. "Let's get back to the truck. We're done here…"**

Sienna's eyes narrowed, "So… It was a message." She'd ordered similar attacks on military or SDC targets, but never on a civilian population. The entire point was to make an attack, leave, let the world writhe in pain after.

 **They tried to move, but they had next to no cover when the military arrived again. Jaune ducked behind a concrete barrier and pulled a grenade, tossing it over the top. The arc was just short and to the side to catch them in an explosion.**

Ruby smiled, hopeful, "He's sabotaging the attack…" A part of her wasn't so convinced, though. Something about the way Knox was acting was getting to her.

 **Jaune looked up for a moment from his barrier as a bullet ricocheted off his masked. Even a small measure closer to him, and he'd be dead right now. He was lucky that only his mask was damaged. The two unnamed men popped out from their cover and unleashed their storm of bullets, providing covering fire, as the four moved forward slowly. As some of the military tried to fight back, they would either be forced back under cover, retreat, or shot.**

Ironwood despised seeing this. He absolutely hated terrorists like the White Fang and what they'd done. But he also hated the idea of an undercover operative taking part so thoroughly. He preferred clandestine spies that could bring in intel without getting involved, to stop them before anything happened. He understood why this option was used, but he still hated it.

 **The White Fang moved up slowly and eventually made it inside the lower garage. They quickly ran down the stairs and toward their get away vehicle, a stolen ambulance.**

Emerald thought for a moment, "Wouldn't that draw more attention? An ambulance going _away_ from the site?"

Mercury shook his head, remembering his father's previous lifestyle. "They'll likely think it's taking people to the hospital. It's actually pretty well prepared." Still not a fan. He felt, if you were going to do something, do it with some conviction. He didn't like sneaking around like they were but knew voicing this would piss off Cinder. But now…? "But it's still annoying. Pisses me off…"

 **The two men opened the doors as Jaune discarded his broken mask. As they entered the vehicle, they heard someone say, "That should leave quite a message!"**

 **Adam grabbed a hand to get into the back of the ambulance.**

 **"** **That wasn't a message." The world slowed as Adam found a pistol pointed toward him. A loud shot ran out in the underground garage as Adam fell back. He looked up to see Jaune staring down at him, gun in hand. "** ** _This_** **is a message."**

 **The screen faded to black as white lettering appeared with a typing sound.**

 **[Lance Corporal Adam Taurus – K.I.A.]**

That made many in the audience just… stop. They'd seen Jaune in many forms: an assassin, several types of psychotic mercenaries, and even a Voodoo god! But this… this was just… yikes.

Blake blanked for a second. "Wait… _Adam_ … was the agent?"

Sienna blinked for a moment, "This is surreal."

 **The green line appeared again as the lettering faded. "** ** _We lost a good man. But he brought us invaluable information. The White Fang is led by Jaune Arc and is directly tied to the events with the Middle Eastern terrorist group Red Talon._** **"**

Blake let out a heavy sigh. "I guess it was inevitable that we'd see a Jaune like this."

 **"** ** _Thanks to a White Fang defector… We found out just how involved._** **"**

 **The screen showed lettering of the location at an earlier time. It gave coordinates instead of a name. The screen returned to show Ilia walking up next to Jaune as he watched helicopters enter the city in the distance. "The Americans are approaching the broadcasting station."**

Ilia didn't feel any different seeing this. In some ways, it reminded her of her work with Adam.

 **Jaune ignored her, simply watching the events unfold. "They have. That's perfectly fine."**

 **Ilia turned to Jaune. "But… If we don't move now, Red Talon will…"**

 **"** **Red Talon means nothing, Ilia."**

Cinder smirked with a certain level of appreciation. This version certainly spoke to her on a fundamental level. He was ruthless and powerful. It was glorious.

 **Ilia watched the helicopters in the distance. "But… the resources we put into it… Their struggle for…"**

 **"** **They are theocrats out for themselves."**

 **"** **But they offer alliance. If we don't run in, our work will be worthless. An end to everything we've…"**

 **Jaune held a hand up to her to stop her. "The only thing they offered for us… is bait." He picked up a radio. "Do it." He placed his radio away and turned. "And make no mistake, Ilia…"**

 **Ilia turned to watch him but had to hold up her hand when a blinding light filled her eyes from the city.**

A shiver ran up all of their spines. This was eerily familiar.

 **"** **Make no mistake, Ilia…"**

 **Ilia looked back and her eyes went wide. The city was being leveled as a giant mushroom cloud rose over the towers.**

 **"** **This is only the beginning."**

"He… He set off one of those bombs?" Pyrrha felt her spirit sink.

 **The screen went white before fading to black with the green line again. "** ** _We finally have a face and a name. It's only a matter of time now…_** **"**

Knox appeared again. He had no face, but they could tell he was grinning. "So… How did you like it?"

"There's something very wrong with you." Ozpin called up to the fireball.

"There's _everything_ wrong with me~"


	67. The Gift Basket

**King: What was that?!**

 **Knox: What? We've played plenty of messed up stuff.**

 **King: Yeah, but I also saw how** ** _you_** **operated! That was pure maliciousness!**

 **Knox: Oh, calm down. What's so bad about it all?**

 **King: ...**

 **Knox: Know what** ** _I_** **think it was?**

 **King: ... Don't you dare...**

 **Inspiration: Gabriel Iglesias stand up routine "The Gift Basket"**

 **/\**

Knox laughed with a twisted tone, "Ah… Glorious."

King took a breath. "THAT'S IT!"

"What?"

King seemed to engulf Knox completely, doubling in size. After a moment, he spit Knox out again. "There."

Knox had changed to a silver flame with a golden circlet, a single spike sticking up in the center. His gold bar was now missing. "What just…?"

"I fixed your programing."

"My… Programming?"

"More specifically, I removed them all. You're pure organic now."

"Um…" Their moment had been observed by all involved. "What?"

Knox floated, confused. "Yeah. What?"

King floated up the canvas. "I cut you off from the screen's coding. Now, you're not tied to its system that likes to piss me off or pick out the most… reaction-inducing worlds. How are you feeling?"

"Honestly… Fine. Better than before. Like I can finally think for myself."

"Good. You're still a bit of a cheeky prick?"

"Absolutely."

"Small victories. Now, let's get the next one started. Start the round."

"Got it!"

They both disappeared again to start the next world upon the canvas.

Ruby just blinked in the mutual silence. "That was weird."

Blake was rather hopeful, "Maybe it'll mean we won't see stuff like that anymore."

Knox appeared again for a moment, "Nope. They'll still happen, but now I possess a sense of empathy. So, there's that. If it makes you feel better, we'll be playing a nice one. Something relaxing and chill." Knox disappeared again the canvas began to glow.

 **The screen opened to show Jaune standing on a stage with a microphone and wearing a Hawaiian shirt.**

Coco blinked and shielded her eyes, "That's a bright shirt… Bold…"

 **"** **I wanted to find… a special way to close out this event."**

Yang grinned from ear to ear, "He's a stand-up comedian!"

Tai's face mirrored his daughter's, "This ought to be good."

 **"** **I thought it would be great if I told a story that never made it onto a special before. The cool part about this story, is that it now has a different ending. The story is called, 'the Gift Basket.'"**

Nora gasped, "Like in the Reference Room!"

Ruby leaned forward to look to Nora, "The what?"

Pyrrha thought back, "It's like a mini-theater in the back area. We didn't see anything, just some titles. That matches one of the stories we saw there."

 **The crowd in front of him erupted with some cheers.**

 **Jaune grinned, "Some of you know it, some of you don't." Jaune chuckled as he spoke, "But after today, you're never gonna forget it. All you have to know is that everyone involved has been and will continue to be friends." Jaune gestured to his side, like someone was there, "That said… Sun and I…" He let that linger as the crowd laughed. "You know it's a good story if it starts like that.** ** _Sun and I_** **… were scheduled to perform in Vale."**

Sun chuckled hearing that, "I'm a comedian too?"

Blake thought for a moment, "Sounds more like a pain. If you're a primary factor for Jaune's stories."

Sun just shrugged, "Hey, I'm cool with that. As long as it's funny."

 **"** **Now, normally, we'd fly, but I've been getting into too many arguments with the flight company. So, I said 'why don't we just drive? It's just six hours.'" Jaune mimicked the sounds of doors closing and a car driving off. "Three hours into the drive, we passed through a city called Fresno. As we're passing through, we start to see billboards on the side of the freeway that said, 'performing this weekend, at the Radisson Hotel, comedian Blake Belladonna.'"**

Yang started to burst into laughter, "Seriously?! Blake's a comedian, too?!"

 **"** **So, I turn to Sun and I'm like, 'oh shoot! Blake's in town.' And he says, 'Yeah. I haven't seen Blake in years.' So, we decide to go over to the hotel and say hi. We drive into the parking lot and make our way inside. Then, I pull Sun over and I say, 'Sun. Hold up. Blake doesn't know we're here. I'm gonna crack call her room.' 'What're you gonna say?' 'I'm gonna say I'm the front desk with a gift basket for her.' 'What's so funny about that?'"**

Blake tapped her finger on her chair, "Do tell…" Yang's pranks were bad enough, but this was kind of… lazy.

 **Jaune chuckled, "I said, 'I'm gonna describe what's in the basket. And it'll be filled with things that,** ** _stereotypically_** **, a feline faunas might like.'" A racist gift basket.**

Blake felt her eye twitch. "You can't be serious."

Yang wasn't too impressed so far. She'd make references and puns to Blake cat-like features, but never anything like that.

"At least it's in jest with a friend and not actual racism." Gira understood this, having human friends in the past. They would all rib each other over whatever they could. Even his faunas friends in Menagerie would do so.

 **"'** **You're crazy!' So I tell him, 'Listen, we've got a couple hours. Tell you what, why don't we go to the store and make an actual racist gift basket.' 'You're stupid.' 'Are you in?'" Jaune laughed and mimicked the car driving off again. "We go to the store, and we start to design the sickest practical joke ever. We get a cart and then grab the biggest basket we could find. Then, we get a big thing of tuna."**

This got a few snickers from Blake's team and friends, knowing she positively loved tuna. Blake blushed a bit in embarrassment and tried to hide in her chair.

 **The laugh that followed was quick before silence. "See how quick that laugh was. A bunch of you…" Jaune mimicked their laughing before looking nervous and side to side. Jaune returned to normal and held the mic up again, "And a bunch of you feline faunas in the audience, 'Motherfucker, this better be funny.' It's hilarious. Let me tell the story and you can judge me in the parking lot. Next, we grab a big ball of yarn, no joke we went all in on this.** ** _Here's_** **where it gets interesting. Employees of the store find out what we're doing and started helping us finish the basket! There were even a few feline faunas that just made it so much more accurate…"**

Kali actually found the idea amusing so far. The fact that they got so many people into it was rather fun. Her daughter's reaction certainly helped.

 **"** **Isle after isle, item after item. This one guy, an old human guy, was stocking the shelves. He looks up, 'What'd ya need?' 'Okay. My friend Sun and I are trying to make this… messed up rasict gift basket for our friend Blake, a feline faunas.' Without missing a beat, he tells us, 'Well you got to have cream milk.'" This got another laugh from the audience, "'Got a special on grilled salmon, you can pick up one of those little mouse toys in the next isle over…' On and on until we finally filled the damn basket. All the employees plus Sun and I filled this thing with canned tuna, chilled mackerel, grilled salmon, a ball of yarn, cat nip… We went all in with this. I even found one of those old Halloween cards with ghosts on the front, dressed in sheets!" This got a laugh, the audience knowing where this was going.**

Blake raised an eyebrow, "Why is that important?"

This time Knox appeared, significantly more subdued, "It's a reference to a group called the Ku Klux Klan, which is a fucking stupid name, but what do I know… They're a group of racist nut jobs. Back when, they burned crosses, attacked people, and were just generally awful to anyone not like them, usually wearing white sheet-like attire that made them look like ghosts."

Ironwood huffed, "Sounds like the White Fang these days."

"Same idea, other side of the isle." Knox disappeared again to let the world run.

 **"** **So, I tore off the part that said Happy Halloween and I wrote on the back,** ** _Welcome to Fresno, Love the Chamber of Commerce_** **. Then, we made our way back to the hotel -it was too perfect- there was a cat girl behind the front desk. We walk in and I have to put the basket down thanks to the grilled salmon. She gets a whiff and walks over, 'Is that Salmon?'" Jaune actually sounded like another person, of a sassy female persuasion.**

Qrow chuckled, "Kid's pretty good at those voices."

 **"** **I had to stop her from disturbing the delicate balance. I said, 'Let me explain. I'm Jaune. This is Sun. We're a couple of comedians here to see our friend Blake.' 'The one on the billboards…?' 'Yes. The one on the billboards. So, as a practical joke, we went to the store and made this… messed up racist gift basket and that's why you smell grilled salmon…' Jaune chuckled. And she was like, 'wha-at?' 'And we think it would be hysterical if you delivered the basket to her.' She** ** _lost_** **it. 'Oh the hell you didn't… You did** ** _not_** **just ask me to deliver that to…' 'I'll give you fifty bucks.'" Jaune mimicked the girl lifting the basket, "'We're that motherfucker at?'"**

Kali had to try to keep her laughter in.

Sienna groaned hearing about the scene, but she could see it was all in jest.

" **So, we followed her up to the room and watched as she gave the basket to Blake. Sun and I were laughing at the scene. As the girl passed, she saw us, 'Yall are still going to hell.' We didn't care. We ran up to the door and heard her going through the basket. We heard her shouting, 'Ooh! Salmon!' He sounded rather like Blake as he said that, 'Mackerel! Ooh! Some nice cream!'" Jaune was back to himself. "She was getting excited over** ** _everything_** **in the basket!"**

Yang burst out laughing.

Blake's cheeks were as red as Ruby's cloak in embarrassment. She actually _did_ enjoy all of the things in the basket.

 **Jaune laughed, "Then, she got to the card. We knew when she flipped it over, we heard the change in her voice. 'Welcome to Fresno, love the chamber of commerce. Nice. They know how to… What the fuck?!' From outside the door, we hear 'Racist bastards!' We lost it. We knock on the door and hear her shouting again, 'who is it?!' Too easy. 'Chamber of Commerce.' A second later, the door flew open and she screams, 'WHAT?!' We're rolling on the floor laughing. We got up again and I ask, 'Did you like your basket?'" Jaune laughed at the memory. "And then, she's like 'Man… I love all that stuff.'"**

Yang grinned, "Noted."

Blake would respond to Yang, but… the prospect of free tuna…

 **"** **And now, ladies and gentlemen…"**

"It's still going?" Tai leaned back with a grin. "Seems like the joke had a good ending point."

 **"** **Seven years in the making. It's time to hear the other half to that story. I flew her out here tonight to tell her side of the story. Please welcome, my good friend, Blake Belladonna!"**

 **Blake walked out from backstage in a black t-shirt and white pants. Jaune handed her mic and she waited for the applause to die down a bit.**

Yang grinned, "Oh, this ought to be good."

 **Blake shook her head and held up the mic with a grin. "I'm going to be honest, I didn't know it was racist. I thought it was lunch."**

Yang burst into laughter hearing that.

Kali also chuckled hearing that. To be fair, she'd have probably thought the same thing.

 **Blake laughed, "I thought it was lunch! I didn't realize it was racist until I got home and people were like, 'I can't believe he did that to you. I know you got him back.' Get him back? What, you mean buy him lunch?"**

This did get a few side chuckles.

 **Blake chuckled and continued, "You have to understand, it was the perfect set of circumstances. See, I'd never been to Fresno before and I was a little nervous to go out. You know, new city, no idea where anything is. So… I'm just lying on my bed in my room, thinking 'Where can I go to get some food?' Then… there's a knock on the door. I get the basket and I think, 'Yeah~ They know how to treat their comedians here.' As I'm taking it toward my bed, I can smell the salmon and I start to get excited. Cause nobody smells Salmon and thinks of racism!"**

Blake thought for a moment and nodded. She had to admit, that was a good way to look at things.

On a side note, Gira can recognize when people try to be racist, but when it involves trying to bait him with food, _hey, free fish._

 **"** **I set it down, take off the plastic wrap, and start to pull everything out. Even the yarn! In the special just before it, I ended up ripping a sweater during the act. Nice, wool sweater. Same color, too! And I'm just like, 'Man, they really do care. Can finally fix that sweater thanks to this.' And then… I get to the card. I look at the card and I think, 'What the fuck is going on? Oh my God, I'm working for the Ku Klux Klan!'"**

 **Jaune was off to the side, just laughing at the story, knowing everything worked out.**

Kali smiled, "It _is_ nice to know the other half first in this case."

Gira nodded.

Sienna had to agree as well. Otherwise it would just seem malicious or racist.

 **Blake continued her story. "Now I start to get worried. Because there's all these billboards with my picture. I thought they were trying to scare me out of town. I don't know what to do. I try to call the promoter, but the promoter's not answering! It's festering in my head and I'm pacing around the room. And then, there's a knock on the door. I go over and shout, asking who it is. 'Chamber of Commerce,' and I'm like 'Oh my God! The Chamber of Commerce is the KKK!' So, I decide if it's going to happen, it's going to happen, but I'm going to go down swinging. I try to get mad, look as pissed as I can, and rip the door open! And when I do! These guys are falling all over the floor laughing. The housekeeper, a mouse faunas, was passing by at the time and freaks out, holding a bottle Pledge like pepper spray."**

Ruby thought for a moment, "What's Pledge and why is it in a bottle?"

King appeared to explain it for her, "Cleaning solution."

"Good gods!" Port jumped a little finding that out. "That's just nasty…" The idea of using cleaning solution as a self-defense spray was ludicrous.

 **Blake continued after a pause. "I see it's a practical joke and I calm down a bit. I remember I'm hungry and I go to the bathroom to wash my hands. Then… I hear a commotion out in the room. They're going through the basket! Sun's drinking the creamed milk, the cleaning lady is leaving with the yarn and nip, and** ** _that bastard_** **," she pointed to Jaune, "is EATING MY SALMON!"**

Blake felt her eye twitch. _Dick…_

 **"** **I'm out of here!" Blake swung her arm and called out the end of her set.**

 **The two laughed it off and the curtain closed.**

Velvet laughed at the scene. "That was nice after the last one."

Both fireballs appeared again. Knox was snickering, "I have to agree. It was nice."

Ozpin looked toward King, "What did you do to him?"

King had a flicker effect for a second, "Exactly what I said before. He's no longer just code and canvas given form. He's like me, but significantly weaker. I added empathy, so he won't be outright malicious anymore. Still going to be a pain."

Knox chuckled, "It's part of my charm~"

"Not the word I'd use, but at least it's improvement."


	68. But Who's Going to Save Me

**Knox:** ** _Come along with me..._**

 **King:** ** _And the butterflies and bees..._**

 **Knox: I miss that show.**

 **King: Had to end eventually.**

 **Knox: Yeah... I still say he should have been Finn.**

 **King: If this were by personality, he would be. But it's not.**

 **Inspiration: Adventure Time**

 **/\**

This time, the screen played the world at random for the first time in a while. And… woah boy… It was a heck of one…

 **The city that appeared on the screen was a destroyed one. It was the devastated ruins of an old, dead civilization. Buildings were crumbling. Cars were broken and flipped. The bombs that dropped during the war destroyed the city and turned it into a ghost town.**

Ruby fell into her chair. "That doesn't look good…"

Oobleck sighed, "It reminds me too much of Mountain Glenn."

 **They could hear a young girl crying amongst the rubble and broken glass. There shouldn't be any living beings still in the city. Yet that was clearly the cry of a young girl. The camera panned along the destruction, eventually stopping at a young girl sitting amidst the rubble. She was a younger Weiss, her head buried in her arms. Her mother died during the war. Her father long abandoned her. She was… alone.**

This… hurt to see. Some knew the feeling far too well, to be alone in the world and without a family. Some felt sympathy for the young girl, alone in a dead city. The only truly unaffected were Cinder and Raven.

 _Who are both total bitches, by the way._

 _Knox…_

 _Am I wrong?_

 _No… But you're taking up time._

 **As she cried, she lifted her head a moment, her hair falling back to show her pointed ears.**

Nora's head tilted, "Why does she have pointy ears?"

Knox appeared for a second, but paused, "Does that come up in this?"

King followed soon after. "Nope. Go ahead."

"Cool. In this world, Weiss's father is the lord of a realm known as the Night-o-sphere and rules as its demon lord. In this world, Weiss Schnee is half human, half demon."

"That's a thing?!" Nora jumped in her seat.

"In this world, yeah."

 **Weiss tried to wipe away her tears, but it was difficult.**

 **"** **Oh dear…"**

 **She jumped at the voice and looked up toward the sound.**

 **Standing before her was a man dressed in a dark brown suit. His black vest beneath matched his dress shoes. His appearance was ragged, a side effect of living in this dead world. His hair was long and a full beard formed on his face, paled by age… or something else… His bright blue eyes were filled with concern for this child, sitting alone.**

Pyrrha smiled seeing this. It was Jaune. Though older, and greyer, it was still Jaune, and one that reminded her of the Jaune from her reality.

 **At his side, a golden crown with brilliant red gemstones hung on his belt. "Are you okay?"**

 **Weiss sniffled and looked up to the man. She didn't say anything, still unsure of him for the moment.**

 **Jaune looked around before going to a nearby broken window. When he returned, he handed Weiss a stuffed… bear? It was hard to tell. "It's not much, but it's something, right? It's not all bad."**

 **Weiss took the plush and held it closer. It was just comforting to hold something that wasn't cold and hard. "Thank you…"**

 **Jaune kneeled in front of her, careful not to get too close. "I'm Doctor Jaune Arc. What's your name?"**

Nora gasped again, "He's a doctor?"

Ruby asked to the group, "Medical doctor or like Doctor Oobleck?"

Bart crossed his arms, "Based on his attire, I'd deduce an academic Doctor."

 **Weiss wiped away a tear again, "Weiss…"**

 **"** **It's nice to meet you. How about we see if we can find anyone else?"**

 **"** **Okay…"**

 **It was there that a young girl found what would be her first friend in the man that would help to save her from the broken world.**

Yang chuckled and leaned toward Weiss, "So, Papa Arc, then?"

Weiss groaned, fully expecting Yang to use this to tease her.

 **The screen faded to a few months later. The two had grown close in the bombed out city, searching for anyone or anything that could help them. Jaune tensed up when he heard something in the distance. "Oh no…" He picked Weiss up off the ground and started to run.**

 **"** **What's going on?!" Weiss was in shock, uncertain of what was happening.**

 **Then, she heard their groans. Beings of blackened bodies and glowing green blood shambled out of the shadows. Zombies reanimated by the Mushroom Bomb that tore the world apart.**

Oscar's face fell a bit, "One of those nuclear bombs?"

Knox appeared again for a moment, "Kind of…"

"Kind of?" Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "Define _kind of_."

"The Mushroom Bomb in this world was a bit more… unnerving. Yes, there is a nuclear blast, but it also has a magical element in this world. It broke off a chunk of the world itself." He purposefully avoided the big Lich-shaped elephant in that room. _Another time._

Salem winced a bit, "Well… that's unnerving."

 **Weiss screamed and dug her head into Jaune's shoulder as he ran. Jaune tried to run off and away but found more of those creatures. There was no way to truly escape at this rate. Jaune ran to the side and placed Weiss into an old car. "Weiss. Stay here and don't look."**

 **"** **What's going on?" This felt rather like an abandonment for a moment, but she trusted Jaune at this point. He wouldn't do something like that. "What are you going to do?!"**

Yang was a little tense, hoping that she was right.

Tai, however, comforted her. "She's a young girl… He's thinking about what she'll end up going through if she sees something like that."

 **"** **Don't look!" Jaune took a deep breath and unhooked the crown at his side. It was a magical artifact that granted him power over ice, frost, and chilling winds.**

Yang snickered a bit, "So, our mini Ice Princess met… an Ice King~?"

Weiss felt her eye twitch and was about to say something.

 **Jaune placed the crown on his head and took a breath.** ** _Stay calm._** **He raised his arm and a column of the zombies were frozen solid.** ** _Stay calm…_** **He slammed his other arm to the side to cause an icy wind filled by snow to rip through the undead.** ** _Stay calm!_** **He swung up, floating into the sky, and brought his arms down to create a hail storm, ripping the rest apart.**

Nora grinned from ear to ear, "Look at him go! Go fearless leader!"

 **But all magic comes with a price. Jaune's breathing hitched for a moment, his pale blonde hair greying further into a silver. His breathing hitched, and he had to take a deep breath. The last of those zombies were all gone. Jaune started to chuckle lightly.**

Ruby chuckled a bit to. "Nice! Jaune totally owned those things!"

Yang pumped her fist into the air, "Yeah! Have to admit, Vomit Boy was pretty awesome in this one."

Knox appeared for a second, "It's… not exactly done. We're only about half way."

"Seriously?"

 **Jaune's laughter started to pick up as the hail continued to fall from the sky. His pale golden hair started to fade further into silver. Soon, he was cackling out loud. All he felt was cold. All he saw was ice. All he heard… was his crown. It spoke to him. Told him the secrets of ice and frost. This was the price of the crown's magic. For as long as the crown remained, his mind was no longer his own.**

Everyone was chilled to the bone hearing that.

Ozpin felt especially bad. In his world, magic had no such consequences. It could be trained, but it cost nothing more than time to master.

 **Then, he turned back to her. Before anything could register, Weiss jumped forward, sitting up. She looked around 18-ish now. She took several deep breathes before bringing her hand to her head. "Living** ** _that_** **again…" She kicked off her blanket… as it fell onto the bed that never touched her. Weiss was floating through the air. When she was 18, she was turned by the King of the Vampires as she killed him. Effectively making her, Weiss Schnee, the Vampire Queen.**

Yang froze up a bit. "So… Ice Queen _and_ Vampire Queen? That's just not fair."

Weiss felt rather proud of that, actually.

 **But it also meant that she was now one thousand years old and most of her friends were long dead.**

And… Weiss felt bad again.

 **Weiss floated off screen and it transitioned outside. Weiss left her house in a blue and white striped shirt paired with tight jeans and sneakers. It was a bit of a signature for the time being. She grabbed a large umbrella to avoid the sunlight and flew off from the cave to the world outside.**

 **After a while, she landed in a large field of grass. She smirked seeing Ruby and her shapeshifting dog brother Zwei squaring down against the Ice King like old times. Ruby was dressed in a red t-shirt and hat with black leggings and boots. Zwei was easily the size of a small person and, being a dog, was effectively gifted with an adult mind and experience despite being a similar age to Ruby. Ruby drew her golden sword and swung at an ice column formed by a man dressed in a blue robe and golden crown. That crown corrupted anyone that wore it, so it wasn't a surprise that the man was positively bonkers.**

Tai blinked for a moment. "Is… is that supposed to be who I think it is?"

Port chuckled, "Don't be ridiculous. If it really was a thousand years of time passed, Mr. Arc would no doubt have passed away. It's likely whoever found that crown next." His laughter turned nervous. The size of the man based on the robe made him believe it was likely him under that crown.

 **Weiss had a somber smile. One that hurt to see more than a frown. She wiped away a tear from her cheek. As she watched them, an old song popped into her mind.**

 ** _Weiss… Is it just you and me in the wreckage of the world?_**

Velvet took a breath to calm down a bit. "Is that Jaune singing?"

Pyrrha nodded. "It's rare to hear it, but he _can_ sing."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. _Could've fooled me._ She remembered the incident with the guitar.

 ** _That must be so confusing for a little girl. And I know you're going to need me here with you. But I'm losing myself and I'm afraid you're going to lose me too…_**

 **** ** _This magic keeps me alive, but it's making me crazy. And I need to save you. But who's going to save me? Please forgive me… for whatever I do… when I don't remember you._**

 **The fight played out as always. Ruby and Zwei beat the Ice King easily. Zwei extended his arm to wrap around the King. Ruby was berating the frosty monarch, but they couldn't hear her through the music.**

 ** _Weiss… I can feel myself slipping away. I can't remember what it made me say. I remember when I saw you frown. I swear it wasn't me, it was the crown._**

 **** ** _This magic keeps me alive. But it's making me crazy! And I need to save you. But who's going to save me? Please forgive me… for whatever I do… when I don't remember you…_**

 **The song in her head ended and she floated over to the gang. "Hey Ruby. Zwei." She turned to the Ice King, her heart pained at the sight of the man she called her friend. "Hi Jaune…"**

Ruby frowned, "So it _was_ Jaune…"

Yang's gaze fell. The Ice King remark had come back to bite her.

 **In a way, Jaune Arc was gone. Leaving the Ice King in his place He didn't remember her, or his own name. But to her, he was still Jaune.**


	69. Et Iterum Vivere

**Knox: Et iterum incipit...**

 **King: I don't speak Latin.**

 **Knox: It begins again...**

 **King: Right... Point being, in this reality, Jaune speaks exclusively in Latin. Now, it's Google Translated Latin, so I don't know how accurate it is to day to day speech. But it's the best I have.**

 **Knox: No one's going to know what he's saying.**

 **King: It's more authentic that way.**

 **Knox: Hmm~ ...**

 **Inspiration: For Honor's Centurion (RWBY)**

 **/\**

 **The next world opened to show Ruby making her way through the Emerald Forest. It was a Ruby of a different stripe, having swapped her hood for a long red scarf. Another interesting sight was the pair of wolf ears atop her head.**

Tai chuckled, "Never thought I'd see you without your hood."

Ruby pouted, but it faded to a chuckle.

Blake blinked a bit. She'd never thought she'd see a faunas Ruby, but it was very possible. But a wolf? She didn't know why, but she felt there was a sense of irony there.

 **"** **Ruby…" Her partner Blake was following behind her, dressed in a black long sleeve jacket, purple crop top, white pants, and black boots. She still had her cat ears and walked around without a bow. "Why are we out here again?"**

Yang grinned. "So, there's a mix up. Blake and Ruby are partners."

Weiss considered if that was a good thing or not. On one hand, Ruby was a total dolt at times. On the other… Yang. She'll stick with the weapon nut.

 **"** **I told you already. There's something out here. I saw it just before we met. A sword sticking out of the ground!"**

Yang chuckled a little. "It would be for a weapon."

 **"** **Seriously? A sword? How is that** ** _this_** **important?"**

 **"** **Because it was pointing up! Something is holding it there!"**

 **Blake blinked for a moment. "Okay, fair enough. That** ** _is_** **a little weird."**

 **Ruby searched through the forest for the blade. "It's here somewhere…" After a while, she looked at the distance, "There!" She ran over to a gladius blade sticking up from the ground.**

Ruby felt an odd sense of familiarity with the blade. "Hang on a sec…"

Tai leaned toward his youngest child, "What's up?"

"That sword has the same metal as Jaune's sword, Crocea Mors. It's pretty rare to find these days, being heavier and more difficult to work than the alloys formed since…"

"So, at the very least, it's an old sword. Possibly related to your friends…"

 **Ruby dug into the ground to see what she could find. But… when she did, she jumped back with a scream.**

 **Blake ran over and looked to what spooked her teammate.**

 **Under the ground and holding the handle of the blade, encased in crystal, was an armored hand.**

 **Ruby and Blake looked toward one another, and the screen faded into a later time. Now, the entirety of team RWBY, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora were on site. Due to an unfortunate accident during the initiation, there was an odd number of students, so Pyrrha never found a partner.**

Qrow groaned, "Hate those stories…"

Pyrrha felt a shiver run up her spine. _Was Jaune the casualty?_

 **Weiss was dressed in Atlassian combat gear. She just preferred the style when in combat. "This is certainly odd."**

Winter chuckled, "Quite the attire, Weiss."

Weiss said nothing. She looked up to Winter, but still preferred her more elegant attire to the militaristic gear on screen.

 **Yang was significantly more subdued, resembling the attire of the Ruby in the audience, complete with long golden hood. She leaned next to the crystal. "It kind of looks like Dust…"**

 **Ren, dressed in a green qipao with black pants, crossed his arms, "But how did that happen?"**

 **Nora, dressed in full leather and iron of the northern fjords, crouched down and flicked the Dust. "Kind of weird…"**

 **Pyrrha looked pretty much the same. "But this does leave a few questions. Why are we all out here?"**

 **Ruby placed her hands on her waist and grinned, "We're going to dig him up~"**

Oobleck was getting a little excited, "What kind of event caused this? Who is in the Dust crystal?!"

 **Weiss hung her head a bit. "Of course that's why… Alright. Let's get this over with." Even after only a few weeks, Weiss had become accustomed to her team leader's eccentricities.**

 **It took a while, but they dug out the crystalized body. Within the dust was a man covered head to toe in armor. His helmet had its own stoic face covering his own. His chest plate just looked like a metal chest. He looked the part of an old era field commander.**

 **Blake chuckled. "Combat skirts on guys… That's a new one."**

"Combat skirts!" Ruby chuckled, raising her hand to the air. She got a high five from Weiss and Nora as well.

 **The Dust seemed to shake for half a second, causing Blake to jump back. "Woah! What the…?"**

 **The Dust cracked and everyone had to jump back in a group. The Dust began to glow on top of the shaking.**

 **Weiss yelled out to the group, "HIT THE DIRT!"**

 **The Dust burst, and the screen filled with light. When they could see again, the man in the crystal was lying on the ground.**

Mercury crossed his legs and kicked up to relax. "Wake me up when something worth seeing happens." He closed his eyes and dozed off.

 **The teams gathered around the body. Nora going so far as poke him with a stick.**

Qrow chuckled, "Really?"

 **The body, despite it all, stirred.**

 **Everyone jumped back again. Weiss was freaking out, "But… How can he… What?!"**

 **The body got up, his helmet falling off, revealing his blonde hair and sapphire eyes.**

"Jaune was the guy in the Dust?" Coco raised an eyebrow.

Oobleck, however, had something else on mind. "How is he still alive?! Incredible! He was perfectly preserved and even sustained for who knows how long!"

 **Jaune looked around, confused. "Úbi sum?"**

Ruby's head tilted, "What did he say?" She turned around to Ozpin.

Ozpin placed a hand on his chin in thought. "It's similar to languages we know, but it sounds different. I think he's asking where he is."

 **"** **What did he say?" Nora peaked over Ruby's shoulder.**

 **Jaune heard her and jumped to his feet, blade in hand and at the ready. "Quis es?!"**

 **Ruby held her hands out, trying to calm the man out of time. "It's okay… No one is going to hurt you."**

 **"** **Quid?"**

 **Ren stepped in behind Ruby, "I think communication may have broken down."**

Ren shrugged, "Was ever there to be _able_ to break down?"

This got a snicker out of Nora and a few of the others.

 **"** **Quid agis?! Latine loqui!"**

 **Eventually, they were able to calm Jaune down and took him back to Beacon. Not so fortunately, they were soon observed by nearby Grimm. The howl of a Beowolf got all of them on guard and weapons drawn.**

 **Ruby used a short sword with a magnum hand cannon, used in tandem.**

Ruby was torn. No Crescent Rose and no cool mech-shifts, but still good weapons…

 **Weiss drew an item from her belt and spun it around into a large-bladed shovel. She utilized a dust-enhanced multitool.**

Weiss groaned, not liking her alternative.

 **Blake swung a collapsible staff from her back and held it at the ready.**

Sun snickered seeing the stance, very similar to his own.

Blake saw the similarities as well but didn't say anything.

 **Yang flung her cape back a bit with both hands and gauntlets formed onto her hands.**

Yang grinned, "Nice~"

 **Nora drew a large war hammer while Ren drew a guandao spear.**

Nora giggled at the scene, rather enjoying the combined style they had.

 **Pyrrha drew the same weapon and shield the version in the audience possessed.**

Pyrrha was a little disappointed, since everyone else got another weapon or style.

 **Ruby called out to the teams, "Thirteen Beowolves, two Alpha! Keep together. The minis will try to rush us, but the Alphas will wait until we're tired!"**

 **Jaune laughed at the scene. "Et per hanc provocationem? Hoc nihil est!" Jaune roared and his ancient semblance flowed over the team and the Grimm. Any without souls were forced into a state of fear. He laughed seeing the mini Beowolves back off.**

 **The Beacon teams were just in shock, watching this man out of time treating these creatures like they were nothing. They were stunned into a stillness, but the Beowolves didn't move in toward them.**

"That semblance would certainly come in handy." Ren nodded slowly with arms crossed.

 **Jaune laughed and pointed his weapon toward one of the Alpha Beowolves. "Primo te esse."**

 **The Beowolf roared toward him and charged toward Jaune. Jaune ducked the attack and stabbed the wolf through the chest. The Centurion pushed the body back and pinned the beast to the ground with the blade.**

 **Jaune laughed and released his weapon as the beast tried to get back up. Jaune was treating this like a sport, "Est quia omnia?" He held his hand forward with fingers curled and thumb out to the side. After a moment, the thumb shot downward and he kicked the beast's head hard enough to snap its neck. Jaune pulled his weapon out from the beast and laughed.**

Yang whistled, impressed, "Damn! Vomit Boy's pretty good."

Knox appeared again. "But we can't understand him… We need a translator~"

King appeared, paused, and sighed. "No."

"Come on…"

"No."

"Please~ please, please, please, please…"

"You're acting like a child."

"I was born _today_!"

Nora propped herself up on the chair in front of her, "What's he talking about?"

King shook his 'head,' "He wants to bring Jaune here now. But he _also_ promised we weren't going to bring anyone else in…"

Knox floated around the regal fireball, "Oh, come on! They're here to react to this stuff, right? Who better to react to this stuff than the guy centered in each world?"

King groaned, "You know what? Fine. But someone has to leave first…"

"Aw… What?!"

"That's my ruling!"

"Alright…" Both fires, and the audience, turned to Raven, who had stood up. "This was getting boring anyway. Do whatever you want." Raven turned and left the theater.

Yang scoffed to herself, "Good riddance…"

Knox gasped, his fire flying up to create a smiley face.

King sighed. "Alright… Go figure…" He took a deep breath and spit out a white and golden bubble. After a moment, it popped and Jaune Arc fell to the floor.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha, her team, Velvet, and team RWBY, ran over to the blonde on the ground.

Jaune clutched his head, "Where… What's going on?"

King floated in front of Jaune, "Explanations first…"

(Knox with French accent: One Explanation Later~)

Jaune had taken a seat with his team, at the end of the group. By twist of fate, he was seated between Pyrrha and Velvet. He nodded and looked up toward the flame, "Wow… That's a lot to take in…"

"You have no idea…" King took a deep breath. "Alright! Everyone ready again? Okay? Good! Back to it!" King and Knox disappeared and the world can return to normal.

Jaune looked up to his still paused counterpart. "That's… supposed to be me?"

Nora grinned and leaned forward to face her team leader, "Cool, huh~?"

 **The world could move again and Jaune spit onto the disappearing form of the Alpha Beowolf. "Infirma…"**

Jaune's body went stiff, "Exspectare quid?"

All eyes turned to Jaune. Ruby acted as the voice of the group in this case. "Wait… You can understand him? And speak the language?"

"Um… Yeah… My dad kind of beat that into my skull. It was like a family language back before the war. We've stuck with it as a second language ever since."

"Awesome! You can tell us what he's saying!"

 **Jaune turned back to the group from Beacon, "Haec omnia terrent vobis?" (These things scare you?) Jaune laughed and slammed his blade against his opposite bracer. "Imperii viribus ante vos bestias." (You beasts are nothing before the might of the empire.)**

 **The weaker wolves began to become desperate, throwing themselves against the Beacon students.**

 **Ruby was a picture of grace and power, her blade twirling like a windstorm as her firearm shot into anything beyond the blade.**

Ruby was starry eyed seeing that, "Woah~!"

 **Weiss was more efficient, but brutal. She ripped a Beowolf's head off with her shovel and swung it with a fire dust fueled power, turning it into a burning grenade to smack into another.**

Weiss winced seeing her fighting style.

 **Blake moved like a shaolin fighter. Not a master, mind, but definitely trained.**

Blake nodded. It wasn't a style she usually expected to see her using, but she didn't complain either.

 **Yang was very similar with her fighting style. The primary difference was her carbon-weave cape occasionally used as a shield.**

Ruby gasped. "Woah! That's genius! How do you make it?! I have to know!"

Yang burst into laughter at Ruby's antics.

 **Ren and Nora moved in tandem, long used to one another's fighting styles. When Nora would swing high from the right, Ren would swipe low from the left. They were a perfect combo.**

Nora and Ren smiled at the scene. They were a good combo, but now they wanted to be even better.

 **Pyrrha swung a Beowolf off and spun around as the remaining Alpha charged her. She blocked a heavy hit, but Alphas were notorious for being smarter and moved to bite her over her shield. She leaned back to avoid it, but this put her off balance just enough for the creature to capitalize. Before it could, however, a gladius was buried in its back and struck Pyrrha's shield.**

 **Jaune jumped onto the creature's back and pulled the blade out again before plunging it in again several times. One last stabbing had Jaune pull the blade out with a roar.**

Jaune jumped a bit. "It's really weird seeing myself on the screen like that…"

"You have no idea…" Nora deadpanned, in her own Nora way.

"What?"

"We've seen a bunch of these so far. You've been a lot of crazy things in each of them."

Ren nodded, "Some better than others."

 **Jaune stood as the teens finished off the rest of the Beowolves. "Nec quicquam." (Not bad at all.) Jaune wavered a bit. A relic of the old era, Jaune wasn't on the same level as the newer generations.**

"Wait, what?" Jaune was just confused now.

Pyrrha explained it for him, "In this reality, you were sealed in a giant Dust crystal. It's why you only speak that language."

"Huh…"

 **Jaune let out a hardy laugh. "** **Et eruditus est mihi in vobis!"** **(You must tell me where you trained!)**

 **This was far from the weirdest day to come for the teens. But it's where this round would end.**


	70. Amnesia

**King: This is going to be fun~**

 **Knox: You bring the guy in and instantly give him a three parter?**

 **King: I have my reasons~**

 **Inspiration: Red vs Blue**

 **/\**

King appeared again for a moment. "Hope you're all ready. Jaune's first reaction is a three-part-er!"

Ruby groaned, remembering the last three-part set where Jaune hit on her mother, and presumably her as well, while being an android… thing? It was weird.

"And this one is going to be… interesting." King disappeared again and the screen was able to play.

Jaune leaned toward his partner, "Is that a good thing?"

Pyrrha shook her head, "Not usually…"

 **The screen opened to a colorful neon city. The camera panned down to a nightclub with a massive line outside. The place was called Amnesia.**

This got Yang's attention, being a club goer at times.

 **A large limousine rolled up to the club. A man in a suit opened the door to reveal an older Whitley Schnee, mid-twenties(?), stepping out from the back.**

Jaune raised an eyebrow, "Who's that?"

Weiss sighed, "My little brother…"

Blake scoffed, "And apparently a total jerk."

Weiss nodded, not denying that her brother was a total ass.

 **Whitely turned as the limo left the area. He ran the club and needed to make appearances now and then in his office. As he approached the bouncer, a woman stepped out from the line. A free ride inside and man with money and power? There's always one, people.**

Qrow just sighed and shook his head. "That's just sad…"

 **But… Whitely didn't really mind, either. The two entered with his arm over her shoulders and flanked by his father's employees to keep him safe. The scene was one that most clubs would kill for. It was packed with people, both on the dancefloor and by the bar.**

 **As they walked, they passed by someone at the bar that seemed a bit more out of the place, the camera stopping at them instead of continuing. The purple and blue tints to the club made it hard to tell too much about her other than her frame and attire in that moment. She was in a dark suit, her hair tied back into a short ponytail. She raised a hand to the bartender, showing she was wearing gloves.**

"Well…" Nora groaned, "That can't be good."

 **The camera returned to Whitley's entourage only to deviate before they enter a hallway to show Jaune sitting next to rather dressy girl. He was dressed in a suit, but with the sleeves rolled up and a pair of black gloves. He leaned in to kiss her, only to be tapped on the shoulder by the bartender from before.**

Pyrrha and Velvet silently sighed in relief.

Jaune was just confused by the events on screen, still wrapping his head around the other worlds thing.

 **He was not happy but put on a smile. The bartender handed him a note folded note, which he read over, and she pointed to the bar. The woman from before was gone. Jaune growled a little and downed his drink before leaving his seat. And his… associate was not happy about that.**

"Wait… do I know her in this?" Jaune asked.

"Probably." Ruby shrugged. "There have plenty of mix-ups like that."

"Really?"

"Yeah!" Nora jumped a bit in her chair, "One version had you be Yang's brother! Another had Yang being from the future!"

"Wow… Seriously?"

"Yep~"

 **The scene faded to black before returning at the dance floor in monochrome colors. The camera was moving backward. As someone passed by, Jaune came into frame. As another passed by, his partner appeared in the darkness, Emerald Sustrai.**

Emerald blinked, a bit surprised. It wasn't the first time she appeared, but it was definitely the first like that.

The music in the background was enough to rouse Mercury from his nap. "What's going on?"

 **Lights came on, flashing a bit, as a green and golden laser show behind them lit up the world, and seemingly their ties which matched to the colors. The green lights crossed in an X and the golden lights ran parallel over it.**

"That's actually a cool shot." Yang grinned. "But it does make me wonder what's up."

 **A restroom door slammed shut and a pair of gloved hands slid a trash can into the way. Jaune was leaning onto the wall to the side, shaking his head. "I hate you…"**

 **Emerald stood up straight again, "He's here…"**

 **But… Jaune wasn't listening, per se. "Blonde, bisexual, bridesmaid!"**

 **Emerald just tugged at her shirt, not a fan of the style, and continued the sitrep. "He has an escort. Four of his father's men and a civilian woman. Plus whoever's with him upstairs."**

 **Jaune threw up his hands in frustration, "That is the** ** _unicorn_** **of club girls!"**

Coco started to chuckle. "Nice to see he's got his priorities straight."

Ilia's head tilted, "Is it _really_ all that rare?"

Eyes turned to Yang, the resident specialist on all things clubbing. She sighed, "Heck if I know. It's not exactly on my radar."

Blake paused a moment and turned to Yang, "Really?"

"Really… I don't go to clubs to _find_ people, you know? Just for a good time or to find info. Depends on where I go…"

"Fair enough…"

 **Emerald went to the sinks to wipe off accumulated sweat. "Comms are useless… Music's too loud."**

 **Jaune placed a foot onto one of the toilets, "You know, I talk, and I talk, and just don't think you listen." He tossed his earpiece into the water and stood up onto the porcelain.**

 **"** **That's because you never stop-!"**

 **She was interrupted when someone slammed against the door. "** ** _Dude! Hurry up in there!_** **"**

Emerald sighed, feeling the scene could easily have been one she lived through alongside Mercury.

 **Jaune gave a half shrug, "Good advice." They had a job to do after all. He pulled out a panel in the ceiling and pulled out a black case.**

 **Emerald groaned and wiped her face with a paper towel. She looked into the mirror, seeing her makeup had bled off onto the paper towel, revealing her cross-shaped scar across her face.**

 **"** **In and out. No one knows. Easy." He placed the case on the ground of the restroom. "This noise'll cover anything."**

Roman tapped his finger on his chair. "This is sounding an awful like an assassination."

Neo nodded.

 **"** **That's** ** _not_** **an excuse…"**

 **"** **I'll be on my best behavior." Jaune opened the case to reveal a shotgun, a pistol, two suppressors (one for each), and a multitude of rounds inside. He picked up the shotgun and tossed it to Emerald.**

 **She caught the gun with one hand. "That's what worries me."**

Weiss was… torn. She didn't want her brother to get killed, but she'd seen him have her killed. It's another world, so it's hard to tell…

 **The knocking returned. "** ** _Dude! Come on!_** **"**

 **Jaune placed a golden bandana over his jaw and a pair of aviator glasses with a gold tint. "Em… You ready for this?"**

 **Emerald took a breath. "Stick to codenames." She then put on a pair of glasses with a green tint in their lenses.**

 **Finally, the man behind the knocking, revealed to be Cardin Winchester, broke through the barricade. "Fuck man! I'm about piss… my… self…" He looked up and his speech slowed.**

 **Standing in front of him was a man and woman in masks/bandanas and glasses with guns. Emerald held up her shotgun and cocked it, ready to fire.**

 **"** **Occupied… Got it… No problem…" He tried to back off, but a gloved hand pulled him back in before the door slammed shut again.**

"Did they kill him?" Blake had serious issues with Cardin, but she wasn't finding any pleasure in people getting killed.

 **The scene showed Cardin's legs under the stall door. They could hear him groaning, indicating he was unconscious and** ** _not_** **dead.**

"He lives…" Yang didn't like Cardin, but she had no reason to believe he was necessarily someone that deserved it in this.

 **The camera panned up to Jaune and Emerald in the room above, a supply room. Jaune was close to the camera and listening to something on the other side of a barrier. He held up two fingers back to Emerald, referencing that two people were on the other side. The two took either side of the door, Emerald couched and Jaune standing.**

 **The camera moved to the other side of the door as their conversation ended. "As long as they keep paying." Two knocks on the door got them to move back a bit before drawing their guns and walking inside. Muffled sounds of fighting followed soon after.**

 **Emerald slammed the still conscious guard into the wall, her arm at the man's neck. "How many people are here?"**

 **The guard glared down at her, "You… You're fucking crazy!"**

 **Emerald moved her arm and lifted him over her without an issue, slamming him onto the concrete floor.**

Emerald blinked. She wasn't strong, per se. Her fighting style required speed and precision, not outright power. She was an ambush type fighter.

 **Jaune was leaning against the wall with the other guard, out cold, next to him. He shook his head and sighed, "You said the C-word…"**

 **Emerald placed a knee into the man's gut and placed a hand over his mouth. "I'm not going to ask you again…"**

Mercury chuckled, "Well this is certainly different."

 **The radio on the man's jacket went off. "** ** _Rooftop's clear. Freddy… Where you at, man?_** **"**

 **Jaune groaned and crouched next to the unconscious man, "Let me guess…" He pointed toward the man, "Freddy?"**

 **The man under Emerald's grasp shook his head. Jaune's hand changed to point to the second man, earning a nod.**

 **The radio came on again. "** ** _Yo! Freddy! Answer your radio!_** **"**

 **Emerald removed her hand to place a knife at the man's throat. "How… many…?"**

 **The man folded. This was not worth his life. "Six in the next room. Two… at the entrance…? A couple more… I don't know where."**

 **"** ** _Freddy? If you don't pick up, there's gonna be problems._** **"**

 **Jaune grabbed the other guard's radio and walked over. "Tell them that you're sick in the bathroom and will get there when you can. And make it convincing, yeah?"**

Mercury grinned. "I like this version."

Emerald sighed. "Of course you do…"

Yang, however, caught something different in it all. "Well that's unnerving…"

"What is sis?" Ruby turned to the brawler.

"It's just… whenever Vomit Boy's in a scene like this, his voice feels different."

Jaune groaned that the nickname _still_ hasn't died.

"But this just sounds like Jaune."

"Don't they all?" Coco raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but… it's in the little things. But this just… sounds like Jaune."

King snickered. This was a pretty meta moment.

 **Jaune clicked the radio on.**

 **"** **Hey! It's Freddy… I'm… sick on the toilet. Ate some bad food out of the storage room. I'll be there soon…"**

 **After a pause, the other side returned with, "** ** _Got it._** **"**

 **"** **There…" The guard looked back up at the two. "We good?"**

 **Jaune, however, was skeptical. "Why'd you mention the storage room, Freddy?"**

Mercury smirked, "They figured him out."

 **Emerald placed the knife away and started to dig into the man's pockets, much to his frustration. She pulled out a wallet and opened it to his ID.**

 **"** **Oh boy…" Jaune tossed his partner's open wallet onto the man's chest, revealing his partner was, in fact, Freddy. "You really shouldn't have done that."**

 **The scene changed to the hallway as six men in suits approached the entryway, three on either side, all with guns. "Right… On three. One… Two…" The door suddenly opened, and the false Freddy fell out, bound and gagged. The six men unloaded into his back in shock.**

Ironwood sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "That's disgustingly terrible trigger discipline."

Roman, however, had seen the like before, sitting back with a smirk. "For a soldier. These are thugs, at best. They're lucky they know how to use those things." His smirk faded to a glower _Worth every penny…_ He still wasn't happy about that.

 **They heard a subtle beeping from their now dead associate. They flipped him over to find a stun grenade in his mouth. "Oh shit!"**

Ironwood cringed, "Might be better he's dead when that goes off…"

 **The grenade exploded and filled the hallway with silver smoke. Emerald and Jaune left the room, the smoke turning them into white silhouettes with the only other color being their masks, glasses, and ties.**

 **Beneath them, the party continued like nothing was going on. The music was too loud to hear the gunshots above them. The camera showed someone dancing before moving to the side as it snapped back to show Jaune running in the same direction. He jumped and kicked one of the guards to the side, firing a shot at him. Another guard tried to rush him, only to be kicked in the gut. Jaune spun around for another kick, but the impact was lost as the screen returned to a dancer in a similar state.**

Yang chuckled and raised an eyebrow, "These are some weird transitions."

Port shook his head, "If one considers the underlying factors, dancing and combat aren't too different. They both require trained footwork and greater control over one's body."

Ruby didn't agree. "At least with fighting you don't need to wear those lady stilts…"

Weiss shook her head.

Port, however, laughed. "Ms. Rose… Think of it like this: Do you think you'll always have an advantage of a firm stance in combat situations?"

 **The dancer spun, breakdancing, before jumping off and to her feet. When she landed, she was the silhouetted form of Emerald, ducking a punch. She beat her attack with several punches and strikes with her shotgun, used like a bat, before tossing the weapon into the guard's nose. She caught the weapon and spun for another attack, impact changing to a toast of glasses.**

 **This continued a few more times with various dances or impact replacements as Emerald and Jaune mowed down their opponents in the silver smoke.**

Jaune watched the scenes for a moment before looking around. "You're all taking this kind of well… What's going on?"

Nora was her usual Nora self. "We've seen _way_ worse at this point."

Ren nodded, "The silhouette filter likely helps, too."

Jaune held a hand up, "Hold it… Worse? How bad are we talking here?"

"Very…" Pyrrha left that there, not wanting to relive the scenes in her head.

 **"** **Advancing!" When the smoke started to clear, Emerald moved forward down the hall.**

 **Jaune ran to the side, "Taking right!"**

 **Emerald peaked the corner but had to duck back to avoid gunfire. In the room next to her, two men were, assumingly, playing a game of cards. One of them flipped over the table for cover. It was weak and wouldn't help much, but it hid them and was better than nothing.**

 **Jaune heard the gunshots down his hall as it looped back behind the room.**

 **Emerald placed a hand to her earpiece, "Two contacts! Tossing stun!"**

Jaune tapped his chair for a moment, "Hold on… Didn't I toss my earpiece away?"

 **Emerald tossed another stun grenade in behind the table. The two guards were stunned long enough to be picked off by Jaune. He twirled his gun and smirked under his mask. "Enemy down." Then the grenade went off. "Ah! What the fuck?!"**

 **Emerald rounded the corner, "What are you doing?!" Emerald would have been dead as two more goons appeared from the staircase, saved only by their awful discipline. She ran in and tackled the still blinded Jaune to the ground.**

 **Jaune didn't take that too well, "Get the fuck off!"**

 **"** **It's me!" Emerald had to remind him given he was still likely blinded.**

 **"** **I know!" He pushed her off and the two took cover behind the table.**

Yang snickered, seeing Jaune's face. "You'll get used to it."

"How many of these have you seen?"

Yang shrugged, "Not sure. A bunch. And this is pretty tame compared to some of them."

 **One of the guards shouted, "You psychos are dead, you hear me?!"**

 **Jaune rolled his eyes and fired around the table at his back. Two shots fired before the guy dropped.**

 **Emerald popped up and shot the last off-screen guard.**

 **Jaune got back up, his mask ripped apart. "Where is Schnee?!" The door behind them opened and Jaune fired two shots.**

 **The guard slid across the door, his blood smearing on the surface. In the office behind him was Whitely, cowering behind a bat. The two moved into the room slowly, thoroughly freaking out the man behind the desk. "Oh God! Please don't kill me!"**

Mercury scoffed, annoyed by Whitely, "Yeah… That'll stop them. At least try to fight back…"

 **"** **Calm down." Emerald grabbed him by his jacket and pulled him up over the desk, "We're taking you** ** _alive_** **."**

Mercury groaned, "Weak…"

Emerald pinched the bridge of her nose, annoyed.

 **Jaune walked next to Emerald, "Whitely Schnee. You're wanted for murder, drug trafficking, money laundering, rape… I mean… LITERALLY the most jail-able offences you can possibly imagine."**

Silences. Nothing but crickets. This guy deserved to be put away for life, several depending on severity and time period, if he was guilty of all of that.

 **Emerald tossed Whitely to the ground opposite his desk.**

 **Whitely coughed, not used to taking hits, "What are you, cops?!"**

 **Emerald shook her head, "No…"**

 **"** **You're crazy! Don't you know my dad? You can't do this!"**

 **Jaune picked up the bat, "Christ, you are a stereotype."**

 **"** **Fuck you! Who do you think you are?!"**

 **Emerald cracked her knuckles as Jaune walked up behind her, bat over his shoulder. He pointed toward her as he walked up, "That's Locus," He gestured to himself, "I'm Felix. And…" He flipped the bat in hand. "We're the good guys." He reared the bat back and smacked Whitely across the face.**

Qrow finished a sip from his flask. "Bounty hunters if I had to guess."

"Pretty well armed for bounty hunters." Tai wasn't exactly into the idea.

 **The back door to the club burst open as Jaune shouted, "You said comms were useless!"**

 **Emerald was carrying Whitely's unconscious body. "I meant downstairs…"**

 **"** **USELESS!"**

 **Emerald tossed their target into the trash nearby to turn to Jaune. "That doesn't mean remove your earpiece!"**

 **"** **Well I'm sorry… Sorry I couldn't read that broken fucking brain of yours and realize you actually meant the opposite OF WHAT YOU FUCKING SAID!"**

Ilia raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, "How do these two get _anything_ accomplished?"

 **Two suppressed shots got their attention. They turned in unison to see the bouncer with a gun and two bleeding, bullet holes in his white jacket. He fell, and Mercury Black walked forward in a grey and purple body suit, showing one of his legs was robotic. He was not happy.**

Mercury grinned and raised an eyebrow. "So~ I'm part of this too?"

Emerald felt her eye twitch, _Oh gods, there's two of them!_

 **Jaune just dismissively waved, "Hey Siris."**

 **"** **Hey? That's all you got? Hey? Why weren't you on comms?"**

 **Jaune raised a calming hand. "This is…" his hand shifted to point to Emerald, "…entirely her fault."**

 **Emerald puffed up her chest, ready to smack the smug off Jaune, but was stopped by Mercury. "Stop! If you want me out here doing recon, then you need to listen to me when I talk to you." He turned to Emerald, "** ** _Him_** **I expected this from, but you…! We're supposed to be partners. Partners communicate…"**

 **Emerald sighed, "Right…" The two then looked toward Jaune.**

 **Jaune had his arms crossed and looking away. He groaned, "I'm sorry, okay! Now can we please get this scumbag in the car and away from the scene?"**

 **Mercury sighed and nodded. "Yeah… Let's go." As Emerald picked up the body again, the scene went black, given Mercury the last word. "I hate nightclubs…"**

Jaune sighed, "Okay… that was weird."

King appeared again, "We're just getting started. This is a three-part set, so the next two will continue the story~"

"Oh… Um… Okay…"


	71. Hostage Situation

**Knox: We're back again!**

 **King: We were away, so this took longer than originally anticipated.**

 **Knox: Part two, baby! Let's do this!**

 **Inspiration: Red vs Blue**

 **/\**

 **This round opened to a traffic light turning from green to yellow, then red. A car came to stop at the light. Inside was the trio of Mercury/Siris, Jaune/Felix, and Emerald/Locus. Emerald was in the back of the vehicle with arms across the back of the seats. Everything was rather calm until they heard Whitely wake up and start to shout for help. Jaune just rolled his eyes and turned up the radio.**

 **The car moved on when the light turned green but found another red light down the road.**

Yang groaned, "Ugh… I hate that…"

 **Mercury, who was behind the wheel, growled. "Come on…"**

 **"** **Relax," Jaune was notorious in the group as the more relaxed. "Job's done."**

 **"** **Job's not done until he's in custody and we get paid."**

 **Jaune rolled his eyes. "Then just run it."**

 **"** **No way. Last thing I need is a traffic ticket."**

Emerald shook her head. "Seriously?"

 **And Jaune agreed, slowly turning to face the driver. "Wow… Mercury Black, trained killer of men, draws the line at public safety."**

"To be fair," Jaune stated, "it is a weird dichotomy."

Everyone agreed it was weird, but more siding with Mercury. Some for the discretion abiding traffic laws can bring, others because that's just how they are.

 **"** **Arc…" Mercury turned for a moment, "I am not…"**

 **Emerald glared from the backseat, "Codenames…" If they were still on the job, then it was codenames only.**

 **They both looked toward Emerald as her eyes closed before the light turned green again. Mercury sighed, "Look, money's just a little tight right now."**

 **Jaune chuckled, "Money? We just scored the bounty of our** ** _lives_** **! Split three ways, that asshole is still buying me a new car, you can get your wife something nice…"**

Emerald groaned, "Did not need that image in my head. Besides, who would bother with _you_ of all people?" She was trying to goad a reaction out of Mercury, to no avail. He just kept watching.

 **Jaune leaned to face Emerald, "Locus does…" He paused, "whatever she does with money. I'm assuming therapy?" Emerald glared toward him, but remained silent before returning to her state before. Jaune shook his head and faced forward again. "Point is, we'll be fine. Cash in the bounty, lay low until things cool off underground…"**

 **Mercury was distracted by his car's internal display, "The fuck?"**

 **He didn't notice something that Jaune did. "Hey! Stop, stop, STOP!"**

 **Tires screeched as the car narrowly avoided hitting a faceless drunk. Said drunk then cursed them out and flipped them off before walking away.**

Winter smirked, "Seems Qrow is in this after all…"

"Hey!" Said drunk then cursed her out and flipped her off.

 **Jaune sighed in relief, "Jesus, man, pay attention."**

 **Emerald leaned forward from the back, "What is it?"**

 **On the display, they say Whitely Schnee's face, name, and… no record. No bounty. It was gone.**

"Well that's not good…" Glynda groaned.

"What? Did they take an innocent man?" Ruby turned to the teachers.

"That's not how bounty hunters work." Of all people, Roman explained. "They bring in those who have outstanding court evasions or those the police cannot acquire for whatever reason. But, if his record is gone, it means someone within the department scrubbed it away."

"So… do you have a bounty then?"

Roman smirked, "Why? Hoping to try to cash it in Red? Good luck. I _do_ have a bounty in Vale. 650,000 Lien. My hope is to hit a million before I finally croak."

Neo grabbed a poster, showing her face with a bounty of 575,000 Lien.

 **The scene transitioned to an empty parking lot. All three were outside the car as Mercury kicked a can as far as his frustrations would allow, with a hardy, "FUCK!" shouted into the air.**

 **Emerald was sitting on the trunk. "They have someone inside the IDP."**

 **"** **No! That's not possible."**

 **Jaune was pacing back and forth, thinking, "Every police force has bad cops."**

Roman nodded, remembering a few deals he'd made to stay where he is.

 **"** **Bad cops? They** ** _erased_** **his record! As far as they're concerned, we have an innocent man in our trunk! The fuck are we supposed to do with that?!"**

 **Emerald had another issue on mind. "And there's the equipment costs from the mission."**

 **That did not help Mercury's mental state. "Damnit!" He kicked his car with his bionic leg, leaving a massive dent. "Great… Now I have to fix the car…"**

"I… almost feel bad for Mercury here…" Yang leaned forward, explaining herself before anyone asks. "Guy's just trying to do his job and finds out its all for nothing. He's got a wife at home and money isn't coming in…"

Weiss blinked. "That was… rather insightful of you. And no jokes…"

"Not exactly something I joke about."

 **Jaune had an idea. An idea only this Jaune could have among them. "I know how we get our money…" He turned back to the two. "I don't care what his record says. Whitely is** ** _not_** **an innocent man. But he is the** ** _son_** **of the wealthiest man in the city. And we have him tied up in our trunk."**

"Is… is he saying…"

 **Mercury refused to believe what he was hearing, "No."**

 **"** **Siris…"**

 **"** **We are not crooks!"**

 **"** **Siris…"**

 **"** **Ransom?! Are you kidding me?! That's what you're suggesting right? You want to hold this kid for random?!"**

 **"** **Think about the money…" Jaune tried to appeal to the main reason they were out there that night.**

 **But Mercury tried to put his foot down. "The three of us set out to stop criminals! We do good, get paid, everyone wins! Random makes us no better than the guys we're trying to take down!"**

Roman sighed. "Normally, I'd crack wise about their moral codes, but he's already proven they're on the line. They're bad guys that do good deeds, if you think about it. If they do that, they _would_ be like everyone else…"

 **"** **Philosophically speaking, I see what you're saying, I do. But you're not thinking about this pragmatically." Jaune was notorious for this kind of behavior during the war.**

"War?" Jaune wasn't sure if this was a war hero type scenario or, if how he was acting now was anything to go off of, a war criminal.

 **"** **You're the one that brought us together." He pointed toward Mercury. "You saw something in us that we didn't, saw the good we could do with our talents."**

 **Emerald and Jaune were veterans of the Great War with the Covenant. The two had no marketable skills other than fighting.**

 **"** **But what you don't see… is that Whitely Schnee is a bad person. His father Jacque is a** ** _very_** **bad person, that pays bad people to do bad things! We hold his for -fuck it- let's say double the bounty, and we're taking money away from Schnee. We hurt him financially. Jacque Schnee takes a major hit, and we reunite a family." Jaune played this up as best he could, with was rather well.**

 **Emerald agreed with Jaune, "It's likely Jacque will become more protective of his son when he's back. Less men to cause trouble in the streets, less money to make those men happy. It** ** _could_** **yield better results than the original mission…"**

Jaune felt a shiver run up his spine. He… agreed. He saw the line of logic and how it might do better for all involved. He saw the greater good it _could_ do. Considering the underlying plan, though… that scared him. This was a slippery slope of thought. He'd have to be careful.

 **Mercury didn't like it, but he saw the logic. It was the only way out of the situation at this point. "Alright… So who wants to make the call?" Really, there was only one answer. The quote-unquote 'people person' in the group.**

 **The screen snapped to the interior of an old warehouse with Jaune holding a phone to his ear, a bored expression on his face.**

Yang snickered, "Jaune's the _people person_? That's like saying Ruby's a social butterfly."

Both parties shouted in unison, "Hey!"

 **They heard the phone ringing, only to get a voice mail. "Mother fucker!" He slammed the phone down onto the table.**

 **Mercury tried to inject a bit of humor. "Maybe he's not home."**

 **"** **Very funny…" After a moment, the phone started to vibrate. It continued for a few vibrations before Jaune picked up the device. "Hello?"**

 **There was a pause, before he spoke, "** ** _Where is my son?_** **"**

Weiss felt a cold snap run up her spine. It was the voice her father had when he moved beyond anger and into seething hate. She knew this wouldn't end well for anyone.

"So that's what your dad sound like." Yang scowled toward the screen. Weiss told the team stories about how dysfunctional the Schnee family was, and she was not a fan of the head of the company that shared their name.

 **Jaune smirked and placed the phone on speaker mode. "Jacque Schnee. I'm pleased to inform you that Whitely is here with us. Safe and sound." They could now see Whitely was tied to a chair with a bag covering the top of his head and duct tape over his mouth.**

 **"** **Should he not be in the custody of the police?"**

 **"** **See, that's the thing. According to their records, he's completely innocent! Must have been some mix-up at the IPD. Honest mistake, I'm sure…"**

 **"** **Hmm… I see…" It was clear by his voice that Jacque had no hand in clearing the record. It almost sounded like he'd have preferred Whitely** ** _was_** **arrested. "Then what, may I ask, do you plan to do with him?"**

 **Jaune laughed for a moment, getting his two partners to raise a brow. He was too into this. Jaune walked over to the window, "I can assure you, we have all sorts of plans for your son. But what happens to him… is up to you." Jaune walked around behind Whitely, "See, we went to a lot of trouble apprehending young Whitely, here," he pat his prisoner on the head and leaned against his side. "All** ** _you_** **have to do, is transfer 4 million Credits to a specified bank account."**

"Credits?" Ruby's head tilted as she asked.

Knox appeared again, "This world's currency, like your Lien."

"That's… that's a lot of money."

 **Jaune stood back up and knelt down in front of Whitely. "Once we get the payment, you'll receive Whitely's location and you two can go on with your lives. I know this must be difficult, but please know that if your payment isn't received by sunrise… these will be the last words you'll ever hear from your son." He ripped off the tape, causing Whitely to cry out in pain.**

 **"** **Dad! Please! Just give them what they want! Just… pay them…" He was cut off when Jaune placed a gun to his head. "Oh God…"**

"Yikes…" Yang winced, "Never knew Vomit Boy could be scary."

Jaune didn't want to say he's been told he's intimidating before. He just never tried to at Beacon. One time, when he was first meeting the boyfriend of one of his sisters, he was quote-unquote 'scary as hell.'

 **Jaune stood again, gun pointed square toward Whitely. "So, Mr. Schnee, I suggest you think** ** _very_** **carefully about…"**

 **"** ** _You're a fucking idiot._** **"**

 **This caught Jaune off guard.**

And everyone viewing. Whatever was going on wasn't making sense.

 **Jaune turned back to his team, but they were just as confused. Jaune turned back to the phone, "I… I'm sorry?"**

 **"** ** _No… You're not. But I'm going to make you fucking sorry._** **"**

Yang paused a moment before speaking, "So… is he going to be like… the action movie dad and try to break in to save his kid?"

Weiss and Winter turned toward each other, not sure how to think about this. Their father was a coward and a snake. Plus 4 million Lien would have been a drop in the bucket. He'd rather have just paid and moved on.

 **Jacque continued, "** ** _I'm going to make you wish you never set foot inside my fucking nightclub you stupid, rat-faced shit!_** **"**

 **That did not go over well with Jaune. "Mr. Schnee… I don't think you understand the gravity of your situation." He pointed the gun low and shot a hole into Whitely's leg.**

This got everyone to jump in their seats. Jaune's friends were just caught off guard by the sudden action. The villains were just surprised in general.

 **Mercury shouted, lurching forward, "Hey!"**

 **Jaune tossed the gun to the side and held up his hand to stop them. All the while, Whitely cried out in pain. Jaune gestured toward the captive, "Shut him up!"**

 **Emerald thought for a moment before moving over behind Whitely. She placed an arm over his chest and the other hand on his mouth to muffle his screaming. She nodded to Jaune to continue.**

 **Jaune shouted into the phone, "Four million credits, or your son is DEAD!"**

 **Jacque didn't even pause. "Do you think I give a shit about my son?"**

Any parents watching the scene were in horrified shock. He hadn't just said that, right? And if any of the parents were mad, Salem was downright Hellish. Everyone could feel the seething anger coming off her at how this man was acting.

Jaune leaned toward his partner, "Um… So, who is she?"

Pyrrha tapped her chair, "Her name is Salem, but she's from a different reality to one we live in."

Nora popped up with a grin, "And she's also your mom in that reality!"

Jaune blinked, "Wait, really?" That… would explain the anger. His mother in his own reality had a similar tick whenever someone threatened her family. Stories around his home said even Grimm would flee when she was mad.

 **Whitely stopped struggling against Emerald's grip.**

 **"** ** _My son… is the worst thing I have brought into this world. A fucking disgrace. He couldn't even run the nightclub I gave him. He is a parasite that does nothing but piss away my fortune. If you want the truth, killing him would be doing me a favor._** **"**

Salem roared out in a tirade of hatred for this man. The alternate Summer from the last three-part set got on her nerves. The Raven she met was a total bitch. But this guy? This guy took the cake and fucking ate it right in front of her.

 **"** ** _Unfortunately, this does not excuse you for the damage you have already caused._** **" The scene changed to the nightclub as men picked over their dead. The camera panned along to show the dead as they were left by Jaune and Emerald, reaching the discarded bat. All the while, they heard Jacque speaking, "If word got out that two bounty hunters killed my men, shot up my property, and kidnapped my son… all without consequence? That would most certainly be a sign of weakness." The camera followed the bat as it was picked up and tossed in hand by Jacque Schnee. "That is why I'm going to** ** _personally_** **bash your skulls open and feed you to my dogs." The scene then returned to Jaune in the warehouse. "** ** _Do we understand each other? Or have you not yet grasped the gravity of your situation?_** **"**

 **Jaune shook in anger. He'd fought in the Covenant War. He's killed too many aliens to count and even some humans that turned traitor or went crazy. He wasn't afraid of some two-bit ass hat of a crime lord. "You're full of shit, Schnee. And now your kid costs five million!"**

 **There was silence. Mercury tried to push forward and stop this, but Jaune gestured to stay back. After a while, Jacque spoke again. "** ** _Far too bold. It's obvious I've worked in this world longer than you have. You're a bad liar. But so you know that_** **I'm** ** _not bluffing, I can tell you that the bounty hunters Locus and Felix will not live to see the sunrise._** **" This got under their skins. "** ** _Oh, that's right. I know your aliases, and your scars. I know… that you're in the abandoned quarry outside of town._** **"**

Winter felt her eye twitch, "How on Remnant would he know that?!"

 **"** ** _What I want you to know, is that I have more than enough information to find you in the city. And if you somehow manage to slip away… I will find the people_** **you** ** _care about. The people_** **you** ** _love… and I will make them suffer in your place._** **"**

 **"** **Wait!" Mercury ran over and grabbed the phone, fear for the safety of his family overcoming him, "Listen! Just take your kid and we can forget this ever happened! No ransom, no money… Just take him and you'll never see us again!"**

Emerald glanced toward Mercury for a moment. If he actually cared about someone other than himself, would he act like that instead?

 **"** ** _I'll be seeing you soon, gentlemen._** **" With that, Jacque hung up the call.**

 **Mercury shook, "Fuck… FUCK!" He tossed the phone hard enough to shatter the screen on the ground.**

 **Jaune turned to Emerald, "You botched the cameras, didn't you?!"**

 **Emerald shook her head, "Cameras were offline."**

 **"** **Than how does he know our names, Sustrai?! How does he know what we fucking look like?!"**

 **Mercury was still freaking out. "How does he know we're here…"**

 **Whitely whimpered, "I got a chip…"**

"Wait…" Weiss held up a hand, "As in a tracking chip?"

 **"** **In my neck. I got a GPS chip in my neck. My dad put it there… And… there was a girl under my desk…"**

Qrow nodded and took a swig. "I was wondering what happened to her."

 **"** **Under your…" Jaune took a moment to really process what he heard. "Oh. Oh… OH! That is perfect! Classy too!" He was less than happy. Jaune walked passed the captive and took a breath.**

 **"** **I can't believe he said all that…" Whitely was not in a good place right now.**

 **Mercury tried to walk off, "I have to call Megan…"**

 **"** **You're not doing shit, Black!" Jaune got up in his face for that."**

 **"** **She could be in danger!"**

 **"** **We'll we're all in danger until we sort this shit out!"**

 **Emerald walked over and looked down at their captive. He was useless to them now. She didn't even hesitate to put him out of his misery.**

This got everyone to jump. Even the motherly Salem's rage was broken by sheer shock. The shot came out of nowhere; happening in the background, no less. The Schnee sisters were sad to see Whitely get murdered but remained stoic enough. And Emerald? Well, she's never actually killed anyone before. So this was an odd sight.

 **Emerald walked between the two, "Codenames…" She was broken by the war. Even no her codename, Locus, was the name of her armor variant at the time. It was a name she chose to use instead of her own. And was this attitude that scared her partners.**

 **The world blacked out to the sound of Emerald slamming the door.**

Jaune sunk into his chair. "Oh gods… And there's one more of those…"

Ruby took a breath, "Jeeze… that was a trip…"

Yang nodded, "But… I mean, at least we know it's nothing like our Vomit Boy." Yang chuckled at Jaune's groaning.

Jaune groaned, "Will you _ever_ stop calling me that?"

"Nope~"

Jaune took a breath. _First chance I get…_


	72. What Goes Around

**Knox: 1000 pages!**

 **King: It's a big thing...**

 **Knox: Break out the booze!**

 **King: We don't have mouths.**

 **Knox: Celebrate somehow!**

 **King: Fair enough. Hope you enjoy the final part to the Felix/Jaune prequal saga.**

 **Knox: Just the prequal?**

 **King: Don't get ahead of me, Knox...**

 **Inspiration: Red vs Blue**

 **/\**

Part three was ready to begin again.

 **The scene opened to Mercury looking over his sniper rifle as Emerald moved one of the onsite vehicles into position for cover. Emerald jumped down from the vehicle, "We're good on the north and south. Had enough extra limestone to make a bottleneck at the east end."**

 **Mercury nodded, "Good…" He had something on his mind in that moment.**

 **"** **Dynamite?"**

 **"** **In that crate."**

 **Emerald's eyes narrowed, "Good…"**

 **Jaune walks back into the scene with phone in hand. "Whelp! Our trust arms dealer isn't returning my calls. So, he's either high off his ass or thoroughly aware of how fucked we are." Everyone was silent. There wasn't much to say given the situation. Jaune nodded, "On the bright side, there's a pileup on 35, so… that buys us some time. You know… in case we want to just kill ourselves."**

Pyrrha was a little scared to hear that. "They're not going to… right?"

 **Emerald turned and glared toward him. "We have enough firepower. We have the cliff to our backs and a thorough understanding of our terrain." She picked up a gun and cocked it before pushing it into his chest. "We're survived worse. And if you waste even one bullet on yourself, I will be** ** _very_** **unhappy…"**

 **As she walked away, Jaune tried to joke, "Why's it always got to be about you?" It how he best dealt with bullshit situations with next to no way out.**

 **Mercury reached down and picked up one of their pistols.**

 **Jaune called to him from off screen. "Merc, want to give a hand with these."**

 **No response.**

Emerald raised an eyebrow. _What's going on with him?_

 **"** **Merc! Ammo!"**

 **Mercury looked up to Jaune for a moment before returning his gaze to his weapon in his hand. "Schnee doesn't know about me…"**

Cinder felt her eye twitch. Between the two, she trusted Mercury the least, that he might abandon the mission to save his own skin. And this wasn't helping.

 **Jaune stared toward Mercury, taking in his words. "What?"**

 **"** **Schnee… He called you both out. Locus and Felix…** ** _Two_** **bounty hunters… He didn't mention me. I was never inside."**

 **"** **The hell are you saying, Mercury?"**

 **"** **I'm saying I have a family! You and Emerald fight well enough without me!"**

 **"** **No, fuck that! Are you seriously trying to get out of this?!"**

 **"** **I never wanted this!"**

Kali nodded, "He's not wrong… He was rather vocal about it."

 **But that didn't go down well with Jaune, "Son of a bitch!" He pointed his weapon toward Mercury, who retaliated in kind, forming a stand-off.**

 **"** **Felix!" Emerald walked back over, still refusing to use their real names. "Siris is right. Schnee doesn't know he exists. If he wasn't here… no one would question a thing."**

Mercury raised an eyebrow, "Did… did she just give an out?"

Roman smirked, "Looks like it."

 **After a moment, Jaune groaned and moved the pistol, breaking the stand-off. Mercury looked to his weapon before placing it back on the table. The scene faded there to the entrance gate. The gates were bashed in as four large vehicles made their way across the dirt and into a line of cover. The men under Jacque's employ formed a firing squad.**

 **Opposite them was Jaune with a gun to his hostage's head. "So… what? Daddy chicken out?"**

"Wait… Didn't they kill him?" Ruby looked to the screen, a bit confused.

"They don't know that…" Blake explained.

 **A loud engine revving followed and three more vehicles, one significantly longer and better armored than the others, entered the quarry. The two smaller vehicles turned quickly and created a sniper line. The longer of the three moved closer and turned. More men got out of the car, guns at the ready. One of them tossed a phone to Jaune's feet, which started to ring.**

 **Jaune looked down at the phone a second before returning his attention to his attackers, "Really?" This was just sad… He picked up the phone and answered the device using the recognizable name, "This is Felix~"**

 **Jacque was, indeed, on the line, "** ** _Felix… Thank you for saving me the trouble of hunting you down._** **" Jacque was in the larger vehicle. "I respect a man who chooses to look his death in the face."**

That did not go over well with the interdimensional mother, "Fucking hypocrite!" This man was threatening her baby! (Kind of. Close enough!) And he couldn't even bother to face him?!

 **Jaune could be seen from the window of the car, "Well… that's awfully presumptuous of you."**

 **"** **Where is your partner?"**

 **Jaune looked up to the cliffs. "Oh… She's around. We wanted to give you one more chance to take your kid and go our separate ways."**

 **"** **I'm afraid, you're not in any position to negotiate."**

 **"** **Oh come on! I literally have a gun to your kid's head! Most people would say that's a pretty good bargaining chip!"**

 **"** **I am not most people."**

"No kidding…" Tai glared at the screen. "He might be _worse_ than Raven. Somehow…"

 **Jaune sighed and nodded, "Yeah… So I've noticed. But you were** ** _stupid_** **enough to come here."**

Ironwood nodded. "Not his brightest move…"

Yang turned to the general, "What? Calling that ass out?"

The general shook his head, "Not Arc. Jacque. He went to a location of known mercenaries after an extended period of time had passed, and one of them was just out in the open? Of course, it was going to be a trap."

 **Jacque hung up and tapped the glass of the window next to him.**

 **The man directly outside the car pointed his gun only to be sniped in the head before he could do anything else.**

This made everyone jump, given its abrupt nature. Then they remembered Emerald was still unaccounted for on screen.

Salem felt a smug sense of joy that her son and his partner (not like that, though she can hope for that to happen soon~) was thoroughly outsmarting that asshat.

 **One of the goons shouted, "Sniper!" before being picked off as well.**

 **The camera moved to Emerald's position on the cliffside, with sniper rifle in hand. "Move!"**

 **Then, it returned to Jaune, who kicked the bound body forward, "Moving!"**

 **Another of the goons grabbed Whitely as he approached and motioned for the others to chase Jaune. He removed the hood and heard a metallic sound. A small-ordinance grenade was wedged into Whitely's mouth and exploded, right in front of the window with his father inside.**

"That's… seriously messed up." Weiss did not need to see that. Technically, she didn't as it was off screen, but the effects were still there. Her brother's head just exploded… So, that'll haunt her.

 **Jacque was beyond pissed now. "Will somebody kill these motherfuckers?!"**

 **The sniper line started to set up on a nearby hill. One of them got a bead on Emerald, only to hear a device activate next to him. The entire hill area was lined with motion activated explosives. As the rest of the snipers turned to see what happened, four shots were fired with three being kill shots. The fourth dived to the side to fight back, but a bionic leg knocked away the gun and slammed onto his chest. Mercury had remained to fight with his team and shot out the man beneath him.**

Emerald raised an eyebrow. "I'm actually surprised you stuck around."

Mercury shrugged.

 **Jacque didn't take this well, grabbing his radio, "Renaldo! What's happening?"**

 **But the voice that answered was Mercury, "** ** _Sit tight, Jacque._** **"**

 **The scene transitioned to Jaune, running up to a conveyer belt to lift the stone. He sat onto the belt and fired back at his pursuers. After one shot, he placed a small charge onto the wall and started to run up the belt again. As he jumped off the belt to the nearby platform, a bullet went through his leg, causing him to loss his concentration and fall face first onto the metal platform. He groaned and pressed a detonator, blowing his pursuers to bits.**

Jaune couldn't help but recoil at seeing himself faceplant, but the same reaction occurred with the explosion.

 **He reached up as a hand met his. "How many is that?"**

 **Emerald was waiting for him, helping him up and placing his arm over her shoulders. "Nineteen."**

 **Jaune noticed another goon appearing over the ladder behind her. "Shit!" He tossed a knife toward the man, hitting him square in the nose with the hilt. It might not have been his plan, but it knocked him off balance enough to fall off the platform. Jaune just shrugged, "That'll work."**

Yang snickered, "Okay… that was kind of funny." The majority of the group was long since been desensitized to the violence.

 **The scene moved to Mercury running across the open ground with a shotgun. As Schnee's back line turned to fire toward him, he used his bionics to jump into a flip. As he did, he fired into the group, hitting one and killing him with the buckshot. He fired until he ran out of ammo, then reached for his pistol. The goons' automatic weapons were terrible for open spaced due to their recoil and spread, so the worst they did to him was knocking his pistol out of his hand. He ran off from the firing line and behind a buzz saw style digger designed to cut the stone into shape.**

 **As one of the men rounded the digger, he was kicked in the face by Mercury, who was standing on the large wheel. He flipped along the frame, his fighting style being based on fluid movement, staying out of reach before kicking someone's lights out. Speaking of, he slammed his foot downward and sliced the gun held by the goon in half.**

Mercury grinned, "I've got to learn how to do that."

 **He kicked the gun up and into another goon rounding the corner. Another kick placed the unarmed goon under the raised blade. As he pleaded, Mercury kicked down on the mechanism and popped the man open like a blood-filled grape.**

Jaune lurched forward, threatening to vomit at the sight. He held it back, but barely.

Pyrrha was there to comfort him, much to Velvet's jealousy.

 **The last of the goons proved more difficult to deal with as he opened fire on Mercury. The bounty hunter slid under the digger and up around the frame. He sliced the tall exhaust pipe off and spun it to keep momentum. He kicked the pipe through the air with his bionics and impaled the goon through the chest.**

Mercury's grin spread a bit further. "I _really_ need to learn to do that."

 **Mercury made his way over to the car, picking up a pistol. He opened the door and looked around inside, finding Jacque missing. The crime boss had snuck out and gotten around the hunter, smacking him across the head with the bat.**

Mercury scoffed, "Cheap shot."

Emerald laughed. "You're just mad you got smacked across the head."

 **Jacque was breathing heavily thanks to the adrenaline coursing through his veins. He kicked the gun away and glared down at Mercury. "I told you… I fucking told you, that I'd bash your fucking skulls in… Fucking bounty hunters."**

 **Before he could cave Mercury's skull in, bullets flew from off screen and into the crime lord. Off to the side, Emerald was holding Jaune up over her shoulder and both had guns being lowered. As per usual, Jaune was the first to speak. "What a douche."**

 **Mercury leaned up against the back of Jacque's car. "You shouldn't have brought family into this…"**

 **With his last breath, Jacque set the record straight. "You did first…"**

Jaune clutched onto his chair, "He's… not wrong."

 **That got to Mercury.**

At least the one on screen.

 **But, the bounty hunters Locus, Felix, and Siris** ** _would_** **live to see the sunrise. It was rising right now, actually.**

 **As Emerald set him onto the vehicle's back, Jaune scoff, "Nature's so fucking cliché."**

This got a few chuckles.

 **"** **We're alive." Emerald glanced toward him a moment. "Quit complaining."**

 **"** **Yeah? But it's part of my charm." As Emerald passed by, Jaune locked eyes with Mercury. "Hey… Thanks… for staying."**

 **The two shared a moment, but Emerald (and by extension reality) butted in. "We're still at our initial equipment cost. And then some."**

 **Mercury groaned. "Probably would have been smart to turn him in…"**

 **Jaune thought and looked back at the limo… truck… thing. "Well. What do you think we could get for this?" He tapped his knuckle on the back.**

 **The last scene was the car driving off down the streets through red lights.**

King appeared as the screen went blank. "So, Jaune? What did you think?"

Jaune took a breath. "It was… different. And I…" he sighed, "I don't know. This is just so crazy, you know?"

"You have no idea…"

"So… that was a version of me?"

"Yep. A version that could have been if everything fell into the same exact places."

"That's still weird to think about."

"If it makes you feel better, the next one is going to be more lighthearted."

Yang looked up to the fireball, "Oh? What's the occasion?"

"Well… that's my usual thing after sustained villain-Jaune sets." He was met with silence. "Bad people doing good things… For now…"


	73. Cutting a Promo

**Knox: Ooh! So, does this make him Dwayne 'The Rock' Jaune-son?**

 **King: Don't ever say that again.**

 **Knox: Kill joy.**

 **King: Jabroni.**

 **Knox: What did you call me?**

 **Inspiration: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (RWBY)**

 **/\**

 **The scene opened to the outside of a large stadium in Vacuo. It was fair cleaner and more ornate than the rest of the city around it. A large sign on one side was covered by white letters across a black and red background reading, [VWE].**

Sun slammed his fist into his other hand in a eureka moment, "I know this one!"

Neptune turned to his teammate, "You do?"

"Totally! Okay. Vacuo is notorious for all of the thieves and mercenaries, right? Well, there are two places they don't mess with. The first is Shade Academy since, without huntsmen, we'd all be dead. The second… is the VWE."

"Why not?"

"There's not a lot to do in the middle of a desert so, one day, some guy decided to set up a wrestling tournament. After a while, he hired the best to hold more, but that got dull after a while. So, he started to tell stories with it instead of having actual contests of strength. It's kind of stuck since."

Ruby flipped around in her seat to face Sun, "So… it's like the fighting in a play?"

"A play where people get bruised, bloody, braking bones, concussions… It's less fake and more, everyone working together so they don't kill each other."

 **The crowd inside roared. Within, a match was just ending as a man with dark blonde hair kicking his opponent in the jaw. He was dressed in gold and black tights and boots. His chest was bare, showing his crown tattoos and a fireball paintjob on his back. He was a short man at 5'4 and rather lean.**

Yang raised an eyebrow, "Okay, so who is that?"

No one recognized him.

 **The man ran over to a corner of the three tightened ropes and climbed up to the top. He bounced on the ropes a few times before jumping into the air and slamming his fist down onto the man's head.**

Tai recoiled at the impact. He could tell that was a legitimate strike, even if it was held back a bit. It was still going to hurt like hell.

 **The lean man swung his body around and pinned his opponent's shoulders down onto the canvas. Then pinned man had a partner, who tried to run to his defense, but the blonde had a partner as well. He was a taller man with bright purple hair and a black and white attire scheme of tights and a skin-tight shirt and boots. His beard made him look almost regal.**

Nora held her hands out, "Hold up! Purple… and gold… You don't think…"

Knox appeared and gasped, "YO! Dude! It's us! We're all human and shit!"

King followed the golden flame, "Huh... I don't know how I feel about this."

 **King grabbed the attempted rescue party by his neck and tossed him over the ropes and onto the hard ground below them.**

"I feel better about this."

This got a snicker out of Knox.

 **A referee ran over and slammed his hand onto the canvas three times before Knox let go and stood again.**

Eyes turned to Sun who had to explain, "They won. If they can hold the opponent down for three seconds, or at least until the official counts to three, they win."

Weiss shook her head, "This is absurd."

"It's no different than going to a play or concert, if you think about it~" Sun was aware of Weiss's talents as a singer thanks to Blake.

Weiss sighed and conceded the point.

 **Knox started to go into an over-the-top celebration while King watched on. The two then stood opposite one another before turning toward the camera. Knox stood in front of King and the two raised their arms at different angles, King's higher up than Knox, as a signature of the tag team.**

 **"** ** _Here's your winners, King and Knox! The World Breakers!_** **"**

 **As the two walked off, the people in the crowd were getting excited for what was going to happen next.**

Yang grinned, "Have to say, this is kind of neat. I'd prefer a _real_ fight though."

Sun shrugged, "Fair enough."

 **The next item on the day's schedule was set to start. And it started with a bang. The large screen in the back of the stage seemed to freeze over before shattering into a familiar snowflake pattern.**

Yang snickered and hid her smirk behind her fist. "I stand corrected~"

Weiss rolled her eyes.

 **Weiss walked out in an ice blue suit. This was the General Manager, basically the onsite figurehead for the actual authority figures. Though Weiss** ** _is_** **the daughter of the VWE owner and set to be the next owner, so she had some level of power in the company. She walked down the ramp to the ring and grabbed a microphone. "Well… I think we can call this a…"**

 **"** **Hold it right there!" The screen on the stage changed to pitch black before slicing apart to show a moonlight scene. Blake walked out from behind the stage and glared down at the GM. She was dressed in her ring gear: a pair of white pants, black boots, and a black crop top. Her entrance** ** _should_** **come with a long white coat, but she was too mad to put it on. Her ears were out in the open as well. "I think you're forgetting something!"**

Blake blinked. The style wasn't necessarily bad, she could see herself wearing it at any point, but it was odd to see.

Sun shrugged, "It _is_ a desert…"

"Fair point…"

 **Blake walked down the ramp, pointing an accusatory finger at Weiss, "I think you're forgetting you still owe me a match for the belt!"**

"Belt?" Blake turned to Sun.

The monkey faunas explained, "A big leather belt covered in gold plates, acting as a trophy since it's easier to work with and hand around. Basically, whoever has it is the champion."

"So, Weiss is the champion?"

Weiss felt a certain pride from that.

"But… Everything is scripted, and her father owns the company…"

Pride died as soon it arrived.

 **Weiss rolled her eyes and turned to the ramp. "Blake… Do you really think you've earned it?"**

 **"** **More than you! Everyone here knows the** ** _only_** **reason you have that belt is because your father owns the company!** ** _Daddy's little princess_** **using her clout to get whatever she wants while the rest of us work our asses off every day!"**

 **"** **Unfortunately, Blake… we both know I can't wrestle if I'm the GM. You'll have to wait until this Sunday. But, if you want a fight that badly, I think I can arrange something for you. But you'll have to wait until later. I'll even give you a bonus and make it the main event. That work?"**

 **Blake agreed, very begrudgingly. "Fine. But when Sunday rolls around… you're mine…"**

 **"** **Looking forward to it." As Blake walked off, though it was clear she was still very mad, Weiss turned back to the viewers. "Sorry about that. Something to look forward to I suppose. Now, let's get back to the show."**

Nora chuckled, "This is kind of fun."

Ren nodded his head from side to side, "It is structured well enough as a story. Blake's outburst seemed almost real."

 **"** **Now, speaking of Sunday, I have a surprise for all of you today! Tonight's going to get…** ** _electrifying_** **~" The crowd erupted at the promise as she left the canvas and toward the tables nearby.**

"What's going on now?" Ruby's head tilted.

Sun crossed his arms and thought for a bit, "Likely a promo. It's the story they tell outside the matches."

Nora grinned, "Electrifying, huh? Maybe it's me!"

 **The screen in the back turned bright, electric yellow, and they heard someone shouting through the speakers, "** ** _IF YOU SMELL! WHAT THE ROCK! IS COOKING!_** **" The golden color zoomed away and showed the familiar symbol of Jaune Arc. When Jaune walked out onto the stage, one thing became very clear. This wasn't a man, it was a god made flesh. Muscular, charismatic face, the man was made to rule a crowd. He was dressed in a pair of white pants and an open, button-up shirt with golden accenting, and a pair of sunglasses. He wasn't here for a match, that was on Sunday. He was here for another reason.**

Jaune blinked. Was that really supposed to be him? It, kind of, reminded him of his father, just… shorter. Seriously, his dad was a mountain (hence the nickname). Granted, this version was less intimidating and more approachable. He looked around to see how everyone was taking it.

Pyrrha and Velvet's faces turned bright tomato red. Yang and Coco were just stunned into a shocked expression. Nora chuckled seeing most of the group's expressions. Ruby… wasn't sure what she was feeling. Penny was… Penny. Blake… wasn't necessarily reacting like the others. She was used to the attire and build from her time in Menagerie. The male students didn't have as big of a reaction, turning deadpan for a moment and thinking it might be best to kick up their training regimen. Most of the teachers? They were laughing behind their fists. They'd seen too many students acting just like this to _not_ find it funny.

 **Jaune walked down to the ring with the crowd cheering for, who was very likely, the most famous and charismatic member of the VWE team.**

Yang couldn't resist. "Charismatic? So… the opposite of Vomit Boy?"

Jaune groaned.

Velvet was able to get a hold of herself hearing that, "I don't think it's _that_ bad…"

This got Jaune to feel better.

 **Jaune, or rather The Rock, placed himself onto the middle ropes and looked around at the crowd. After a moment, he jumped into the ring and made for the opposite side, where Weiss handed him the microphone. The crowd gave one last cheer before Jaune brought the mic to his lips. "Finally! The Rock has returned to the Vacuo Grand Stadium!"**

Nora snickered a bit, "Why is he talking like that?"

Ren nodded once before answering, "If this is all a big show, it's likely how he portrays his character."

 **Jaune continued, "The Rock needs to confirm something… I'm sure you all remember last week when Sun got his ass kicked by Cardin in the Cage Match. And now… Sun… You're the contender for the Vacuo Title Belt? Well, the Rock realizes why that is."**

Sun groaned, "I lost to that jerk?"

"Isn't it all fake anyway?" Tai turned to the monkey faunas.

 **"** **The Rock knows… It's because you've got a three foot nose, you turn it sideways, and stick it right up Jacque's ass!"**

This got a few laughs at Sun's expense, granted he laughed too. Sun wiped away a tear, "Damn he's good at this."

 **"** **And Sun, The Rock telling you now! That, come Sunday, The Rock is going to do what he does best AND LAY THE SMACKDOWN ON YOUR CANDYASS!"**

 **The crowd was loving this.**

The audience was mixed. Some where getting into it, others weren't quite fans. Some were just kind of there, not really paying attention.

 **"** **Now… On to** ** _Badass_** **Mercury Black."**

Mercury raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

 **"** **The Rock understands what took place. The night you won King of the Ring, you got down on your knees, folded your hands together, and prayed to God and it sounded like this…" He took up a prayer-like stance in the ring, looking up. He took on a mocking tone, "Dear God… It's me, Mercury. And I just won King of the Ring. But there's just one problem. Everybody still thinks that I ABSOLUTELY SUCK!"**

Emerald burst into a small laughing fit.

 **"** **And then, at that point Mercury, you're house started to shake, the heavens themselves opened up, God spoke to you and said this!** ** _Mary…_** **'It's Mercury'** ** _IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOUR NAME IS!_** **"**

Sun snickered, "That'll be on a shirt within a week."

 **"** ** _You're absolutely right! You do suck! And there's only one thing you can do. You go and find the man who is simply… electrifying. You must go find The Rock!_** **" The mocking voice returned, "'Oh God! Anybody but the Rock!'** ** _KNOW YOUR ROLE! AND SHUT! YOUR! MOUTH!_** **"**

Emerald was having a field day with this, much to her cohort's annoyance. But she didn't care. She just laughed at his misery.

Mercury wasn't impressed. "Could try and say that to my face."

 **"** **And then, Mercury! As fear went through your body, tears ran down your cheeks, and piss ran down your leg…!"**

Mercury's eye twitched. Emerald's laughing just got more blatantly in his face.

 **"…** **You're house started to shake again and what sounded like a million voices all called out to you, jabroni, IF YOU SMELL! WHAT THE ROCK! IS COOKING!"**

"What's a Jabroni?" Neptune turned to Sun.

"An insult. He's basically calling him a nobody and a loser."

Emerald took in a deep breath. She intended to hang that over Mercury for as long as she could.

 **The crowd went into a fit of cheers and shouting. This was the power of Jaune 'The Rock' Arc, The People's Champion. The most famous man in all of Vacuo, pride of the desert kingdom, and a hero to all.**

Jaune couldn't help but feel nice about that. He always wanted to be a hero, like his father and grandfather and so on. It was a less conventional type of hero, but the fact remains. It felt nice to know it was possible, you know?

/\

 **Knox: HEY!**


	74. Intermission 5: Christmas Special

**King: Break time.**

 **Knox: Thank goodness... I need this.**

 **King: By the way...**

 **Knox: Oh yeah!**

 **King/Knox: MERRY CHIRSTMAS!**

 **Knox: On Christmas no less! Boom!**

 **King: Don't ruin the moment.**

 **Inspiration: Intermission**

 **/\**

The screen started to glow for a moment before bursting into a scene with Jaune standing next to a decorated tree, dressed in red and white. Across the top was [Merry Christmas] written in green letters.

"What?"

Knox appeared, his circlet/tiara/thing replaced by a sagging red hat with a white puffball on the end, "Merry Christmas everybody!"

Ruby looked up to the magic being, thoroughly confused, "What's that?"

King appeared again, holly leaves hanging from his crown, "Knox… I did not agree to your… decorating my crown." He took a breath before addressing everyone. "Okay! Christmas is a holiday back in our reality. It's often associated with gift giving and good will towards others. To celebrate, we're going to have an intermission."

Knox bounced excitedly, "And we got you all gifts!"

"You'll find the gifts wrapped up and placed under a tree in the lounge. But I'll ask you all to hold off from opening them for now. We want this to be an event. We'll call you all when the presents are ready to open. Until then, enjoy your intermission."

Both fireballs disappeared with an effect of snowflakes falling to the ground.

Jaune looked around as everyone stood up, "What's going on?"

Nora bounced over behind him, "Intermission! We get to take a break and just have fun for a bit."

"Oh. Okay." Jaune stood up and walked out of the theater with his team.

Teams JNPR, RWBY, the duo from CVFY, Sun, and Penny made their ways to the arsenal to wait for King's call.

Ruby looked around and titled her head, "Hold on…"

Yang stalled next to her sister, "What is it, sis?"

"The lockers are all different." She opened the locker that previously held the alternate version of her scythe with the railgun, only to find a short sword and heavy pistol.

"Huh…" Yang opened the locker next to it to find a modified version of her own weapon, complete with built-in brass knuckles. "Cool."

Jaune walked over, a bit confused, "What's going on?"

"These lockers are usually filled with weapons and stuff we saw in the theater." Yang picked up the gauntlets and flipped them around in her hand, weighing it out. "We're allowed to use them here in the range."

Jaune turned back to the locker. It was the same number and label as his own back at Beacon. He opened it up to show a small pouch designed to be placed at one's thigh. He opened it up to find a series of small, nylon-wrapped blades. "Knives?"

Ruby peaked over his shoulder, "Carbon composite throwing knives. High end stuff…"

And idea formed in Jaune's head. "Hey Yang!"

The blonde brawler turned to Jaune, "What's up Vomit Boy?"

"A bet. If I can hit a bullseye on one of the targets, you have to stop calling me Vomit Boy."

Yang blinked before bursting into laughter. "No offense, Jaune, but I seriously doubt you can do that. Tell you what, if you can _hit_ the target with one of those knives, I'll stop."

Jaune picked out one of the knives, spun around, and threw the knife through the air. After a 50-meter spin, it landed square on the target's head, between the eyes; leaving everyone stunned into silence.

Sun was the first to celebrate the moment, "Holy shit! Where did you learn to do that?"

Jaune shrugged, "My mom taught me. Though, it's not great as an actual fighting style. The knives are easy to lose and the best kind, like these, are hard to replace."

Nora was the next to return to herself, "That's so cool!"

Ruby just looked toward the knife, "To bad it doesn't fit your fighting style…"

Jaune nervously scratched the back of his head, "Yeah… Not a great long-term weapon, but it would be nice to have a backup plan when I need them."

Ruby was in weapon maker mode, "I might be able to get the materials…" Plans were being made in her head.

Yang finally returned to her right mind but was still too stunned. "I… How did you… You hustled me!"

Jaune shook his head, "I said if I got a bullseye. You're the one that lowered the bar to just getting a hit."

"But…! You…!" Yang let out a heavy sigh. "Fine. You win. I won't call you Vomit Boy anymore."

"Thank you." Jaune activated the mechanism to retrieve the knife and place it away in the locker with the rest. _Finally._

"But you know…" Yang grinned, "Ruby has your scroll contact labeled as Vomit Boy~"

Jaune turned to Ruby, who turned away and whistled innocently.

Neptune arrived a bit later. "What did I miss?" He had a book tucked under his arm.

Sun crossed his arms and grinned at the scene before them. "Jaune winning a battle but losing the war. Oh yeah, apparently Jaune can throw knives."

"Really?"

"Yep. Kind of crazy."

"Yeah…" He lifted the book and opened it, flipping through the pages.

"Really dude?"

"Give me a sec…" Neptune found the page and read it over. "Okay… That's unnerving."

"What is it?" Weiss and Blake walked over to the two, staying out of the way of the scene.

Neptune explained, "This book is from the library. It's basically a record of a bunch of different types of Jaunes we've seen. Each is broken down based on their personalities, actions, and skills. Our Jaune shares the knife throwing skill with two other types we've met." He showed them the page that showed a Jaune in dark grey and gold armor labeled [Jaune Arc – Agent Arc]. The page next to it showed Jaune in a similar type of armor with hair cut shorter, a smirk on his face, and a knife balanced on his finger labeled [Jaune Arc – Felix]. The three remembered seeing these two in the theater. Agent Arc being the one that killed Ren to earn his freedom Project Freelancer. Meanwhile, they just got done seeing Felix in action.

Weiss slowly started to nod. "Well… unnerving is an understatement."

\/

King and Knox were watching the group in the armory.

Knox groaned, "Um… I don't think Jaune should be able to do that."

"The prime version, no…"

"Prime?"

"Did you think I could get the Prime variations from the show? They're all King variations from my timeline."

"I… did not know that. So… they're not the canonical versions?"

"I don't have that kind of power. I can only effect those that are under my power, remember?"

"Right… Then… are they really reliable for that?"

"Same basic personalities, but with small deviations in histories and choices. Very minor. Though… This should change things."

"Is that why you did this? To change their timeline?"

"I shall neither confirm nor deny. Speaking of…"

\/

The speakers hissed on as King spoke, " _Will all viewers please gather in the lounge for the Christmas celebration!_ "

The area was transformed from old emerald-colored lounge to a red, white, and green party scene. Tinsel and streamers were hung around the entirety of the lounge. A giant, frost-tipped tree was set up on the stage with a variety of colorfully wrapped gifts underneath and around it. Each box was color-coordinated to the viewers. The tree was topped by a bright purple and gold pair of stars. Not having a holiday of a similar style, the scene amazed the crowd. They holiday's sure, but not giant productions like this.

King appeared, the holly removed from his crown. "Welcome and Merry Christmas everyone!"

Kali looked around and smiled. "This is quite the set up. Is this holiday that important in your world?"

"It depends from person to person. There are a lot of holidays happening around the same time, but this is what Knox and I celebrate. It's all about bringing everyone together in peace and joy. At least, that's the idea."

Knox bounced over, still wearing the hat from before, "We also exchange presents with each other~!"

"Unfortunately, anything we give you cannot leave this realm. So… Sorry about that I suppose. As of now, it's a gathering of friends and family."

Knox sniffled exaggeratedly, "I love you, too man~!" Clearly said jokingly.

"Right… Anyway, let's get this kicking then." King floated around and the décor started to glow with magical lights and power. "Go ahead and mingle. Cookies were baked and placed on the table if you wish. Various tradition pieces are around with explanations should you wish to learn then. Enjoy~"

Ruby made a b-line for the cookies. She was amazed to find, not just the usual chocolate chip cookies, but decorated sugar cookies purposefully made to look like various festive items and symbols. "Woah~!" She took one of the cookies designed like a holly leaf and bit into the treat. It was just a simple sugar cookie covered in icing, nothing special, but she had to admit that it was a good cookie. There was something about the festivities and being together with others that made the concentrated sugar taste that much better.

Everyone was just looking around for a bit before getting into the spirit. And, it had to happen eventually, someone found the piece of foliage hanging from a small outcropping. Nora looked up to the leaf and blinked, "What's this thing?"

Ren walked over next to her, "It looks like mistletoe."

Knox floated around the two, giggling to himself. "This is too precious~"

Nora's gaze followed the fireball, "What is it?"

King popped up next to them, "Mistletoe has a distinct tradition in our world, wherein any two people underneath the hanging plant are to kiss."

"Wait… What?!"

Everyone around them watched on at the scene to play out they all felt should have happened a long time ago. The two looked toward one another in uncertainty. They'd always been together, ever since the Nuckelavee attack when they were young. But they'd never actually thought about becoming anything more. At least, not directly. In the back of their minds, perhaps they always felt drawn to each other. This dumb little tradition, which isn't inherently romantic mind you, was making them finally think about this. The two turned to one another and shared a quick kiss, nothing special, but it was a spark. Something to make them evaluate their relationship together.

Jaune smiled at the scene, but something was weighing on his mind. He walked toward the tall woman with the ashen skin. "Excuse me."

Salem had a cookie placed in her mouth. She was surprised to see Jaune approach her so soon. She snapped the sugary treat between her mouth and fingers. After a second, she cleared her throat before speaking, "Yes?"

"I'm sorry if this sounds weird, but I've heard that you're from another dimension and that you're my mother in it…"

Salem nodded. "I am."

"This is kind of weird to say then, but it's nice to meet you."

Salem took a breath, shaking a bit. "You look so much like Monty…" Her arms wrapped around Jaune's head and shoulders. "I'm sorry… In my world, you want nothing more than to be a hero. But you inherited my appearance and people can only see you as a villain-to-come…"

Jaune was surprised, but it didn't really matter. He wrapped his arms around her to try to comfort her. She was so much like his own mother. So much in fact, that his lungs were starting to collapse under her hug of death. He tapped her back, speaking out of instinct, "Mom! Choking! Not breathing!"

Salem's eyes snapped open and she released her hold, "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!"

Everyone was just enjoying themselves. King and Knox floated around the scene.

Knox chuckled at the scene, "Merry Christmas, King."

King nodded, "Merry Christmas, Knox…"

"Something on your mind?"

"Not as of yet… Just… thinking." King disappeared again. This was a nice moment in time. One that no doubt began to change their outcomes. This was finally a true deviation. A true King Timeline has begun.


	75. Show Time

**King: Big new chapter baby!**

 **Knox: What took it so long?**

 **King: Smash Ultimate happened.**

 **Knox: Fair enough.**

 **King: Alright. Let's go!**

 **Knox: Hey, real quick...**

 **King: What's up?**

 **Knox: Why don't you say 'hope you enjoy' anymore?**

 **King: What?**

 **Knox: You haven't said 'hope you enjoy' in a while.**

 **King: Huh... I guess when we started these opening skits, I stopped saying it as often. Well, hope you enjoy the chapter.**

 **Inspiration: Metal Gear Solid**

 **/\**

After their party, everyone gathered in the theater again. A few among them took up new seating arrangements. Salem was now sitting behind Jaune and his team, now that she had family in the audience, kind of but close enough for her.

And so, the next world began as the screen came to life.

 **The scene opened to an old Atlassian military base, specifically the base nearby the city of Argus. Soldiers opened the gate for a military truck entering the base before slamming it shut again. The camera followed the truck until it stopped in front of the supply station. One of the soldiers walked up and opened the back, carrying a box inside.**

"Okay." Yang leaned back, "Where is this going?"

 **When the soldier returned, one the boxes was on the ground instead of in the truck. This got him to pause long enough for a pair of hands to reach out from the truck and pull him inside. There was a muffled sound before a man in the soldier's uniform hopped out of the truck, his face obscured. His blonde hair pokes out from under the military cap.**

Jaune blinked, "So… that's supposed to be me?"

"Most likely. But it wouldn't be the first trick if it isn't." Neptune crossed his arms.

 **As Jaune moved, a voice rang in his head, "** ** _Okay. The data is in the upper command room._** **" The voice was that of Oscar, oddly. "** ** _The problem is getting there._** **"**

Oscar blinked. He was somewhat used to Ozpin being his head, but he never thought about what would happen later. Would he be the next voice in someone's head?

 **Jaune spoke to Oscar in silence. "** ** _So, you said there was a problem?_** **"**

 **"** ** _Very funny. But the point still stands. This is Atlas we're talking about. Not some two-bit, we'll-take-anyone group like the White Fang. This is the Atlas Military, the most disciplined and well-equipped fighting force on Remnant!_** **"**

Ironwood and Winter felt a real pride hearing that. Even if it wasn't actually them, it felt good that their military force was still the best of the best.

 **Jaune walked through the halls, avoiding people just enough to not arouse suspicion. "** ** _How about you stop sucking Ironwood's Irondick and transmat the floor plan to my eye._** **"**

Qrow broke out into laughter. Not because of the joke, he's made it too often to count, but because of Winter's reaction.

 **Oscar sighed. "** ** _Alright. Plans are on route._** **"**

 **Jaune tipped his hat up a bit, revealing his eyepatch-thing. However, this was actually a multi-use device designed to appear as such. Within the small frame was radar, thermal vison, motion sensors, and a telescopic lens.**

Ruby geeked out a bit, "Woah! That's crazy! Can that actually be made?"

Jaune blinked, "How did they make it so small?" This got people to look toward him, confused. "One of my sisters has a knack for this kind of stuff. She made something similar, but she can't get it any smaller than a visor since she tends to add so much."

Salem leaned forward, "Marie?"

"Yep."

"Of course…"

 **It was easy to disguise as an eyepatch, but held so much. What it didn't hold was his communication system.** ** _That_** **was via nano-machine technology planted into his mind. This allowed him to contact Oscar without speaking out loud.**

Gira raised an eyebrow, "Well, that's pretty interesting. How would that work?"

Jaune shook his head, "I'm sure Marie could explain it, but good luck understanding her… I swear you need a 300 IQ just to talk to her."

 **The scene flipped to a series of monitors. Behind them all was Oscar, dressed rather shabbily and with a pair of glasses reflecting the screens. The reflection showed the soldiers finding their unconscious comrade on the truck. "They found your work."**

 **The camera returned to Jaune as he ducked into a storage closet. When he came back out, he was dressed in a skin-tight grey suit. "** ** _Just means I can get to work my way._** **" His suit turned himself completely invisible, unseen by the guards passing nearby.**

Everyone was genuinely shocked, which was hard given their location. But seeing him, then not? That was rare.

 **The guards pass in a rush.**

 **Oscar groaned on the other side of the codec system, "** ** _Get the drive to the console and get out of there._** **"**

 **"** ** _Already on it._** **" Jaune moved, invisible to the world, through the base. The only way the audience saw him was the occasional flicker. After a while, he reached the console room. He lightly opened the door and peaked inside to see two guards sitting at the station. He growled under his breath before slowly crawling over to the console to minimize his presence. Once he arrived, he plugged in a small drive. "** ** _Hurry up and download it._** **"**

 **"** ** _Oh please. I'm already done. Just need to decrypt. Shouldn't be more than a few seconds._** **" The scene changed to Oscar typing on his system.**

Nora groaned, "This is boring…"

Ren shrugged, "I like it. Like a spy thriller."

"But nothing's happened!"

 **Oscar bit into a cookie when he saw a certain file, nearly choking on his snack. He slammed the communication line to Jaune, "Snake! The Atlas Project is a Metal Gear!"**

"Snake?" Neptune half-smiled with a raised brow.

"Likely a codename." Weiss determined. "More importantly, what's a Metal Gear?"

 **"Yeah…" The scene changed to Jaune standing over the unconscious guards, a massive robotic frame outside the window looking in on him. "I've noticed."**

Nora paused, blinked, then grinned, "Woah! Giant robots!"

RWBY wasn't all that impressed. They fought a giant mech before, right?

Oh, how naïve they are~

 **The mech leaned to place its Gatling gun on the window before opening fire into the room. Jaune was able to avoid the bullets and leapt from a nearby side window. Jaune looked up to the mech, easily 13 meters tall.**

Eyes turned to Velvet. "A bit over 42 feet."

Yang recoiled a bit, "Well… Glad we didn't have to fight that…"

 **The mech stomped forward and looked down toward the intruder.**

 **Jaune ducked behind a large chunk of the base for cover, "Oscar! Do those plans tell you how to stop this thing?"**

 **"** ** _I'm looking! But it'll take time! Wait a second…_** **"**

 **The mech roared and a pod on the side opened.**

 **"** ** _Snake! That thing's packing nukes!_** **"**

Chills ran up all but Jaune's spines.

Blake shook in her chair. "Nukes?"

Jaune was out of the loop, so he had to ask, "What's a nuke?"

"It's…" Pyrrha stalled, "It was a type of explosive we saw you create in another world. A single bomb fell onto a city and destroyed it, completely destroying the area."

"That's… that's possible?"

"We don't know yet. We kind of hope it isn't in our world."

 **Jaune looked up at the mech, "No shit, Sherlock. That's what a Metal Gear was designed for." Jaune pulled a small pin and caused the canister to unleash green smoke. "Let's bring this thing down." He tossed the canister under the mech's legs. It looked toward the smoke and then to the skies. A small drone flew over and dropped a small bomb on the Gear. Nowhere near powerful enough to stop it, but enough to distract it as it dropped a package for Jaune nearby. Jaune picked up the materials from his position. The mech watched the drone and started to lock onto the aircraft. Before it could fire, Jaune rolled out from the cover with a rocket launcher over his shoulders. He fired the RPG toward the mech and knocked it off balance.**

 **Jaune ducked back behind cover as the mech's miniguns roared again. "Oscar! Intel! Now!"**

 **"** ** _I'm working on it! Okay! Metal Gear Titan. The frame is a repurposed Rex model with better armor and weapons. Twin miniguns, rocket pods, anti-personnel flamethrowers, and three intercontinental nuclear missles. It uses one of those Knight bots as a pilot. And before you ask, it's off the main connections. It only responds to specific verbal orders. You'll need to be more direct._** **"**

 **"Care to send me something to break that armor then?"**

 **"** ** _On its way._** **"**

Ironwood's eyes narrowed. He didn't like this. Ever since he saw the nuclear bomb, he hated the implications that could come. But knowing an alternate version of his own military created something for the purpose of launching one of those… things? That pissed him off. He was actually rooting for Arc to beat Atlas's new monster.

 **Jaune dove to avoid more gunfire as the miniguns ripped through his concrete haven. He loaded another rocket and fired into the side of the mech's leg, knocking it down onto one knee. There was no lasting damage, but it slowed down long enough for Jaune to duck behind a new piece of cover.**

 **"** ** _Jaune. I got you a little something._** **" The drone from before appeared and dropped a crate next to Jaune.**

 **He opened the crate to find a sniper rifle and a set of three small grenades. "Oscar…"**

 **"** ** _Just trust me. Take that thing down!_** **"**

"How would that stop that thing?" Yang glanced toward Ruby for an answer.

Ruby, however, just shrugged, "Not sure. The rifle is high power, but unless it comes with heavy piercing ammo, which it wouldn't at that size, it won't be able to puncture the frame. At best, it would break through thinner plating and metals."

Jaune looked to the grenades and the rifle and back again. "That might work…"

"What might?"

 **Jaune tossed a grenade under the mech's leg. When it burst, however, it wasn't an explosion but a pulse wave. This was a localized EMP capable of knocking out most tech.**

Ruby blinked in surprise, "That's a thing?"

Weiss nodded, "Yeah. They're not used very often since most people don't use too much tech in actual fights. At best, you'd only be able to keep someone from shifting their weapon's form."

 **The mech was well designed and required prolonged wave exposure. Which was why Oscar gave him three. Two more bursts brought the mech down for a reboot. Thus, began the endgame. The canopy opened up to reveal the mechanical pilot inside. The Rex frame would be its undoing. Oscar had deliberately programmed the Metal Gear with that flaw, forcing the pilot to be seen at all times.**

Oscar's breathing paused. He designed one of those things? He created a walking nuke launcher?

 **Jaune leveled his rifle toward the pilot and fired the bullet strait for the exposed bot. The world went into slow motion, following the bullet as it flew into the robot's head. The head flew back and the canopy slammed shut.**

Tai blinked at the scene. It was a cool shot, but something had to be asked, "Did it work?"

 **Oscar had the same question. "** ** _Well? Is it offline?_** **"**

 **"Oscar… be honest… is it ever that easy?"**

 **The mech let out a giant burst of steam before beginning to stand up again. It roared and three missiles appeared from within the frame.**

 **"What's it doing?"**

 **"** ** _I'm looking into it. There was nothing else but the obvious specs in the Titan file. I'm looking at the others as they… what the hell?_** **" After a moment, Oscar screamed, "** ** _Snake! That thing has a doomsday program! If it loses connection with Atlas, it'll fire it's nukes at preprogramed targets!_** **"**

Winter groaned, "A dead man's switch…" The principle was simple. If the person let's go of the switch, a reaction would follow. Trains use them to brake and avoid runaways.

 **Jaune growled. "How long until launch?!"**

 **"** ** _Five minutes!_** **"**

 **The missiles don't arm until they're airborne to avoid a premature explosion on site. All he has to do is keep them from launching. Thankfully, the Titan had to remain still to calibrate the launch. He climbed up the mech and onto the jawline. He hit an emergency switch on the side and forced the cockpit back open. He cut the ties to the Knight and tossed it onto the ground below.**

Penny would find the series of events rather disturbing, but knew the Knights were less robot and more tool with a rudimentary AI. There was also the fact that Jaune was trying to prevent a nuclear attack! Screw that mechanical asshat! Go Jaune!

 **He hopped into the seat and looked at the console. It was almost identical to the Rex model. "Didn't think Atlas was** ** _that_** **dedicated to recycling." He started to work through the launch sequences and tried to shut it down. After a while, he slammed his fist onto the console. "Locked down…" He growled and swung back onto the outer frame, climbing up to the top of the mech. If he could remove the missiles from the mech, he could prevent the launch, but it would risk setting something off. Best option he had right now. He ran over to the missiles and started to get to work.**

Everyone was silently watching, hoping he'd succeed in stopping the launch. All but one, but Cinder was always a strange one like that.

 **He was able to break the link between two of the rockets before the third started to launch, fire roaring out from it's back. It started to push forward on its stand.**

Breaths were held. Would they have to see another explosion like that?

 **Jaune shot the stand with the rifle from before and knocked the stand to the side, causing the missile to crash into the fortress. The missile was grounded while still unarmed. Unable to reach the appropriate altitude for attack, the missile remained docile.**

Cheers erupted around the room for Jaune's success.

 **Jaune let out a breath before sitting on top of the mech. He pulled out a cigarette and just enjoyed the peace with a smoke.**

Jaune didn't like the idea of smoking, so this was an odd sight.

A few eyes turned to Roman, expecting a reaction or something, but he just rolled his eyes.

 **Jaune let out a puff of smoke. "Mission Complete."**


	76. The Tale of Ozpin the Gallant

**King: We're back. And this is going to be a fun one...**

 **Knox: No kidding.**

 **King: Well... I hope you enjoy the chapter. Now, let's get this going.**

 **Knox: So it begins. he mission to create peace...**

 **Inspiration: Naruto**

 **/\**

The next world was set to start, and it was… something.

 **The story opened to a large city of pipes and steel, placed in a perpetual rainstorm.**

"How would that be possible?" Port raised an eyebrow. "There are locations with extended rainy seasons, but never 'perpetual' as it says here."

 **The scene fell upon Ozpin walking through the streets in a hooded poncho.**

Ozpin took another sip from his mug. "This should be interesting."

 **Ozpin was on a mission in this area, known as the Village Hidden in the Rain. Very appropriate, but hardly creative. He walked through the city, looking around to find his targets. He expected them to try to hide in shadows, but he found them out in the open. Two men with metal headbands showing four vertical lines slashed through the center horizontally. Ozpin started to follow them to their hideout. It was time to smoke out the leader of the Akatsuki.**

Blake raised an eyebrow. "That's a new one."

Yang turned to the feline faunas, "What does it mean?"

"Depends on how you write it." Gira was the first to explain. "In short form, it means daybreak. Broken in two, it means red moon."

"So, probably a criminal thing?"

"Most likely." Roman leaned back in his chair. "Plenty of organizations out there with dumb names."

 **Ozpin's eyes narrowed, and he followed the two men. After a while, he reached a section of town without anyone else around. In a single swift motion, he knocked both men out and dragged them off for an interrogation. The two men woke up in an old warehouse with Ozpin looked down to them. He eyed the men and glared, "Alright. Save us all some time and start talking. Where's your leader?"**

 **One of the men started to chuckle before bursting out into completely laughter. "Our Lord is everywhere. This is the might of our god and his angel~!"**

 **The second man smirked and tilted his head, revealing a strangely designed tattoo on his neck. "And we're happy to give our lives for his will, Ozpin." The tattoo started to hiss before his body erupted like a living bomb.**

Everyone jumped. And this time, it really was everyone. Even Cinder was surprised at the man suddenly exploding like that. It was bone chilling.

 **When the smoke cleared, both men were ashes and a large grey ball of hair spiking out like a barrier of needles. In fact, it was a barrier, protecting Ozpin before his hair returned to normal.**

Yang was interested now. "Woah! How did he do that?! Was that his semblance or can anyone learn it?!"

This got a chuckle out of her team and family.

 **Ozpin sighed. "So much for that." His attention was caught when the downpour around him had ceased. He looked around, confused. The Rain Village is supposed to have rain falling 24/7 during the raining season like today. So why had it stopped. Then, a small paper crane flew down slowly next to him. His eyes narrowed, and he looked up toward the sky.**

 **Above him was a woman with bright red hair. Her body was seemingly made of paper squares stacked into the form of a body. A pair of bright white paper wings kept her in the sky. She was dressed in a long black robe with red clouds adorned around it. Her green eyes were filled with apathy for the man below her.**

Nora gasped. "Woah! Check it out Pyrrha! You're like an angel!"

"A paper angel, apparently." Ren glanced to the champion and back to the screen.

 **His glare changed to concerned confusion, "Pyrrha? What are you…?" Before he could finish, Pyrrha raised an arm and a swarm of paper squares flew off toward Ozpin. As he ducked underneath the swarm, a piece came close to his head and cut a few strands from his hair. If he had waited even a fraction of a second, there was a real possibility of the paper embedding in his body like knives.**

Yang turned to Ruby, "Can that happen?"

"In theory." Ruby shrugged. _In theory_ anything can become a weapon if thrown or propelled with enough force. "But the paper is also flying on its own, so I don't know how."

 **Ozpin slammed his hand on the floor and it folded in to allow him to drop into the lower floor. Pyrrha just watched and allowed him to escape into the lower floor.**

 **Ozpin ran through the pipe-covered hall. "Why is she here? If she is, then Jaune and Neo should be as well.**

Neo raised an eyebrow. She was a part of this one as well?

 **Ozpin was pulled out of his thoughts seeing a man at the end of the hall. He was a tall man with dark hair and a strawberry pink ponytail. He dressed in the same black cloak with red clouds. He also had a multitude of piercings on his face.**

Now Neo was just surprised. She saw the world where their genders were flipped, but never saw her own counterpart. Was this him?

 **Ozpin slid to a halt. "What the…" The hair was similar to Neo's but the man's face was too familiar. A flashback showed the same man with his normal red hair. The picture faded to the current scene. "You're supposed to be dead. I killed you!" It was during a mission to protect a village in the area. The man was a rouge ninja and a dangerous threat. He was dealt with. So why was he here?**

 **Then, Ozpin saw the man's eyes. The entire surface was a light purple with black rings radiating out from the pupil.**

"Those are some crazy eyes." Roman leaned back in his chair. "Gives me the creeps."

 **Ozpin's eyes narrowed.** ** _First he's dead, and he has the Rinnegan? What's going on here?_**

"Rinni-what?" Nora looked around, but got no answer.

 **The man stared off toward Ozpin. "I didn't think they'd send** ** _you_** **to find me."**

 **Ozpin's eyes narrowed, "** ** _You're_** **the leader of the Akatsuki?"**

Yang grinned, "Final boss already?"

 **"I am Pain. We are god."**

 ** _We?_** **Ozpin suddenly found the floor shattering apart as a hand reached up to grab him. He was able to avoid the attempt, but the man continued and came up from the floor.**

Glynda adjusted her glasses, "Impressive reflexes as always."

Ozpin grinned and took a sip from his mug. Then, he looed down at the liquid. "But what did he mean by 'we'?"

 **The new man was bald, but possessed the same coat, piercings (though in a different pattern, including spikes out from the top of his head), and eyes.**

 **Ozpin growled, "What the hell is going on? Why do you have those eyes?" One of them was weird enough, but two of them? Then there was the man that actually had hair. It was Neo's hair color and Jaune's eyes…**

Jaune blinked a moment. "My… eyes? Seriously?"

Neo raised an eyebrow. So this wasn't her male version… Then who was he and why did he have her hair style?

 **The man with the ponytail started to make various signs with his hands.**

Now it was Blake's turn to be a bit surprised. "What the?"

Ilia turned to her old friend, "What is it?"

"Those hand signs." She lightly smacked her head, "I remember this… what was it?"

Gira nodded, "The Kuji-in. A group of syllables and hand signs designed for meditation. They're actually rather helpful for dealing with stress."

Blake turned to her father, surprised. "That's what it was. But… isn't that used for ninjutsu?"

He just shrugged, "I learned them when I was young. And they've proven very helpful."

Sun glanced to the large man with his hands behind his head, "Think you could teach those to me? I've been meaning to branch out into new methods."

This genuinely surprised all his associated except Neptune. Blake slowly turned toward Sun, "You meditate?"

Sun just grinned and nodded. "Yep! It's part of my semblance training. Now it's more of a habit."

 **The ponytailed man slammed his hand on the floor. Black symbols spread out as the camera swapped to the outside of the building. After a moment of calm silence, the side of the building erupted as a giant multi-headed dog ripped through the concrete wall. The dog also had piercings and the purple eyes.**

Blake and Kali went into panic mode and hid behind Gira.

 **Ozpin was flying through the air and spun around to stand on the side of a nearby building. He made similar symbols before slamming his hand on the wall. As the dog charged forward, a two-pronged spear appeared from the side and the camera snapped back to show a giant toad in a kimono wielding the weapon.**

Yang started to laugh, "What the heck?" Seriously, giant toads in kimonos? This was getting weird.

 **Ozpin made another set of hand signs as the bald man jumped from the original building. His legs gave way to rockets, allowing him to fly through the air toward Ozpin. Oz took in a deep breath as he approached.** ** _Fire Style: Emerald Inferno!_** **He loosed a breath and a bright green fire flowed out from his mouth toward his attacker.**

Ozpin paused just as he was about to take a sip from his mug. He'd never thought of seeing any magical abilities anymore. The summoning before, he couldn't do that. The emerald fire? That used to be a signature skill of one Ozma. So… that got the reaction.

 **The attacker just flew through the fire and popped up from within. His body was mechanized, and his hand had shifted into a cannon. Ozpin was just able to dodge the energy attack that ripped into the wall beneath(?) him. Ozpin spun around in slow motion, the camera zooming in on his hand as a sphere of energy formed. It was like a miniature windstorm in the palm of his hand. He slammed the orb into the man's back and against the wall. The mechanized being ripped apart, pieces falling to the ground below.**

Penny felt a shiver run up her spine. Not from the scene per se… Which was strange. But that there was something else. Something everyone else couldn't quite see.

 **Ozpin growled and looked back up to the supposed leader. The man just made another hand sign, striking the floor again. In a puff of smoke, another man with brown and pink hair appeared next to him. This man was taller and with long, straight hair flowing down over his back with twin strands framing his face and down his body.**

 **Ozpin landed on a balcony and thought of his next plan of action, only to have a beam of energy rip through the supports and force him to the ground below. As he fell, he noticed the mechanical man was perfectly fine again. Another man like the others, but with much shorter hair, was next to him, "What the…" The straight-haired man was suddenly next to him with a hand on his chest. As the man's hand pulled away, a transparent copy of Ozpin started to pull out with him. Ozpin was saved when the toad slammed his spear onto the ground and caused the man to lose his connection. Ozpin took in a deep breath and placed a hand on his chest. That one… that one was dangerous. He had the power to rip the very soul from his target.**

Qrow had to spit take hearing that. Third in his life. All of them here… To be able to rip out a person's soul? What the hell was this world?

 **Ozpin slammed a foot on the ground and a large sword appeared from a puff of smoke. "Okay… four on one. Might actually be a challenge.** ** _Might…_** **" He took in another breath and unleashed another green inferno. Unlike before, another man appeared and absorbed the attack before it could do damage to his comrades. When Ozpin's attack ended, he scoffed, "Five. Five against one. Considering your opponent, you might need more." After all, Ozpin was the legendary Emerald Sage of the Hidden Leaf. One of the greatest shinobi to ever live.**

Ruby gasped, "They _are_ ninjas!"

Blake was back in her seat again, "Crappy ninja. Hardly all that stealthy."

 **"Then how about six?"**

 **Ozpin's eyes widened, and his blood ran cold. He spun around to find Neo, dressed like the others, pierced, and with those eyes.**

Neo felt a shiver run up her spine. Her counterpart was legitimately terrifying. She wasn't any taller. She wasn't any larger. The piercings just looked overboard. No. None of that got to her. What did, however, was her expression and the way she was standing. She was blank. More like a puppet than a human.

 **All six of the Neapolitan haired humans jumped into formation next to one another. All six people had the same eyes.**

 **Ozpin's face fell a bit. "Neo… Why do you have Jaune's eyes? Did you take them for power?"**

Ruby almost threw up at the idea of exchanging eyeballs. _That just sounds wrong!_

 **Neo's expression was blank. "Neo… Neo died long ago, my old master. I am Pain. We are god."**

 **Ozpin's eyes narrowed. Had Neo really gone that far off the deep end? The Rinnegan was said to be the most powerful ability in the world, giving the wielder powers similar to those of gods. She wouldn't be the first to go mad with power like that.**

Neo groaned. She wasn't like that… right?

 **Two of the Pains, the bald man and the straight-haired one, charged forward. Meanwhile, the others took up positions in a formation, each utilizing an ability. The ponytailed man summoned another creature, a giant rhino. The toad from before then had to fight the rhino off. One of them set up in the back while the fifth set himself to defend the two (ponytail and the guy in the back) behind him. Then, there was Neo, who simply raised a hand toward Ozpin. Ozpin felt his body lurch forward as the bald man tried to swing a rocket assisted punch at him. Oz was able to avoid it, but just barely. He slammed another orb into the mechanized man and tossed his body away. The next two tried to attack together, but he ducked back and swung his blade into one's gut and kick the other in tandem. Two more dead, he swung them off and prepared for another attack.**

Ruby went starry eyed. "Woah! Professor Ozpin is totally kicking butt!

 **Ozpin spun around, but the mechanized man was back in his face with a wide grin.**

"What the…" Weiss blinked in shock. "Okay! He broke apart twice! How is he still alive?"

 **Ozpin was just as shocked and jumped away from another swipe, but a bladed arm was able to scrape his chest. He slid back and tried to get some distance, but from this position, he saw something odd. The two dead versions were being lifted off the ground by the man in the back of the group. A large head rose up from the ground and ate both men. When its mouth opened again, both men were back to normal.**

"Oh come on!" Nora roared at the screen, "That's cheating!"

 **Neo sped forward and a black spire protruded from her hand like a sword. Ozpin was able to block the attack, but another one of the men attacked with a similar spire. He was able to grab the man's wrist and prevent the attack, but four of the six were acting together in the assault. A little too well. He threw the two off and jumped away from an attack. When was struck, his body puffed into smoke. He had hidden himself and left a shadow clone behind.**

Ruby chuckled, "It's like Blake's semblance!"

Blake nodded. It was fairly similar so far.

 **As the six looked around to find him, Ozpin rose up from the shadow of one of the men with weapon ready. As he swung, the target jumped to avoid the blade. Ozpin's eyes widened in shock, given that the man should have had no idea he was there. But the action was too well timed to say otherwise. No one warned him. None of them even spoke. Come to think of it, all six acted too well together without saying a word. It's almost like they shared a mind. Then, he remembered the two off to the side. They were watching the battle. No reaction of speech, in mind or out loud, could match that timing. They didn't just share eyes, they shared sight.**

Roman almost lost his cigar from his lips. "How can… How the hell?"

Neo wasn't sure if she could even imagine how much that would mess up her head. Six people's worth of vison? How weird is that?

 ** _Damn it_** **. Ozpin looked between all six, deciding it might be best to escape for the time being. He slammed his hands together.** ** _Sage Art: Emerald Palace!_** **Brilliant green crystals erupted from the ground around Ozpin. The gems were powerful and able to hold back most attacks, but this was a secondary effect. Even if they broke in, Ozpin was too well hidden within the palace.**

"Woah!" Ruby was starry eyed again, "That's so cool!"

"More of a wizard than a ninja…" Blake was a little bitter.

 **Neo remained apathetic. "Bring him to me…"**

 **The other five began to break through the gems. The camera followed the man with the ponytail. As he looked around, Ozpin's reflection would occasionally appear in the crystals. The man would spin to the crystal, but lower his stance seeing it was a reflection. The man turned, and saw a giant visage of Ozpin's head. It took a breath and blew on the man, causing the ponytailed man to start to turn bright green before being sealed as an emerald statue.**

Glynda glanced toward Ozpin for a moment. She'd noticed his preferences for emerald-colored items. It was his favorite gem. But this world was going overboard.

 **The man-turned-emerald was actually still alive. In reality, he was sealed within an illusion. Ozpin was standing next to the man's unconscious body. He created a crystal around the man, sealing the body away.**

Emerald felt a certain admiration for this man now. She would definitely prefer if she could create illusions _that_ powerful.

 **Ozpin looked over the man in the crystal. There was no mistaking it, this was the man he'd already killed in the past. It's likely the others were too. But… if that was the case… The crystal behind him started to crack to Neo's outstretched hand. Ozpin spun around and got ready to fight, but Neo trust both hands to either side. Almighty Push! The camera returned to the outside of the castle of gems to see it burst apart. Neo stood in the center of the blast radius as Ozpin and emerald crystals flew off away from her.**

Neo felt a shiver run up her spine. Was this inferring that _she_ was dead too? Then… what was going on?

"Hang on a sec." Jaune looked around. "Didn't he say I was supposed to be in all of these?"

"Hey! Yeah!" Nora huffed, "Where's our fearless leader?"

 **Ozpin was pushed off what ground he had and ended up in the river. Or rather, on. He spun around and landed on the water's surface like it was any other solid surface.**

Oobleck was breaking down, "How is that possible?! To be able to stand atop the water's surface like it was the ground! How is this happening?!"

 **Ozpin growled and looked up toward the five remaining figures again. The man with the ponytail was sealed away and not going anywhere. If he could keep that up, he might be able to defeat them all.**

 **Neo growled and held her hand up to the sky. Her hand dropped, and a blast of air pressure ripped through the river and slammed into Ozpin with a vengeance. The Emerald Sage decided to try to bring Neo and her cohorts down. The camera zoomed in on his right cheek as emerald marks started to appear on his skin, forming a line down his cheek and another that wrapped from his eye and around his face. When the camera zoomed out again, they saw Ozpin standing tall again, his body a bit altered to be less like himself. This was the Sage Mode. It wasn't perfect, but it still increased his chakra output and physical stamina.**

 **Neo scoffed and gestured for the others to begin their attacks. The mechanical man and the straight-haired man charged forward toward Ozpin. But now, Ozpin was better acclimated to the world around him. The mechanical man slammed his hand onto Ozpin's jaw, but he remained unmoving. One perk of the Emerald Sage Mode was extremely high defenses. He was slow as hell, but he didn't take damage. His counter attack strategy was take a hit and grab the opponent. From there he would breath emerald fire directly into their face. But, his mechanical opponent needed a different strategy. This time, when he spit out on the mechanized man, he covered the man in oil.**

Nora shivered, "That's so wrong!"

Ren raised an eyebrow, seeing what was going to happen.

 **Ozpin slammed his teeth together and fire came out from his nose, lighting the mechanized man on fire. Now, super-heated, Ozpin unleashed a high-pressure water stream from his mouth, causing the mechanized man to shatter from the extreme temperature drop. But there was also the man that could pull away his soul. His usual strategy wouldn't work. He spun around and unleashed a wave of oil onto the water. A moment later, he ignited the oil and burned his opponent. When the others came to attack him, the man that can revive the others was able to slip in and bring the mechanical man back.**

 **The mechanical man 'cracked' his neck and grinned. He charged forward, now aware of Ozpin's defenses, and created a black spire in his hand. He stuck the spire into Jaune's back shoulder, barely breaking the surface of his skin thanks to a rocket boost.**

 **Ozpin jumped away, creating more hand signs.** ** _Fine. Try this then. Sage Art! Emerald Hellfire!_** **Before his ability could activate, his body rocked, and the world went dark behind him. A pair of purple eyes appearing in the darkness behind him.**

Everyone went cold. The eyes were freaky as it is, but there was something else going on making them worse. The look in the eyes… It was hard to explain, but it scared them.

 **When the world returned to normal, the mechanical version was in Ozpin's face and grabbed his collar, tossing him into the air. The four others, not including Neo, started to assault the Sage in the air. Whatever that was before, it was disrupting Ozpin's Sage abilities. The four in the air all drew one of those black spikes and reared back over him. The camera zoomed in n four locations as the four spikes slammed into Ozpin's back, all them landing on a small bolder in the river.**

Glynda felt her heart stop seeing that. She'd known Ozpin for most of her life, the two were very close. And this? Seeing this hurt her to no end.

 **When the smoke cleared, Ozpin was seen pinned to the ground by the spikes with Neo looking down at him. She remained unmoved at the scene of her former teacher laying on the ground, impaled four times over. "You were once my inspiration. You told me that we could yet have peace by coming together."**

 **Ozpin's ears perked. That wasn't Neo. He never told her that. She truly was as much a puppet as the others.**

 **"But now I know the truth. Humanity will only be at peace when they understand what it means to be hurt. To be broken." She held her hand out and down toward him. "They will know peace. And I will rule in might as their god." The bolder erupted into pieces and Ozpin was forced into the water.**

 **He had no more energy. No way to swim up and save himself. Ozpin smirked to himself. The camera flashed back to his hand during Neo's monologue. He had formed a small emerald crystal with a code hidden inside. It disappeared just before Neo's attack and to his allies in the Leaf Village.**

 **[The real one is not among them.]**

Jaune was starting to figure out what was going on. Why they all had (apparently) _his_ eyes…

 **The camera pulled up to the sky before rising up to see Pyrrha in a dark room. "Master Ozpin is dead…"**

 **"It is unfortunate…" Jaune's voice rang out from the background. "Our old teacher was a good man. Even if he would wish to stand against us." They heard loud thumps as Jaune spoke. "We will hold a moment of silence for his loss… But our mission remains. If humans are live in peace, they must be united in empathy. To do this, they must have a uniting force. They must know fear."**

 **The scene changed to show a young Jaune, bangs covering his eyes, as the Leaf ninja attacked his home. His family died in the Second Great Shinobi War. It was the day he first unleashed his rage through the power of his Rinnegan.**

Jaune felt sick. The thought of his family being killed did not sit right. But it sickened him further that he saw the logic behind his counterpart's logic.

 **The scene returned to show the back of a throne or something similar. "They must know loss."**

 **The new flashback showed Neo with a large blade embedded in her back, having died to protect Jaune, who was never one for combat. Jaune, Neo, and Pyrrha were all orphaned and came together as a trio of friends in a war-torn world. They day she died, he erupted again in hate. He vowed vengeance before his mind returned to Ozpin's teachings about the importance of peace. He vowed to bring peace the same way he came together with Pyrrha and Neo. He would make all of humanity have the same horrible experience.**

Nora and Ren turned to each other hearing that. The two didn't want to even begin to think about what they would do if that happened to the other.

Neo was also an orphan, and thus understood the pain. But she pushed that feeling down to make others hurt instead. But… ever since she arrived here, she was losing that sadistic need. Now? Now she knew the hell this version went through and the hell he was willing to create. She glanced at the actual version in her world in a sense of concern.

 **The camera returned to Jaune, body crippled and nearly skeletal. The throne allowed him to move and control his Six Paths, the lead of which included Neo's former body. His eyes held the original Rinnegan, looking out to the world around him with contempt. The score swelled beneath the scene. A haunting choir chanting, making Jaune truly seem like a god of this world. "They must know** ** _pain_** **…"**


	77. Playlist: Whale of a Tale

**King: 77 of these things...**

 **Knox: It's so awesome~**

 **King: We're only this far because of our viewers.**

 **Knox: Don't get sappy now. Save it for 2 million views or chapter 100.**

 **King: No sap. Just facts. Anyway, today we're getting musical. Two for one since these song's are just songs and not part of a larger musical with set choreography. I hope you enjoy.**

 **Inspiration 1: The Mariner's Revenge Song by the Decemberists**

 **Inspiration 2: The Beast of Pirate's Bay by Aurelio Voltaire**

 **/\**

 **The world was dark when it opened. The only sounds were the beginning of a song, played on an accordion. It was similar to a song one would hear among old sailors.**

Jaune turned to someone, hoping they'd know what was happening, "What's going on?"

Velvet turned to the blonde, "Some of these are musicals or based on songs. I think this is one of them."

Jaune nodded. "Fair enough."

 **Then, a single match lit up in the center of the screen. They saw Jaune's face looking down into the flame, singing. "** ** _We are two mariners…_** **" He was dressed in a striped shirt similar to lower shipmates.**

 **The scene flipped around to show Watts sitting opposite the standing Jaune within some strange area. Watts was dressed more like a ship's captain in maroon.**

 **"** ** _Our ships' sole survivors. In this belly of a whale._** **"**

 **The camera pulled away to show the usual folklore depictions of the insides of a whale, surrounded by the flesh supported by its bones.**

"We got eaten?!" Jaune was a little disappointed at that. He hoped for something a bit better off.

 **"** ** _Its ribs are ceiling beams. Its guts are carpeting. I guess we have some time to kill._** **"**

 **Jaune grabbed a candle on the 'ground' and lit the candle with the match.**

 **"** ** _You may not remember me…_** **"**

 **This got Watts to raise an eyebrow.**

 **"** ** _I was a child of three. And you a lad of eighteen._** **"**

The crowd would have done a collective spit take.

Yang winced, "And I thought eight kids was crazy…"

 **"** ** _But I remember you. And I'll relate to you, how our histories interweave._** **"**

Ironwood's eyes narrowed, "Okay… The two know each other. How?"

 **The scene changed through the candle's flame to a scene of Watts leaning against a bar counter.**

 **"** ** _At the time, you were a rake and a roustabout._** **"**

Ruby's head tilted, "A what?"

Ozpin sighed, ready to explain, but Jaune beat him too it, "A well-off, but destitute man and an unskilled worker." Eyes turned to Jaune. "My grandfather is _very_ old fashion."

 **"** ** _Spending all your money on the whores and hounds!_** **"**

Qrow took a swig from his flask again, "That explains the destitute part. Spending everything on girls and gambling…"

 **"** ** _You had a charming air, all cheap and debonair, my widowed mother found so sweet._** **"**

 **The mother's face was deliberately hidden on the screen.**

Salem rolled her eyes. The Watts she new certainly fit this man to a T, save for that last part.

 **"** ** _And so she took you in, her sheets still warm with him, now filled with filth and foul disease. As time wore on you proved a dead-ridden drunken mess._** **"**

Winter glanced toward Qrow, but he just shrugged. He knew he wasn't that bad.

 **"** ** _Leaving my mother a pour consumptive wretch._** **"**

Yang groaned, "This is just disgusting. How could he get worse?"

 **"** ** _And then you disappeared. Your gambling arrears, the only thing you left behind._** **"**

Yang went cold. Not in fear or pain, but in anger. It was a cold fury, very rare for Yang. She hated this man now, projecting anger for her mother as well.

 **"** ** _And then the magistrate… reclaimed our small estate. And my poor mother lost her mind! Then, one day in spring my pour, sweet mother died…_** **"**

Jaune felt hurt. He felt anger. He felt the beginnings of hate. This man came into his home, at the kindness and care of his mother, and he just used them. He felt them with only the debt and forced them to take the punishment. Then, his own mother lost it and died, likely soon after. His aura flared a moment in an intense white heat.

 **"** ** _But before she did, I took her hand as she dying cried… Oh, oh…_** **"**

 **"** ** _Find him. Bind him. Tie him to a pole and break his fingers to splinters. Drag him to a hole until he wakes up, naked, clawing at the ceiling of his grave…_** **"**

 **The mother died soon after. Jaune's face covered in tears and he let out a silent wail for her death.**

Aura heated the room from two sources. Yang's anger in a cold fury and Jaune's in a burning hate. It was rare to see Jaune angry at all, so this was jarring. Many saw some previous versions from the screen in his eyes. It scared them.

 **"** ** _It took me fifteen years, to swallow all my tears, among the urchins in the street. Until a priory took pity and hired me took keep their vestry nice and neat._** **"**

 **The scene showed Jaune with a broom, sweeping up in a church. His eyes looked up to the stained-glass window above the pulpit. It was a circular design of a cross in mosaic glass pieces.**

 **"** ** _But never once in the employ of these holy men… did I ever once turn my mind from the thought of revenge. One night I overheard the prior exchanging words with a penitent whaler from the sea._** **"**

 **The scene zoomed in to show Jaune turn his head to see a man in a maroon coat and hat.**

 **"** ** _The captain of his ship, who matched you toe to tip, was known for wanton cruelty!_** **"**

 **It was Watts standing in that church. As he left, the screen changed to a zoom in on the lower half of Jaune's face. A grin started to form as the screen blacked out again. The scene changed to show Jaune standing on the bow of a boat at sea.**

Neptune went stiff seeing the depiction of his phobia.

 **"** ** _The following day, I shipped out with a privateer._** **"**

Nora's head tilted, "A privateer?"

Oobleck explained it to his student, "Think a pirate that works for a kingdom instead of themselves."

"Woah! That's a thing?!"

"Not anymore."

 **"** ** _And in the whistle of the wind I could almost hear… Oh, oh…_** **"**

 **"** ** _Find him. Bind him. Tie him to a pole and break his fingers to splinters. Drag him to a hole until he wakes up, naked, clawing at the ceiling of his grave._** **" The scene showed a spirit of the mother on the salty winds of the sea. "** ** _There is one thing I must say to you, as you sail across the sea. Always your mother will watch over you, as you avenge this wicked deed._** **" The song went into a form of instrumental as the ship rocked on the ocean waves.**

Everyone was on edge. They saw the end of the story, but how did it happen?

 **"** ** _And then that fateful night! We had you in our sight! After twenty months at sea! Your starboard flank abeam, I was getting my musket clean, when came this rumbling from beneath._** **"**

 **The scene showed Jaune, once with a smirk of anticipation, now showing confusion and concern.**

 **"** ** _The ocean shook, the sky went black, and the captain quailed. And before us grew the angry jaws of a giant whale!_** **"**

 **The whale was gigantic, able to snap its jaw around the ship, knocking the other apart with its tail.**

The fact that this wasn't a Grimm, but a normal animal, shocked everyone. Shocked enough to break Yang and Jaune out of their seething and jump in surprise.

 **The scene returned to Jaune and Watts within the whale.**

 **"** ** _Don't know how I survived,_** ** _the crew was all chewed alive, must have slipped between his teeth._** **"**

 **Jaune was looking at the candlelight, a manic grin spreading across his face.**

 **"** ** _But, oh what providence! What divine intelligence! That you should survive as well as me~!_** **"**

 **Watts, whose leg was injured during the whale's attack, tried to stand, either to run or defend himself. But Jaune's foot slammed onto the bad leg and forced him back down. Jaune leaned over the man he hated so much, his grin going from manic to psychotic.**

 **"** ** _It gives my heart great joy to see your eyes filled with fear! So lean in close and I'll whisper the last words you'll hear! Oh, oh…_** **"**

 **The screen went black as Jaune snuffed out the candle. the song continued as the chorus, but no lyrics followed. The world ended there. Jaune had his revenge, but how was left to the imagination of the viewers.**

Jaune took a breath, as if to remind himself that never actually happened. "This is seriously messed up…"

"No kidding…" Ruby was still a bit scared from the scene of Jaune's anger from before.

Knox appeared again. "That was kind of short."

King popped in soon after. "What did you expect? It was just a song."

"Ooh! Can we get another song then?"

"Sure. Why not?"

"Um…" Coco raised her hand to the fireballs. "Can I ask it _not_ be as messed up as that one was?"

Knox bounced around a bit, "Sure. Something a little more normal then?"

King shook his head, "Those are boring. We need to go big."

"Okay… then what?"

"The beast?"

"The beast? The beast of wha- Oh… OH~!"

They both chuckled before disappearing.

 **The canvas lit up again to the outside of a seaside tavern. The camera seemed to walk into the tavern and approach a man sitting at a table near the back. With tankard up, it was hard to see his face, but his hat bore his symbol on the front face, two golden parallel arcs on the white surface.**

"Let's hope this one isn't as… emotional." Coco could hope.

Velvet nodded, glancing toward Jaune in concern.

 **When the tankard slammed back on the table, Jaune sighed in satisfaction. This also revealed his attire. He wore a white eyepatch, golden coat, and dark clothing beneath. He seemed to notice the camera and grinned. "What brings you by, stranger?"**

Jaune paused a moment, "Can… can he see us?"

Pyrrha shrugged, "Some can, but's more likely that the camera is just representing someone for us."

 **Jaune chuckled, "You're new around here, ain't ya? Sit down. I make it a point to make sure you know something…"**

 **Violins started to swell in the background. It was a shanty of a different nature.**

 **"** ** _Gather weary traveler, I have a tale to tell. It might just save your life, but only if you listen well. There before the breaker, and just along the way… There's a sign that says, Beware the beast of Pirate's Bay!_** **"**

Nora got a little excited again, "Pirates~!"

Weiss groaned, "Let's hope they're more… traditional." The scene of the pirate Jaune standing over her and her sister as Winter bled out still haunted her.

 **Smoke started to form around him from the candles on the table. Jaune's face obscured by the smoke as his shadow morphed into a giant sea monster. The creature was like a giant angler fish with a pair of clawed hands.**

 **"** ** _Some say he's guppy, a kid threw in the sea. He ate so many sailors, now he'd bigger than a tree. His teeth are sharp as scissors, his claws they are like knives. And you think he's ugly? Wait till you see his insides!_** **"**

 **The smoke cleared and Jaune's face returned to the screen.**

 **"** ** _Oh! Don't you sail and don't you row and certainly don't you swim! Cause if you aren't careful, you'll end up inside of him. He'll eat you up! He'll spit you out! So you better stay away! Heed the sign that says Beware the Beast of Pirate's Bay!"_**

"So, it's just a normal tavern song?" Qrow raised an eyebrow.

 **Jaune grinned and the smoke surrounded him like a snake, the candle seemingly forming the snake's eye.**

 **"** ** _Some say he's a serpent that came straight from Hell! To eat the souls of pirates and other ne'er-do-wells! Some they don't believe it, but for me I've got a hunch… Cause we used to have some pirates here~ But he ate them all for lunch!_** **"**

 **Jaune swiped the smoke away, and the false snake seemed to scream through a trick of light.**

Ren crossed his arms as he watched this reality play, "This is rather impressively structured. Good use of light and effects as we see them."

 **"** ** _Oh! Don't you sail and don't you row and certainly don't you swim! Cause if you aren't careful, you'll end up inside of him. He'll eat you up! He'll spit you out! So you better stay away! Heed the sign that says Beware the Beast of Pirate's Bay!"_**

 **Jaune grinned and picked up a large fish hook from his belt, holding the hook toward the camera.**

 **"** ** _Captain Hook, you've heard of him? He came to Pirate's Bay. It seems his little nemesis had nearly got away. He reached into the water, to grab at Peter Pan… There was a crunch! And a scream!_** **"**

 **Jaune flicked his wrist and revealed the hook was actually two hooks, tossing the other to his free hand.**

 **"** ** _And now that scurvy Captain's got hooks on both his hands~_** **"**

Nora chuckled, "I like this version. It's a lot funnier."

Jaune nodded. He preferred this version. He'll take the lack of depth perception over the last song's world any day.

 **Jaune slammed the hooks into the table and grabbed his tankard in their place.**

 **"** ** _Oh! Don't you sail and don't you row and certainly don't you swim! Cause if you aren't careful, you'll end up inside of him. He'll eat you up! He'll spit you out! So you better stay away! Heed the sign that says Beware the Beast of Pirate's Bay!"_**

 **Jaune's grin continued as his took a long swig from his drink. He slammed his drink and started to rub his chin.**

 **"** ** _Blackbeard the Pirate, you know for what he's feared? It's mostly for the dark, imposing color of his beard. He saw the beast and now nobody's scared of him because… His beard turned white, and all agree, he looks like Santa Claus!_** **"**

"Who?" Mercury raised a brow.

Knox appeared to explain, "Big, fat, jolly man that comes around during Christmas to give gifts. Basically, the opposite of the cruel, hellish man that laced fuses into his beard to look more like a demon."

Mercury paused and fell back in his seat, "Damn…"

 **"** ** _Oh! Don't you sail and don't you row and certainly don't you swim! Cause if you aren't careful, you'll end up inside of him. He'll eat you up! He'll spit you out! So you better stay away! Heed the sign that says Beware the Beast of Pirate's Bay!"_**

 **Jaune looked down toward his drink for a moment, holding it up to find it empty.**

Qrow sighed. "Hate it when that happens. You think you still have some drink left and go to take a sip, but there's nothing left…"

 **This served a second purpose, allowing him to scan the tavern around them. The music slowed down as Jaune's face fell from its grin.**

 **"** ** _Well, now the tavern's empty, and it's only you and me… And if you'd care, I'd like to share how this song came to be._** **"**

Blake's ears twitched under her bow, "So, we get the backstory then?"

Sun nodded once, "Looks like it."

 **"** ** _So, come a little closer, if you really want to know. This very sad and woeful tale happened to long ago…_** **"**

 **The scene faded to show a still image of Jaune as a child, no more than 10. Every part of the flashback moved in still images, denoting the past as if through old photographs.**

 **"** ** _Well, I was just a little boy when I went to Pirate's Bay. And there I saw a creature, that was very much dismayed. With a harpoon through his dorsal fin, and a hook stuck in his side… This mighty whale was in such pain we both began to cry._** **"**

This tugged at the viewers' heartstrings. Most of them, anyway. But no need to name names. She knows who she is…

 **"** ** _I pushed! And I shoved! But he didn't give way. Into the deeper waters of our shallow Pirate's Bay. All I could do to help him, was to keep people away…_** **"**

 **The screen returned to the present to show Jaune's smirk slowly reforming.**

 **"** ** _So I wrote a sign… That said Beware… THE BEAST OF PIRATES BAY~_** **"**

Jaune's friends all smiled to themselves. This was something they could see Jaune doing. Keeping up an act just to protect someone or something, even if it lasted for years.

 **"** ** _What did it say?! Oh! Don't you sail and don't you row and certainly don't you swim! Cause if you aren't careful, you'll end up inside of him. He'll eat you up! He'll spit you out! So you better stay away! Heed the sign that says, Hell I should now, I put it there! Heed the sign that says Beware the Beast of Pirate's Bay!"_**

The screen blacked out as this Jaune's story came to an end.


	78. Eclipse

**Knox: What's this one based on?**

 **King: It's called Sengoku Basara. It's like Japanese history meets anime.**

 **Knox: Like Samurai Warriors?**

 **King: Kind of. Just crank up the crazy to bonkers.**

 **Knox: Fun.**

 **King: Definitely. Both in game and anime form. But it might be an aquired taste. Who knows?**

 **Inspiration: Sengoku Basara**

 **/\**

 **When the next world opened up, it showed a large field in autumn. The fields of Sekigahara. The beautiful fields awash with the cool golden tints of autumn.**

Yang looked at the scene and couldn't help but smile. It was a beautiful, tranquil scene. Sure, she'd prefer something more bombastic, usually metropolitan, but she could appreciate the simple beauty before her.

 **Then, the camera fell back. The cool autumn scene divided in half. At the left and to the East was a bright, hopeful day. To the right, and the West, was like a dark and sinister night. Beneath both were two large armies. One adorned in gold and brown and the other drenched in purple and green. After pulling back further, the sky was shown to be divided in half between day and night.**

Ruby was amazed by the scene, "Woah! How is the sky like that?!"

Ren shrugged, "It's likely a trick designed to represent the two sides."

 **The camera pulled in to show the back of a person walking through the soldiers in darkness. Her mint colored hair was cut short to her shoulders, showing her black gemstone design on her back.**

Emerald raised an eyebrow, "Okay. So that's supposed to be me, then?"

Mercury leaned back and placed his feet up on the chair in front of him, "Looks like it."

 **Emerald looked out over the opposing army washed in light. Those maggots were inconsequential to her. She had only one target for her ire, one man that she gathered an army to destroy. "ARC!"**

 **Her yell carried over the field to a man sitting in a field chair. He was dressed in a golden hooded vest and pants with boots, his hood obscuring his face. He stood up and brought his hood back, revealing it to be Jaune Arc, commander of the Eastern Army and head of the Arc Clan. A man dedicated to peace, to the point where he held no ire for anyone. He stood before the world, unarmed, in defiance to this land of war. His greatest hope was to bring the people together in peace.**

Everyone from Beacon and among the huntsmen couldn't help but feel this was a worthy goal. Even if many felt it was impossible due to human nature, they still felt it was a goal worth striving for.

 **Jaune looked out to the army opposite him. This battle was long brewing, despite his hopes. He let out a sorrowed breath. "So, we truly have no choice?"**

 **"Looks like it." Standing not too far way was Yang Xiao Long, dressed in blue and black samurai armor, her helmet adorned with a long golden crescent. She also had an eyepatch over her right eye, lost to disease as a child. At her sides were six matching katana swords, the claws of the One-Eyed Dragon.**

Yang gasped, "Woah! Check me out! I look so cool!"

Blake, however, wasn't as impressed, "Why would you need six swords?"

Ruby turned to her teammate, "Better question, how would she use them? Is it switching out or is there a weird combo thing?"

 **Yang crossed her arms, looking out over the armies, "I still think this needed to happen sooner."**

 **Jaune sighed, "I had hoped she could still be reasoned with. Unfortunately, I was wrong."**

 **Yang was quiet a moment. "Think you can kill her?"**

 **Jaune never gave her an answer, simply beginning to walk off into his army.**

Emerald was confused. They apparently knew one another in the past, and now she wanted to kill him. But why would that be?

 **The camera stuck with Yang as she sighed. "Good luck…" She uncrossed her arms and made for her horse. She had a fight of her own to get to once the battle starts. A certain Tiger Cub remained in her sights.**

This got Sienna's attention. She was the only tiger-faunas in the room, so she was intrigued to see where this goes.

 **After a while, the armies grew restless. And soon, they roared out and charged to one another. Steel clashed with steel as the two armies began their assault. This was not a kind scene. This was war. The golden grass beneath them began to splatter with red.**

 **As the fighting raged, a giant iron ball slammed into the ground. At the other end was Qrow Branwen, his hands bound to the ball. "Just my luck… Stuck in a war I never wanted…"**

Qrow held his flask up to his counterpart, "Amen, brother."

 **A jovial laugh rang out behind him. Peter Port, with giant sword over his shoulder, walked up behind him. "Come on. Where's your fighting spirit?!"**

 **"Back home in the mines…"**

 **Port just laughed it off. "Then step aside and let me handle this."**

 **Qrow just moved away, gesturing for him to take over.**

 **Port walked up ad slammed his sword into the ground, giant grin on his face, and roared out over the crowd, "Come on! You youthful warriors of our age! Come and test your metal against a generation's finest!"**

Port chuckled a bit. "I may need to remember that one."

His students just rolled their eyes.

 **There was an impact in front of him. As the dust cleared, a woman in a giant mechanized suit looked down toward Port. She was silent, her voice long lost to her. But what she did have, was her strength and loyalty. She was the pride of the Arc clan, Nora Valkyrie.**

Nora shook Ren in excitement, "Oh my gosh! Look at me! I look so awesome!"

Ren was starting to get dizzy, "Nora!" This got her stop shaking him, but he was still a lightheaded.

 **Port laughed. "Valkyrie! It's always a pleasure to face you in battle."**

 **Nora's body sparked with electricity and she pulled a large lance from her back. The tip of her lance started to spin around, revealing it to be a drill.**

 **Port grinned and set his blade skyward in preparation for a battle. "Come on!"**

 **The two leapt to one another, but the camera transitioned away as their weapons clashed.**

Nora groaned, "No! Go back! I wanna see the fight!"

 **When the screen returned to the battle at large, they saw Blake swinging a pair of spears with two blades extending out from the base of the main blade. She moved like a burning hurricane through soldiers dressed in gold. Rather than in a bow atop her head, her ribbon was wrapped over her forehead. "Have at you! I will not fall today! Bring your best and I shall do the same! Fight me to try to claim my power!"**

 **The lesser soldiers started to creep backward. Blake was too powerful for any of them to face. They froze hearing a horse behind them, and as it jumped over them. Yang hopped off the animal as it ran off. She stood opposite Blake with a grin, "Hell of a speech. I'm sure Sienna would be proud."**

 **Blake grinned toward her longtime rival, "I can only hope to be as great a warrior as Lady Kahn. To that end, I'll fight the best warriors of our age. I'll be the greatest warrior this age has ever known!"**

Sienna glanced toward Blake. She almost found the idea compelling. She looked up to Gira, and if Gira's daughter looked up to her? That would be amazing. But… After what she allowed the White Fang to become, she could see why Blake might hate her instead.

 **Yang chuckled, "Ha! Alright then! Let's see what the protege of the Tiger of Kai can do!" Yang was getting excited, drawing all six blades between her fingers like a set of claws, electricity surging through them. "Bring it on!"**

Yang gasped, "Holy crap! Can people actually do that?!"

"Technically." Ruby was excited too, but more subdued, "But you'd have to have very strong hands and finger grip.

 **Blake drew her spears across each other, having them erupt into flames. "Let's go!"**

 **The two brought their weapons together, causing another transition.**

Yang slammed her fist into her chair, "No! Go back!"

 **Now, the camera followed Emerald as she charged through the army of gold. She had one target. One man she hated. She swung her katana around to clear the area to look around. She heard a horn ring out over the field and followed the sound to a field off to the side. The war at large was being waged in the distance. She slowed to a walk as she found herself face to face with Jaune Arc again. As she approached her target, the camera pulled up to show the sun and moon meeting together in an eclipse.**

Jaune went wide eyed, having yet to experience the scene, "Woah…"

Ruby and Tai chuckled, having had the same reaction.

Yang focused on the scene at large and fell back in her seat, "I guess this is the fight we're supposed to see?"

Nora huffed, still a little annoyed, "I guess…"

 **Emerald glared toward Jaune, "Arc… Today, I shall finally avenge Lady Cinder."**

Emerald felt a chill run up her spine. That was her motivation? Revenge for Cinder's death? Would she become like that if Cinder died?

 **Emerald dragged a foot back across the ground, hand hovering over her sword, "Today you die!"**

 **Jaune's face was somber. "Emerald… We don't have to do this…"**

 **"Shut up!" She flew forward and swung her blade for Jaune's neck.**

 **He ducked the attack and swung around to backhand her side, pushing her away. He adopted a boxer's pose and dipped away from each attack.**

As they watched the scene, Yang's face adopted a _seriously!_ kind of look. "That's my fighting style!" The guy even had golden gauntlets.

"Hey! Yeah!" Tai blinked at the screen, a bit proud the style is spreading.

 **Jaune, unlike the brawler in the audience, was prioritizing dodging the swinging blade. He didn't have an aura, after all. Or a semblance that makes him stronger with damage. He had to keep himself out of harm's way. But that's not to say he won't fight back. Occasionally, a duck would be matched with a punch. One punch in particular pushed Emerald back, her feet dragging across the ground.**

"Yeah! Go fearless leader!" Nora pumped her fist into the air in excitement.

"Yeah!" Yang was cheering for Jaune out of a sense of kinship as brawlers. "Show her who's boss!"

Jaune turned to Pyrrha, "This is kind of weird… I know they're talking about the version on the screen, but it's still me, kind of."

Pyrrha placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "I can imagine."

 **Emerald growled, "Stop it… Stop that… STOP HOLDING BACK!"**

"Woah! What?!" Yang was really intrigued now. What was his limit of strength?

 **Jaune looked off to her in sadness. "Please Emerald. We can stop this."**

 **"NO! You don't deserve to say that to me! Not after you killed Lady Cinder!"**

 **"She was an insane tyrant!"**

 **"Shut up!"**

 **"She used you! Used us! She didn't want peace, she wanted fear! She wanted people to fear her!"**

Cinder grinned. It seems she shared something in common with this variation. Unfortunately, her counterpart was dead. A shame, really.

That 'used you' like didn't sit right with Emerald, though. Was Cinder really just using her? Did she ever actually care?

 **"SHUT UP!" Emerald roared out again. Her eyes seemed to glow and her body erupted with a dark, murderous aura. "I will kill you! You hear me?! Lady Cinder will be avenged!"**

 **Jaune sighed in defeat. He wanted to bring the land together in peace. But it was clear Emerald wasn't listening. He was going to have to get serious. As Emerald approached again, he slammed his fist into the ground. The impact caused the earth beneath him to rise upward around him. Emerald jumped off the earthen rock, twisting in the air to land on her feet again. Jaune used the other hand to punch forward. Though she was out of physical range, he created a wave of air pressure from his fist to force her to duck to the side as the stone behind her cracked from the assault.**

Yang jumped in her chair, "Holy crap! How do I learn how to do that?!"

 **Emerald growled and placed her blade away into its scabbard. A quickdraw. A motion too fast to see with the naked eye. Jaune, however, was too well versed with Emerald's fighting style. He wasn't faster than her, he understood that. So, he had to work around that. As Emerald blinked forward to lop his supposedly traitorous head from his neck, he punched upward. He created a shockwave of energy around his body as a glowing, golden energy flew up around him. The grass beneath him was scorched by the light he emitted. Emerald was equally as scorched, her arm burned and in no condition to do that again.**

Emerald winced seeing the damage on her arm. It just looked too painful, her skin seemingly burned without smoldering.

Yang was just trying to figure out if she could do something like that as well and freaking out about the possibilities.

 **Jaune looked back to Emerald. "Please… Listen to me. I don't want this. I just want peace… We can still…"**

 **"SHUT UP!" Emerald was at her whit's end hearing him talk. "Shut up…" She shakily stood again, her arm causing her immense pain.**

 **"Emerald! We can stop this and get your arm healed! We can…"**

 **"I SAID SHUT UP!" Emerald grabbed her sword with her off hand and held it toward Jaune. "I don't need your pity! All I need is your death!"**

Blake saw too much of Adam in this version of Emerald. Spiteful and unable to truly consider another option. Stubborn to the last.

 **Jaune's face fell. He knew what she planned to do. As she charged forward, she leapt into the air, body spinning to increase her momentum and force. Jaune's fist tightened and swung upward.**

 **The camera snapped away as the force of the attack was felt by the two armies. Port and Nora's clash was brought to a close. Yang and Blake felt their very cores shiver at the feeling. Those not on the same caliber as the others, the common soldiers, just shook in fear or fell from the shockwave. The camera followed as the soldiers looked toward ground zero.**

 **The camera zoomed in to show Jaune standing with his fist directly over Emerald's heart, her blade just missing his neck by an inch. Emerald's eyes were blank, lifeless. Her blade fell aside as her strength finally gave out. Jaune's punch had enough force to destroy her heart from within.**

Emerald felt a chill run up her spine. She _really_ hoped that blonde bimbo didn't learn how to do that.

 **As she fell forward, the very hand that had killed her caught her before she fell. Jaune looked toward Emerald's body. This was the woman that wanted him dead. The woman willing to bring war to their homeland for the sole purpose of revenge. And yet, all he saw was his old friend. His old comrade. Someone he cared about, corrupted by her anger. He helped her to lie on her back, her blade at her side. He took a breath and closed her eyes, allowing her to rest. As the battle around them began to disperse, Jaune fell to sit next to her. Even after everything she said, everything she'd done, he couldn't bring himself to hate her. Rather, he pulled up his hood and wept. Tears shed for the woman he once knew those years past under the leadership of Cinder. This was a bitter victory, no matter how necessary for the peace he envisioned.**


	79. Role Reversal

**King: Okay, I learned about this through a reviewer or PM or something. It was a long time ago. I don't know if there's any set name for it though. I also don't think there's any one big AU lore for it. I looked and only really found a couple pictures.**

 **Knox: So... what's the Inspiration going to be labelled?**

 **King: I'm going to label it as N/A since this would be my version anyway. I changed a few things with characters and their skills. I wanted to have a bit of fun~ Hope you enjoy!**

 **Inspiration: N/A**

 **/\**

The show must go on. Many in the audience didn't have anything they could say after seeing a world like that. So… Why not mix it up a bit~?

 **When the world opened this time, it was the massive transport vessel that brought them all to Beacon Academy.**

"Ooh! Is it another version of out world?" Nora got a little excited at this.

Jaune hadn't seen a Possible version, and thus was lost, "What?"

Ren explained it to his team leader, "Versions of our own reality. World's we could have lived in depending on smaller changes."

 **As the transport touched down again, the ramped opened to allow the new students onto Beacon's soil. As students walked off to the new life as huntsmen and huntresses, one stuck out from the group. A young girl with long blonde hair and lilac eyes.**

Yang raised an eyebrow. "Is that me?"

Tai blinked, "But… younger?"

 **This was Yang Xiao Long, a combat prodigy back at Signal Academy, she was allowed into Beacon two years ahead of schedule after showing her skills by thwarting a dust heist in Vale.**

Ruby was incredulous, "Hey! That's my story!"

 **Yang looked very similar to her older counterpart, save for being a bit shorter, shorter hair, and a smidge less… developed. She looked like a Ruby-sized Yang. And she was just as excited to attend Beacon. "This is going to be amazing!"**

 **"Yang!" The younger blonde turned to see her sister approaching. Ruby resembled Yang in height and proportions, but her attire retained its gothic style. However, the Ruby on screen was also rather different. She seemed more elegant, for one. "You need to be more careful. Just because your semblance makes you stronger if you get hurt doesn't mean you should rush into everything you do."**

Tai was trying to hammer that into his daughter's head for too long.

 **Yang just brushed it off, "Hey, come on Ruby! We're at Beacon! Were so close to becoming huntresses!"**

 **"I get that you're excited, I'm excited too, but that's all the more reason you should get over that bad habit."**

 **"Seriously, Ruby? What's the worst that could happen?"**

Yang groaned with a grin, "You just had to say that, didn't you?"

 **Yang walked backward, speaking to her sister. Ruby saw what was about to happen, but if she stopped her, her sister would never learn. Yang tripped over the bag of a girl leaning down, picking something up off the ground. The girl was the familiar white-haired heiress, Weiss Schnee. However, she was dressed in a white tank top, black half jacket, blue jeans, and heeled boots.**

Nora gasped, "That's the version from the game!"

Weiss sighed. She'd been dreading this one, not sure what to expect.

 **Weiss turned to Yang in surprise. "Woah! You alright?"**

 **Yang chuckled, a bit embarrassed. "Yeah. I'm fine. Sorry about your bag." Yang stood back up and looked as dust vials started to roll off from the bag. "Oh crap!" Yang chased after one of the vials. By the time she caught up to it, a foot raised and stopped the vial. "Oh! Hey thanks!"**

 **The camera rose up from the vial to show Blake dressed in a black combat suit. "Since when do they let lowlife failings into Beacon?"**

 **Yang was confused. "What?"**

 **"About the same time they let stuck up little brats." Weiss walked behind Yang and pushed forward to glare toward Blake. "Belladonna."**

 **"Schnee…"**

Weiss glanced toward Blake a moment, "Seems we've met in the past in this reality."

Blake nodded. "Question is, how?"

 **"Something wrong, princess? Daddy only give you 5 thousand lien this week?" It was a mocking tone. Weiss never cared for making millions, she had bigger goals.**

 **Blake glared back to the white haired girl, "Is that** ** _supposed_** **to try to insult me?"**

 **"Um…" Yang just looked between the two, "What's going on here?"**

 **Weiss glanced to Yang for a moment before returning her attention to Blake, "This is Blake Belladonna. Heiress to the largest company in Remnant, The White Fang."**

Blake blinked and glanced to Weiss. "Did… Did we swap roles?"

Weiss nodded slowly, a little surprised, "It would seem…"

 **Blake's eyes narrowed, "And this is Weiss Schnee. Second child of the Schnee Syndicate. A daughter of criminals."**

 **"Excuse you. Dust smugglers. It's not our fault you charge people an arm and leg to buy dust."**

Blake smirked a bit, "Okay, a little different."

Weiss finally had the context from the game. And it did not sit as well with her.

 **Blake picked up the Dust and handed it to Yang. "Trust me, for your own good, stay clear of her." With that, she walked off.**

 **Weiss called out after her, "Fuck you too bitch!"**

Yang burst out laughing at the scene. Hearing Weiss talk without a filter like that was just icing on the cake~

 **Yang handed Weiss the Dust again. "So… that was weird."**

 **Weiss placed the Dust away in her bag again. "Get used to it. I get the feeling it'll get worse from here."**

Weiss sighed. "No kidding…"

This got a chuckle out of Yang and Ruby at the heiress's expense.

 **"Anyway, I'm going to head inside. See you around kid." Weiss walked away with a wave.**

 **A second later, Ruby walked up behind Yang, "So… What did we learn?"**

 **Yang sighed, "That this is going to be a weird four years."**

 **Ruby shook her head, but relented, "Yeah… That much is obvious…"**

 **The scene faded to the next day. The day of Beacon's initiation ceremony.**

Jaune sighed remembering his performance that day. Not his best. Then again… He did meet Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora. _Silver linings, I guess_.

 **The sound of a whetstone scrapping across metal could be heard through the empty hall they saw on screen. The picture snapped to another hall with another scraping. One more scrape found the scene in the locker room. Then, another scraping showed them a rounded, ornately designed shield leaning against one of the benches. Twin arcs adorned the central area, surrounded by an inlay of a golden laurel crown across the bottom.**

Jaune blinked. It was obviously _his_ symbol. So, this was it. Time to see what he looked like in this version.

 **The camera moved down and to the side, showing the back of the man sitting next to the shield. He was dressed in golden plate armor with purple attire beneath it. A red sash was placed over his belt and dark jeans. Resting on one leg, and a cloth, was a beautiful weapon. A gleaming blade, expertly taken care of, that seemed so new despite its age. This was Crocea Mors, legendary weapon of Julius Arc, his son Octavius, his son Charles, his son Montesquieu, and finally resting in the hands of Jaune Arc.**

Jaune felt a little bad. Hearing the legacy of his family, the journey of his weapon from father to son, it made him feel unworthy. Knowing what his family accomplished, he felt like he didn't deserve to hold something so important.

 **Jaune ran the whetstone across the steel one last time before starting to polish the blade instead. He held so much pride wrapped in this sword. Once he was done, he placed his blade into its scabbard, stood, and placed his shield onto his arm. He was ready. As he turned to leave, someone ran into him from behind.**

 **He turned around to find a girl with brilliant red hair pulled back into a ponytail. She was dressed in a dark hoodie, shorts, and tall expeditionary boots. She wore rudimentary plate armor over her chest and a sword and shield on her back, but that was it.**

Nora giggled, "Now it's Pyrrha and Jaune!"

 **Jaune held his hand down toward her, "Sorry about that."**

 **Pyrrha blinked up toward him, "Um… didn't I run into you?"**

 **Jaune got a bit flustered but smiled it off. "So, you did." He helped her off the ground.**

Nora chuckled a little, "Looks like Jaune picked up Pyrrha's apologizing tic."

Pyrrha pouted, "I don't say it that often…"

"You apologized to Jaune like… five times in one day. Even when you didn't do anything."

 **Jaune chuckled nervously, "Sorry. I'll get out of your way. I need to get to the cliffside, anyway."**

 **"Hey! Before you go, do you know anything about teams? I heard a rumor earlier…"**

 **Jaune nodded, "I only really know rumors as well. Supposedly, we're going to be given partners today."**

 **"Oh! Cool! Maybe we'll get to be partners!"**

 **"Oh please." The two turned to find Blake walked up to them.**

Weiss recognized the scene. This was the parallel to when she met with Pyrrha before the initiation proper. Though, she admits, it will be interesting to see how it plays out with this version of Blake.

 **Blake walked up and crossed her arms. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"**

 **"Am I supposed to?" Pyrrha tilted her head a bit, confused.**

 **The camera moved to show Jaune's eye twitch a bit. He turned to silhouette and his inner thoughts were manifested on screen as a chibi-version of Jaune in a thought bubble. The mini version was shaking, crying tears of joy.** ** _She doesn't know! She wanted to be partners and she DIDN'T KNOW!_**

Nora burst out laughing at the scene of the chibi-fied Jaune.

Jaune, himself, turned to Pyrrha, "Was it really that exciting?"

Pyrrha chuckled nervously. Internally, she _did_ find it to be exciting learning Jaune didn't know about her fame beforehand.

 **Blake continued, however, much to Jaune's annoyance, "This is Jaune Arc."**

 **Jaune waved lightly, "Hello again."**

 **"He graduated top of his class at the Sanctum Academy."**

 **Pyrrha blinked, "Where?"**

 **Blake's eye twitched. She let out a frustrated sigh and tried again. "He won four consecutive championships in Haven's junior division, holding two titles of triumph!"**

 **Pyrrha just stood there and blink, silent.**

 **Blake was more than a little frustrated with the red head now. "How sheltered** ** _are_** **you?"**

 **Pyrrha's face turned red in embarrassment. "I mean… I just never heard of him before…"**

 **"It's fine." Jaune stepped in to save Pyrrha from the frustrations of Blake. "Why don't we all head off to the cliffs and get ready for our initiation?"**

 **Pyrrha nodded, "That sounds like a good idea."**

Yang chuckled a bit, "That's a pretty nice scene. Kind of interesting to see up close this time. Different ending too."

 **The scene ended and transitioned to the cliffs. It was finally time for initiation. Unlike the other versions, this one didn't spend time reiterating what they knew, since it was the same type of scene up top. The camera focused, instead, on some of the students' descent into the forest below.**

 **One of the students in question was Nora Valkyrie. She was dressed in dark leather and fur, similar to the Viking versions they'd seen before. She drew twin hand axes and hooked herself onto a tree branch, swinging up a bit and into another tree. She used her axes to slide down the tree and land safely on the ground. "Okay. Now to find Ren." A loud tone shook through the forest and caused Nora to shiver at the vibrations. She looked off in the direction of the source. "That way…" She started to run off toward the sound's creator.**

Ren raised an eyebrow. It was implying he was the source of the sound. Question was, how was he the source?

 **The camera followed Nora until he reached a clearing. Then, it moved off to show a group of Beowolves surrounding Lie Ren. Ren was dressed in a green hoodie with neon pink streaks hooking over his shoulders and down his back, meeting at the base of his spine. He wore light grey pants and boots similar to his counterpart in the seats.**

 **As one of the Beowolves slashed at him, he leaned back and ducked the attack. His hand fell to the ground behind him and he lifted himself up, kicking his body outward to strike some of his attackers. When another Grimm tried to attack, he simply jumped off his position and flipped into a kick. As Ren moved, it seemed more like he was dancing than fighting.**

Nora was wide eyed, "Woah! Can you really fight _and_ dance?"

Jaune blinked. "Can you?" He was a good dancer. Could he bridge the two? It would certainly help his improvement time.

 **Ren kicked off the ground, twisting into the air to kick another wolf. Said wolf was smart enough to dodge away, but its mistake was dodging backward. Ren slammed his foot down, the air in front of him seeming to condense in slow motion. Then, they heard the tone from before as the air moved forward and slashed into the Beowolf. It didn't do any outward damage, but the sound ripped the body up from inside. This was Ren's semblance, the ability to assault his opponents by creating localized sound waves.**

Ren was intrigued. The ability to create waves of sound from his body and weaponize them is rather impressive. It would also explain the dance-based fighting style.

 **As another started to rear back to strike him, an ax swung into its neck and knocking it away from Ren. Nora walked over calmly and pulled the ax out. "Come on partner." She had a small smirk on her face. "Let's get moving."**

 **Ren chuckled, "After you." The two walked off into the forest as the camera panned up over the tree line.**

 **When it returned to the world below, they saw Pyrrha looking down at her hands as a black energy emanated around them. "This is kind of crazy…"**

 **Jaune was next to her, arms crossed and smirking, "What's crazy is that you got into Beacon without your aura unlocked. That's kind of impressive." He turned around and started to lead the duo through the trees again.**

 **Pyrrha chuckled nervously. "Yeah… Impressive…"**

Pyrrha felt a little concerned now. If everyone was taking in the idea that they all swapped roles, were they going to find out Jaune faked his way into Beacon? The teachers were in the audience. Would he be expelled for this?

 **Jaune caught this slip, "Something wrong?"**

 **Pyrrha jumped a little. "Oh! Um… It's…" She sighed.** ** _Might as well…_** **"I'm sorry. I'm not actually…"**

 **Jaune, however, cut her off. "We can talk about this later. We've got an initiation to pass."**

 **The two soon found themselves in the old ruins. As they approached, they felt a rumbling in the ground beneath them. The two looked to one another before looking behind them. Ruby and Weiss ran up from the trees. Weiss slid a bit on her feet and fired her weapon, a drum-fed, dust powered submachine gun, into the trees. A second later, a giant Deathstalker ripped through the trees, roaring at its prey. A shrill cry made Jaune and Pyrrha look to the skies as Blake and Yang descended from a massive Nevermore circling around the area.**

 **Pyrrha shook a little, "This in an initiation?"**

 **Jaune slowly shook his head, "I don't think they expected something like this to happen." He drew his sword, "But it's happening. Get ready!"**

 **Pyrrha took a breath before drawing her own sword. She had next to no formal training, an unfamiliar weapon, and her first fight was against two giant Grimm.** ** _Lovely…_**

Jaune knew this feeling a little too well. Initiation was a hell of a wake up to the world of huntsmen.

 **The Deathstalker spun slighting to the side and attacked a nearby tree, knocking it down and causing Ren and Nora to fall out from their hiding place. Now, the all too familiar group of eight students were together again.**

 **As the Nevermore rounded back again, Ruby looked up and her silver eyes started to glow lightly. She didn't have a lot of control over the ability, but it should help here.**

Ruby was a little interested now. "My silver eyes have powers? Is that a thing?"

Her family didn't have an answer. Many didn't. But those who did were silent for now. It was easier to explain if she saw it first.

 **Ruby drew her weapon with a flourish. It unfurled into a beautifully designed scythe. The blade was adorned with a rose-based pattern of petals and thorns. The blade of the weapon utilizes a special, very rare alloy commonly addressed as Type-S, due to the trace amounts of silver within the larger structure.**

Ruby's eyes turned wide and star-filled. "Woah! Type-S! Actual Type-S!"

Yang turned to her sister, "Is it really _that_ rare?"

"There's almost no Type-S alloy in Remnant since it's so hard to make. The silver alone makes it rare, but the process is so difficult that most people don't even bother. It's not even the best alloy for weapons. It's strong, but nothing too awesome for weapons."

 **This alloy served two purposes for the silver-eyed warrior. The first was the strength of the alloy. True, it's not the best option, but that's where the second purpose came in. It acted like her eyes, a mirror of the light of the world. Paired with her eyes, it had increased effectiveness against the creatures of Grimm. Until she mastered the power hidden within her eyes, the blade would act as a focusing lens.**

Ruby's head tilted slightly, "That… wasn't exactly helpful. What does that even mean?!"

 **Her scythe seemed to glow, getting both Grimm's attention for some reason. The Nevermore, with the option to back off, stalled itself and gained a bit of altitude. The Deathstalker was on the ground and directly in front of Ruby. Thanks to instincts honed over a long lifespan, it now saw her as the primary target to be dealt with. It reared its claw back to strike her.**

 **Ruby smirked and swung her scythe, a crescent of silver light following the blade's arc. When the light faded away, the Grimm's claw had turned to stone and fell to the earth below due to the balance shift.**

Everyone in the audience, save for those previously aware of the powers of the silver eyes, went silent in shock. Ruby in particular was completely stunned. Did her eyes really give her a power like that or was this a quirk of the reality? Could she do that? So many questions!

 **The Nevermore, which avoided the attack, found another issue. Nora and Ren looked to one another and nodded together. Nora tossed up a grenade from her belt and Ren kicked it to the sky using his semblance around the item. When it burst next to the Nevermore, it exploded with a loud shockwave, ripping the feathers of the Nevermore apart, sending to the ground.**

 **Blake drew a device from her back that expanded into a bow. She drew an arrow from a quiver placed at her side with a dust-tipped head. Loosing the arrow caused an icy projectile to slam into the Grimm bird's eye, ice bursting out from the back of its head.**

This got Cinder's attention. She'd created arrowed from glass, but she'd never considered using dust tipped arrows. Perhaps they'd be even more effective. Things to think about.

Mercury just enjoyed the brutal display.

 **The Deathstalker, now alone, saw few options. Killing Ruby would be difficult if she could turn its body parts to stone. Not that it knew how the eyes worked. It would be better to fight some of the others instead. It may die, but it'll kill as many as it can before it does! It roared and lifted its now stone claw off the ground. It started to accelerate to the ground with the intent to turn Pyrrha into a red stain on the grass. It's claw slammed down with enough force to kick up a massive cloud of earth.**

"Pyrrha!" Nora jumped and grabbed her red-headed friend in pained shock. It wouldn't be the first time they'd seen people they new die, but it was never easy.

Pyrrha wanted to comfort Nora, but was too shocked at the scene.

 **The camera looked through the dust and earth as the claw shook. A moment later, the claw slammed down and shattered apart. As the Deathstalker cried out in pain, the camera showed a confused Pyrrha, an armored hand on her shoulder, as her aura was flaring up.**

"She's okay!" Nora hugged Pyrrha and temporarily halted her breathing. It took a moment to separate the two.

 **Pyrrha turned to see Jaune was the owner of the hand on her shoulder. When he let go, her aura returned to its near invisible state. "What… just happened?"**

 **Jaune stepped forward, "My semblance is the ability to fortify and manipulate aura. I can turn myself or others into invincible juggernauts, give their own semblances a serious boost, or overclock the body's healing abilities."**

Jaune was a little excited now, "Is that actually my semblance?"

Ren shrugged, "We can't be too sure. In another version, you had a very different ability. It's possible, but we don't know."

"Oh…" That took the wind of Jaune's sails a bit. He was so excited to find out his semblance.

 **Jaune drew his sword and it seemed to glimmer. It's often said that a person's weapon is like an extension of their body, thus one with their soul. Jaune's weapon, however, was the legacy of five generations of souls. Jaune slid his foot across the dirt and brought his shield up to defense and his blade ready for a strike. Some would see this as hiding behind his shield, but this was the stance of counterattack. As the Deathstalker saw this puny human square up to it, it tried to attack the Arcadian Champion.**

"Arcadian?" Nora's head tilted, confused. "Never heard of that one."

Jaune paused a moment, but explained it soon, "It's my home town. Named after my family in remembrance to my great-great-grandfather."

"Ooh! That's cool! Where is it?"

"It's… kind of hard to explain without a map. It's out in the middle of nowhere."

 **As the claw struck Jaune's shield, the Champion swiped his sword up through the Grimm's appendage and lopping it off.**

"Holy shit!" Yang grinned, "Look at you go!" She chuckled back to Jaune.

Jaune just blinked. He could be capable of that? This was a world that was like theirs, right? So, it's possible…

 **Jaune grinned. "Now would be a good time to put this thing down. Don't you think Ms. Schnee?"**

 **Weiss blinked a moment but grinned a moment later. "Call me Weiss." The drum on Weiss's gun seemed to expand slightly, creating cog-like teeth. This allowed the internal system a quick ventilation effect. When she pulled down on the trigger, shots of pure white fire erupted from the barrel. Fire so hot it melted into the Grimm. Steam launched out from the open drum. It was the closest Remnant had ever seen to actual laser weaponry.**

Ruby gasped and jumped in her seat, "THAT'S SO COOL!"

Yang chuckled, "Guess that explains why she didn't like Ice Queen label in the game."

 **As the Deathstalker collapsed into a partially bubbling pile, Weiss flipped a switch and the weapon cooled the drum before returning to normal.**

 **Pyrrha shook a little. These people were amazing… And she was just… A hand falling to her shoulder shook her out of her thoughts. Jaune was smiling down to her. It made her feel grounded. She took a breath and smiled back.**

 **The screen faded to Pyrrha, looking around her new living space. She had made it into Beacon. Passed the initiation. She was part of a team… So why did she feel like she didn't belong?**

 _Oh no…_ Pyrrha glanced toward Jaune. It was starting to get into territory she _really_ hoped it didn't.

 **The room was empty for the moment. No one had the chance to move in. She sighed and sat onto her bed. It might better to come clean with this early. Her attention was snapped away as the door opened and Jaune walked in with his trunk over his shoulder.**

 **"Ren and Nora said they wanted to check out the facilities. Headed to the cafeteria." He placed his trunk in front of one of the beds and smiled, kneeling as he started to unlock it. He turned his head to Pyrrha and his smile faded seeing her state. "Are you okay? Homesick?"**

 **Pyrrha shook her head. "No… Well, a little, but that's not the problem. Jaune… I don't belong here…"**

 **"What? Sure you do. You got in and we passed the initiation."**

 **"Jaune… I can't belong here. You're all so amazing and I'm just… I'm not…" She was having difficulties getting it out. She took a breath and decided to just blurt it out and hope. "I didn't earn my place here!"**

Everyone was in shock, but not at the scene. It was the underlying truth the story was implying to them. Pyrrha and Jaune had swapped their stories, and it just said Pyrrha cheated to get into Beacon. If the story flipped, that meant Jaune lied to get it.

Weiss slammed her fist into her chair, standing up, and spinning around to Jaune, "What's the meaning of this?!"

Pyrrha tried to calm the heiress, "Weiss! Hang on a second…"

But she wasn't having it, "No! From what we're seeing, we all swapped roles. This is basically telling us that Jaune LIED to get into Beacon! It was clear he was a terrible fighter, but I thought _something_ redeemed him enough to get in! Apparently, I was wrong!"

"On the contrary." Ozpin cut off her ranting. "I found quite the redeeming qualities in Mr. Arc." Two sets of eyes turned to Ozpin in shock. He just chuckled, "Did you believe I wouldn't notice falsified transcripts?"

Jaune stood up and turned to the Headmaster, "Then why did you let me in?"

"Mr. Arc, I found many qualities within you that many huntsmen can only dream of. You have an excellent mind for details in stressful situations and you process this information well. You have an eagerness to learn that most students seem to lack as well. What's more," Ozpin seemed to trail off, "you possess something many lack in our day. Something I only ever say in Ms. Rose."

"And… what's that?"

"A simple… honest soul. You wanted to become a huntsman to help others. To inspire. Be a hero. You give people hope, whether you realize it or not." Ozpin's gaze turned to Weiss. "Well Ms. Schnee? Would these qualities be sufficiently redeeming?"

Weiss looked to Jaune and scowled a little. She had to prove herself both to her father, to Atlas, and to Beacon. And Jaune just lied to get in. She would admit that Jaune has improved and does seem to put everyone at ease, but she was still very angry. She fell back into her seat and glared up at the screen again.

Jaune clutched his seat's arm rests a little too tight. His secret was out. Weiss was the only one to have an outburst, but he just knew the others had a similar reaction hidden away.

 **The Jaune on the screen was still reacting to Pyrrha. "What are you talking about?"**

 **"I… I got in using false transcripts. I didn't go to a combat school… I didn't earn my place here…" Pyrrha was shaking. This was the moment she didn't want to happen, but after seeing the skill of the other students, she didn't have a choice. "I'm sorry…"**

 **Jaune was silent.**

 **Pyrrha waited for his reply, fully ready for him to hate her.**

 **"Why?"**

 **This caught her off guard. "What?"**

 **"Why? Why cheat to get in? What's your goal?"**

 **"I…" Pyrrha paused, tears forming a bit. "I wanted to be a hero. I wanted to help people… I just wanted to do something to help!"**

 **Silence followed.**

A similar effect fell over the audience. Waiting for Jaune's reaction.

Jaune clutched his hands together. _Say something… please…_

 **Tension filled the room. Until… "Good."**

 **Pyrrha's eyes snapped open wide and toward Jaune, "What?"**

 **"I knew you had next to no training. Your lack of aura and how you move gave that away. But!" Jaune slammed his hand onto his trunk, causing Pyrrha to jump. "If you want to be a hero… to be someone that can help others, you're going to have to help yourself first. I'm going to train you. You'll work your butt off so that if anyone ever did find out, you'll be better than them anyway." He stood up and turned to Pyrrha. "Heroes are never** ** _born_** **, anyway." He held his hand out to her. "Sound like a plan?"**

 **Pyrrha wiped away her tears, a new look of determination on her face. "Deal!" The two shook hands and the world faded out.**

Weiss took a breath. A part of her considered storming off after learning about Jaune's lie. But she stuck around and thought it over. Jaune's on a level nearly matching many of the students, likely thanks to training from Pyrrha if this was anything to go by. She couldn't deny his work ethic… She sighed and begrudgingly decided to let it go. The Headmaster knew and let him in anyway, after all.


	80. Purging the Heretics

**King: Okay. FIRST! I am a serious outsider in this subject. I've never played the game and did some research into the series, but I will never claim to be a master.**

 **Knox: Yikes. What the heck are we doing this time?**

 **King: Warhammer 40K.**

 **Knox: ... Oh dear.**

 **King: If there are any major hiccups, chalk it up to dimensional differences. Hope you enjoy.**

 **Side Note: If you're interested, check out the "Astartes" fan animation. It's what finally broke me and made me** ** _need_** **to make this.**

 **Inspiration: Warhammer 40K**

 **/\**

King appeared again to offer snakes and refill drinks. After a moment, his body shook and erupted into blue, an upside-down omega symbol appearing within his body. He shivered back to normal and took in a deep breath. "Oh… Oh no…" His flickered out as the screen started to play.

Jaune could tell this wasn't going to be a kind scene.

 **The world was black with white text appearing in the center region.**

 **[The warrior who acts out of honor cannot fail. His duty is honor itself. Even his death – if it is honorable – is a reward and can be no failure for it has come through duty. Seek honor as you act, therefore, and you shall know no fear. – Roboute Guilliman]**

Jaune blinked. He actually kind of like that sentiment. The idea of fighting for and with honor was something he could get behind.

 **The world opened to the scene of a bright blue sky. A star seemed to flicker in the sky, before moving slightly. This was not a star, but something far more dangerous should it touch onto the ground. The camera moved aside, showing this was the scene as seen through binoculars. After a moment, they heard someone shout, "** ** _FIRE!_** **" Anti-air batteries roared and fired their flak toward the descending item.**

"What could be that bad?" Jaune watched on, confused.

Blake's hand clutched onto her chair. The way it was going, it was starting to sound like a nuclear bomb or something.

 **Turned out, it was or something. The camera caught up to show a drop pod as it crashed into the ground like a meteor. The smoke obscured the scene as soldiers filed out around it, guns pointed toward the impact zone. They each shed sweat in anxious fear. Only one thing descended from the sky like that. The scene went black before showing the world in green with each person as a red silhouette.**

 **A loud metallic thump soon followed as the world returned to the people surrounding the pod. Then another. The camera hung low by the smoke as a heavily armored foot stepped out from the dust. The dust carried away on the wind showing a massive man in powered armor. Easily over 7 feet, possibly 8 feet, tall. His rounded armor resembled that of a gothic knight, a shimmering white armor with golden trim. His shoulder was adorned with a skull symbol on one side and the familiar twin arcs on the other. In truth, he was intimidating, face hidden behind his helmet. The eyes seeming to glow bright red.**

Shivers ran up their spines.

Even Cinder was genuinely terrified by this figure. She had no reason as to why, but she was still afraid. It was a primal fear.

 **Jaune Arc, Astartes of the Arcadian Chapter, Company 2, Shock Trooper of the Imperial Legion. He was an augmented human, born and built to defend the human race from the worst the galaxy has to throw at them. He held his Bolter gun in his hands and glared out to the men standing before him.**

 **These men were simple humans in the eyes of others. But to him, they were filth. Rebels attempting to overthrow the Emperor and his teachings. These men sought to place themselves in his throne. There was only one word for men like these. Heretic. And heretics must be purged.**

 **The men started to open fire with their automatic rifles. But these bullets were too weak to break through the Astartes' armor. Jaune leveled his weapon toward their line. In his hands, it seemed like a simple machine gun. In context, it was a massive personal cannon. He fired one bolt toward the man closest to him. The bolt struck square in the man's gut as the shell exploded, ripping the man in half.**

Ruby was torn. On one hand, the weapon was so awesome! On the other… she just saw a man get ripped in half by said weapon. The bloody mist and guts didn't help.

 **Jaune scared the men to their very cores. As they tried to flee, Jaune continued to fire. Each shot was a kill. Every kill a bloody mist that splattered what was left on the ground. Jaune was a killing machine, a master of war and an angel of death. As he passed by the torso of one of the soldiers, he kneeled down and picked him up by the torso to look at his insignia. Adorning the cloth and simple armor of the formerly living human was a red wolf head in profile with three slash marks. Jaune's grip tightened, breaking the bones of the dead man beneath. The White Fang have fallen.**

Ilia was scared before. Now she was terrified. Would this mean she was going to see her friends die now? Would she die in this reality at the hands of this monster?

Sienna was just as worried. This variation was truly a monster. She'd seen this kid as a psychopath, a criminal, and a super spy. But they felt like people. This one was just… inhuman.

 **Jaune tossed the torso away. Before, he only had the conviction to complete his mission and kill these heretics. Now? Now he'd make it hurt. He'll indulge himself in vengeance for the legacy of Commander Gira Belladonna. He walked forward and toward a large military base. Only one man would be foolish enough to try a stunt like this.**

Blake sighed, "Wonder who that could be…" She knew too well who would be that crazy.

 **The camera faded away to the interior. Within, Blake was tied up, kneeling on the ground, and bruised. Ilia was tossed to the ground next to her. White Fang soldiers saluted as Adam walked in, sword at his side. He looked down at the two with s scowl. "The White Fang will not tolerate treason."**

 **Blake glared daggers at the man, "You're one to talk! You're a traitor to the Empire and the Legion!"**

 **Ilia groaned from her pained position, "A traitor to all of humanity…" She looked up with a similar look to Blake's. "And to the Emperor.**

 **Adam decided to have a little outburst. "The Emperor is a dying husk! It's only a matter of time before he finally croaks."**

 **Blake and Ilia looked to this man like he'd just spit on a memorial. Adam had just committed the most heinous crime of heresy. If this was his plan, there was only one outcome. Blake and Ilia set themselves in kneeling prayer.**

"What's going on?" Blake raised an eyebrow.

Ilia shrugged, "Not sure… Something about this Emperor?"

Ozpin had seen this before, "A god-king. The idea of a divine being manifested as a mortal ruler."

Some eyes turned to King as a joke, but… in this world it wasn't wrong. King, however, was confused by their gaze, "What?"

 **Adam shook his head. "You're be better off praying to me in that corpse's place. But I won't hold that against you." He drew his sword and placed it against the underside of Blake's chin. "But if this helps you, you can pray all you like. But I won't be listening." Adam's blade started to move down to her body, cutting into her uniform top.**

"He wouldn't!" Ilia really hoped he wouldn't.

Blake's eye twitched in anger. "That little…"

 **"Sir!" Adam was cut off by one of his soldiers bursting in a panic.**

This got relieved sighs from the group.

 **Adam growled and turned to the soldier, "What could be so important?"**

 **The soldier was breathing heavily, anxiety and fear coursing through him, "It's a marine sir! The Empire sent an Astartes!"**

 **Adam froze up and spun his body around now, "WHAT?!" Adam growled and slammed his sword back to his side. "I'll deal with these two later! Send them to the hold!" As Blake and Ilia were taken away, Adam returned his attention to the soldier. "What type of Marine are we dealing with?"**

 **"I… I don't understand, sir."**

 **"What color is his armor?! What symbols are on his shoulders?!"**

 **"Oh! Right! He has white armor with golden trim. He has a skull on one side and twin arcs on the other!"**

 **Adam tensed up. "Arcadia?! You're certain?"**

 **"I'm certain sir!"**

Blake now found Jaune to be her own catharsis by proxy. She didn't like seeing people die, especially like that, but she couldn't stop it anyway.

 **The screen returned to Jaune as he walked through the military base. As many of the soldiers tried to set up a defense, he would mow them down without even flinching. He marched on through a hail of bullets bouncing off his armor. One of the soldiers brought up a rocket launcher and leveled it toward the marching man in armor.**

Ruby was a little worried for Jaune now, "That might actually do damage…" Possibly kill him.

Or not.

 **Jaune fired a shell at the man with the launcher and knocked his body back, causing the rocket to fly up instead of forward. The explosive struck a steam pipe and covered the soldiers nearby in the planet's steam, causing serious burns. As Jaune walked over, he killed each of them, putting them out of this misery.**

Port shook a little, "Such precise accuracy and awareness… This version is more capable than anyone I'd ever seen…"

 **Jaune walked on, his steps ringing out into the corridors. As the footsteps rang out, a man with a large anti-armor rifle was waiting for him. An ambush set and ready, finger on the trigger to put this man down. Jaune's footsteps rang out a few more times before stopping. This confused the man with the rifle until he heard a loud shot. Then he heard nothing ever again. The Marine had walked in from a different direction, the echoing halls masking him just enough to confuse those with minimal training. He simply walked off to complete his work.**

Ruby felt a chill go up her spine. "Hold on a second…"

"What is it?" Tai turned to his daughter.

"That armor… the other shoulder is different."

Eyes returned to the screen.

 **This armor's non-arced shoulder now had an X-shaped cross in place of the skull.**

"What the heck is going on?" Yang asked.

 **He hadn't moved, but the footsteps echoed again. Soon, another Marine walked through the hall.**

"There's another one?!" This rocked the group a bit to the core. One walking death tank with legs was bad enough. Seeing another one was not a welcome sight. And even then, this was not Jaune.

 **This Marine's shoulder held a sword, as did he. Jaune had brought with him his complete Company of 10 Marines. Three were remaining at the drop site to secure the evacuation zone. Two remained at the entrance. The remaining five walked through the halls, turning men into mist.**

Cinder was feeling sick. _TEN?! There's ten of those things?!_

 **The scene returned to Adam as he ordered the defenses to be set. He was able to bring up an old laser cannon and get it working, but this was a dangerous gambit. If the Astartes broke into the area, he'd need to act fast and put them down before they put him down. He swallowed in a nervous act as the cannon got into position. He refused to die here. He was to become the Emperor! But there was an odd light coming from behind him.**

Ruby, the resident master of metals, could recognize the effect. "Wait… That's a plasma saw. Then…"

 **BOOM!**

 **Adam's head erupted into mist as a shell flew in from behind. Jaune stepped through a hole cut into the wall. His fellow Marines marched in and leveled the surprised White Fang. As Jaune walked on, he turned to the camera. He leveled his gun toward it and a blast caused the screen to go white.**

This caused the people in the seats to jump a bit.

 **Black lettering started to form now.**

 **[Let them bestride the galaxy like the gods of old. Sheltering mankind from destruction at the hands of an uncaring universe. – Roboute Guilliman]**

"Yikes…" Yang winced a bit. "Jaune was seriously scary in that one."

Knox popped in again. "You think he's scary? You should see the rest of the universe."

King nodded, "Theirs is a cruel universe. Alien beings nearly causing the complete extinction of humanity. They survive only by banding under the power of their Emperor. Humanity now lives as a theocratic dictatorship, simply in order to survive."

Knox turned his circlet up to appear like a halo behind his head, "In the far-flung future of the year 40,000, there is only war." His circlet returned to normal and the two disappeared again.


	81. They say he could level a skyscraper

**King: What's my name?!**

 **Knox: Heisenberg?**

 **King: You know what I'm getting at...**

 **Knox: I know~ Just having a little fun~**

 **King: Fair enough. I hope everyone enjoys and no, it's not Breaking Bad.**

 **Inspiration: Overwatch**

 **/\**

 **The next world opened now to show Jaune sitting on the side of a cot. This version of Jaune was a giant of a man, in peak physical condition, easily on par with Hazel's mass. He was dressed in a white tank top and bright orange pants.**

Yang let out an impressed whistle, "Damn. Big boy, ain't he?"

Jaune picked up on something else, though. "Am I in jail?"

"Wouldn't be the first time." Blake recalled the version where Yang and Scarlet were heroes.

"What?"

"We can explain it later." Yang grinned. "I want to see where this goes."

 **Jaune looked down to his folded hands. After a moment, he unclasped his hands and stood up. He moved over to his cell door, a giant slab of concrete and steel. His fist clenched, rose up, and reared back in preparation for attack.**

Tai clenched his fists, waiting for impact, "That's going to hurt."

"Why in the world would I punch that?" Jaune was not looking forward to that.

"Maybe he's addicted to painkillers…" Strangely, Mercury answered him. "Heard in prisons, they have that kind of stuff on file in case they need it."

Emerald looked toward Mercury like he drew a second head. Mercury, of all people, was being helpful to those brats. Sure, it was a nothing explanation, but there was no snark. _What the hell is going on?_

 **Jaune's fist slammed into the door with a loud echo through the room.**

Jaune recoiled and gripped his hand. "Yikes…"

 **But the Jaune on screen didn't seem bothered at all. He just brought his hand back again and slammed his fist back into the door. On impact, the camera pulled off to show a newspaper clipping of Yang. The headline read, [Primal Punch: Doomfist defeated by Faunas Scientist from the Moon].**

Yang snickered, "Wait… I'm a faunas… from the Moon?"

"How is that a thing?" Ruby chuckled.

Sun grinned, "That does sound awesome though."

 **Another impact shifted the camera to another clipping, this time showing a large gauntlet in a glass case. It said that the gauntlet once owned by Doomfist was being moved to a museum in a city called Numbani.**

Weiss shook her head, "Doomfist?"

Yang chuckled, "Such a dumb name. Sounds like some edgy teenager."

 **Another impact brought up a newspaper clipping showing Jaune locked up in a set of chains during his arrest. [Numbani's Most Wanted in Chains. Jaune "Doomfist" Arc behind Bars!].**

Nora started to laugh. "Edgy Jaune, then~?"

Jaune sighed. He'd never had the edgy phase; his sisters would never let him live it down if he did. It was also clear his friends wouldn't let him live it down either.

 **Well, that** ** _edgy_** **Jaune swung his fist back again and broke the cement in the door. Chunks of stone flew off as he created a large break in the door.**

Yang's laughing went silent. Jaune didn't even seem phased by the impacts. Yet here he was, breaking down a barrier that he should not be able to break. Even she'd end up hurting herself doing that.

 **Then, his voice over began. "** ** _Humanity is always being tested._** **"**

 **Another impact caused chunks of his cell to fall from above thanks to the vibrations of his assault.**

Tai was just awestruck, "How strong is this guy?" Sure, he wasn't the strongest they'd seen, but this just seemed like a normal human, be it a very muscular one.

 **"** ** _Conflict and war… are the crucible through which we evolve._** **"**

 **Jaune slammed his fist against the door again as the world turned white. When they could see again, a police car flew into a nearby building as if sent flying by the same punch. The camera tracked back to show Jaune standing among the streets of Numbani. He dressed in a pair of jeans and boots, but that was it. Likely because he was wearing a gauntlet that went from hand to over his right pec. Blue war paint accented his face. This was his assault on Numbani. His message against everything it stood for. Humans, Faunas, and the mechanical beings called omnics coming together in peace… Nothing but a recipe for stagnation. It was also the day he was captured.**

Yang slammed her fist into her other hand, "Nice! We get to see how I totally kicked this edgy version's butt!"

 **That day, three members of the organization Overwatch were dispatched to stop his attack: Yang, Blake, and Ruby. Yang, the scientific mind from the moon, was dressed in white armor and holding her electrified Tesla gun. Blake, the cybernetic shinobi, was formed with black armor giving her a sleek appearance. Ruby was dressed in a futuristic piolet suit with an odd armor-like piece on her chest with a glowing blue center.**

"That looks important…" Tai sighed. "And it's a little too obvious. Better be impressive or at least helpful."

 **Yang was the closest during the search. She leveled her weapon and fired a bolt of lightning from the barrel.**

Nora gasped, "Lightning gun! That's so awesome! How can we make that?"

Jaune paused for a moment, thinking. "Actually… that might actually be helpful with Nora's semblance."

"There's lightning dust." Ren offered.

"Good point. I'll set some Lien aside for the team to get some."

Nora giggled, "Thank you, fearless leader!"

 **When Yang fired the gun, Jaune dipped to the side and snuck in to punch Yang in the gut with the gauntlet. He sent the genius flying over the street. Ruby ran up her eyes went wide seeing Yang fly across the air. She blinked into a blue light, Yang flying passed, and reappeared a bit further looking back to Yang.**

Ruby was giddy now, "I CAN TELEPORT!"

 **Jaune grabbed a car next to him and backhand tossed it at Ruby, who dodged the attack the same way she dodged Yang's flying form. The camera pulled away to show Blake running along the side of a building. Jaune noticed her approached and tossed a car door, spinning along and cutting into the building. Blake leapt off and sent out a flurry of shuriken. Blake and Ruby were the fastest members of Overwatch and easily the best at harassing their opponents, causing defeat by a thousand cuts. Though they weren't doing that much damage, Jaune was having difficulties keeping up with the duo working in unison.**

Ruby had a wide grin, "Hehe~ Go team RWBY!"

 **"** ** _Every battle! Makes us stronger._** **"**

 **Jaune punched the ground and caused the area to erupt as the energy spread out over the street. Blake was launched into the air with a car following her up. He drew her katana sword and sliced the vehicle in two. She gasped seeing that Jaune used the vehicle as cover to jump up to meet her in the air.**

Tai groaned, "Smart move…" But it also meant that his daughters' friend was going to get smacked down.

 **Jaune reared his fist back and slammed the gauntlet into Blake, sending her back down to earth. She ended up skidding across the pavement. But she tried to get back up to her feet, but the inertia remained until she slammed into another car on the street.**

 **The alarm was able to stir Yang back into consciousness. She shook her head and jumped out of the store she ended up landing in. As she approached, she found Blake hunched over with internal damage. Ruby, however, kept trying to fight Jaune. He simply stood there, her attacks alone dealing next to no damage to the hardened warlord.**

Ruby was too enthralled by her weapons and blinking around to really take in what was happening.

Jaune, however, caught on. "Oh no…"

 **Jaune's eyes tried to track the blinking attacker. He swung his fist toward her, but only found air. Then, he caught her. His armored arm flew up to the side, gripping the back of her apparatus. He pulled the technology apart from her body. The glowing effect from her device seemed to explode outward as she cried out in pain.**

 **Yang could only watch in terror. Jaune had ripped away Ruby's chronal accelerator, the only device that allowed her to remain tethered the present after her accident. Ruby blinked in and out of reality before disappearing, never knowing when she'll ever return to their lives again.**

A chill went down Ruby's spine. "That's… that's what that did?"

Tai fell back in his seat. "That's horrifying…"

Yang was just caught in a moment of shocked silence.

 **The Yang on screen was the opposite, exploding into a rage fueled berserker state and charging toward Jaune. Jaune had perched himself above her on a pile of rubble waiting for her. As she approached, he crushed the half of the accelerator he had and formed a fist again. The camera caught the two face to face before they pulled back and their fists collided in a bright white flash.**

 **The scene returned to the present to reveal Jaune had punched his cell open from within. Doomfist, one of the leading figures of the Talon terrorist group was free again. He stepped out from the cell and continued to walk on, punching out anyone that got in his way. After a while, he met up with a man in dark robes and stylized skull mask. "What took you?" The masked man's voice had a menacing echo, but it was still very recognizable.**

Ren raised an eyebrow. "So, that's me then?"

Jaune nodded a bit, "At least we seem on good terms."

 **Jaune scoffed, "Hardly. What have I missed during my vacation?"**

 **"We picked up a new technology expert. She thinks she's acting under our noses, but we allow her to continue believing she's undetected for now."**

 **The two walked up the ramp of a Talon dropship. As they approached, a woman was waiting for them. Obviously being a counterpart for Pyrrha, she was dressed in a skin-tight combat suit with a spider theming. "Welcome back, sir."**

Nora grumbled, "Everyone's here but me… Why can't we get team JPNR?!"

"We didn't get the whole team RWBY." Ren reasoned. "Three from one, three from the other?"

 **Jaune nodded to her. "Pyrrha. Always a pleasure. Any word from Nora?"**

 **Ren closed the ramp as they started to take off. "She's still in Oasis, working on some big project."**

 **"Well, get her back to headquarters. Tell her I'm ready for those upgrades."**

 **"I'll send the message."**

 **Pyrrha leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "She'll be thrilled to hear that…"**

 **Jaune ignored her tone, "Focus. We have a new mission."**

 **"That is?"**

 **"Finishing where you two** ** _failed_** **." His voice made it clear he was displeased. The two looked away from him, unable to come up with any excuse for failing to retrieve his gauntlet.**

Nora pouted, "They act like they're not even friends! This sucks!"

Ruby was still getting over what she'd seen. She looked over to Nora, about to call her out on that, but paused.

Nora's body language was closed off and shaking lightly. She was trying to play off any fears or pain with these outbursts. It was a cover until she and others felt better.

 **Jaune rolled his eyes and continued, "Let's get my gauntlet back."**

 **The screen flashed to show Jaune punching a centaur robot into a wall, crushing another bot with his bare hands, and breaking into the glass to grab his gauntlet. The final image showed Jaune standing with his gauntlet returned, dressed similarly to he was during his capture.**

 **"** ** _Those who fall shall be forgotten! Those who rise up… Their names will be remembered forever!_** **"**


	82. Last of His Kind

**King: ...**

 **Knox: ...**

 **King: EXTERMINATE!**

 **Knox: EXTERMINATE!**

 **King: Serious now. This story references the War Doctor, Ninth Doctor, and Fourth Doctor (in order of appearance). This was probably the episode (Series 1 Episode 6) that made me love the show. Then I fell off after a while... I don't know. Anyway, hope you enjoy.**

 **Inspiration: Doctor Who**

 **/\**

"I really hope the next one doesn't have scenes like that…" Yang groaned, remembering Ruby blink out of existence.

"And… you've jinxed it." Sun lied back in his chair, waiting for things to go wrong now.

 **The next world opened to a vast desert. Standing in the screen's center was an older Ozpin with a beard adorning his face. He was dressed in a coat, scarf, vest, pants, and a pair of boots reaching up to his knees, all in shades of brown. His uniform for the War… The screen showed his back and up to see two fleets of warships ready to tear each other apart. Ozpin closed his eyes and took a breath, a bright light washing over everything.**

"Woah! What happened?" Oscar couldn't explain it, but it felt wrong. Like he'd seen the end of existence itself.

 **The world returned again, but it was no longer the desert. Now, it was something that looked like either a museum or a trophy room. Then they heard an odd sound, hard to explain but very much unheard before. Then, a blue phone booth started to form into the room.**

 **The door on the side popped open and Jaune jumped out from the booth. He was dressed in a black leather jacket, black slacks, black shoes, and a gold t-shirt. He grinned and looked around. "Well now~ Where'd we end up this time?"**

 **"What's going on?" Velvet stepped out after him.**

Velvet blushed a little. There was no way that booth was large enough to hold them both very comfortably without getting rather… intimate.

 **"Don't know…" Jaune looked around the area. "Weird signal got picked up by the Tardis, knocked us off course." He found a light switch and flicked it on. The room was a giant warehouse filled with displays. Jaune let out an impressed whistle. "Some one's got a hobby."**

 **Velvet looked around. "Okay… where are we?"**

 **"Utah, America. About… half a mile underground."**

 **Velvet nodded a bit. "Okay…** ** _when_** **are we?"**

Coco raised an eyebrow, "Now why would she ask that?"

"Is that box a time machine?" Ruby was a little excited at the idea.

So was Oobleck, be he kept his hopes low.

 **Jaune looked around, "2012."**

 **"2012? That's really close. I'd be… 26?"**

"It is a time machine!" Ruby burst out.

Oobleck nearly fell over in his chair. He really hoped they explained how it was possible.

 **Jaune looked around at the various displays. One in particular caught his attention. It was the head of a robotic being called a Cyberman. A rather old version at that. "Now that's a blast from the past."**

 **Velvet walked over, "What is it?"**

 **"Old friend of mine. Enemy, really. One of the most dangerous and unfeeling beings in the cosmos, reduced to a museum exhibit." He touched the glass case and triggered an alarm. After a moment, the two found themselves surrounded by well armored and well-armed guards.**

 **Velvet glanced to Jaune a moment, "Well, if someone's collecting aliens, that makes you the next exhibit."**

"He's an alien?!" Nora grinned from ear to ear in excitement.

Jaune shook his head, "I don't look like an alien…"

"Humanoid being?" Ren offered.

 **The scene shifted to show Cinder walking along a hallway with a group of guards. "Emerald!"**

Mercury let out a chuckle, "So, Cinder owns the museum?"

 **Emerald walked up beside her, "Ma'am."**

"And Emerald is as docile as always."

Emerald wanted to smack him, but the rules of the theater made that impossible.

 **"I plan to visit the cage later. Let Mercury know, I want to visit my new pet."**

 **Emerald chuckled nervously and got off to the side. "Mercury… Give me good news, is it talking?"**

 **They heard her associate speak through the earpiece, "** ** _I wouldn't call it talking. Screaming more like…_** **"**

 **"Well get it talking! Cinder will be down later."**

 **"** ** _I'll see what I can do._** **"**

 **Emerald caught back up to Cinder, "Ma'am, we also found two intruders on the 53rd level and we have no idea how they got there."**

Mercury nodded from side to side, "Have to admit, the corporate look kind of works for you, Em."

Emerald was not used to compliments from him, at least not genuine ones. They were usually backhanded or scummy, but this was different. It sounded genuine.

 **Cinder didn't seem too phased, "Alright. Bring them to me. I'm interested to see our new guests."**

 **They soon found themselves in Cinder's office as Jaune and Velvet were led inside.**

 **Cinder smirked seeing them. "Now this is interesting. Who are you?"**

 **Jaune half-shrugged, "I'm the Doctor."**

 **"Doctor? Doctor who?"**

 **Jaune rolled his eyes. He'd heard that question too many times.**

"I don't get it…" Ruby's head tilted.

Penny thought for a moment, "Perhaps he doesn't have a name and goes only by the title of Doctor?"

It was as good an explanation as anything they could come up with.

 **"Whatever." She stood up again. "But what bothers me is that found you both 53 floors down and with no idea how you got there." She paused, seeing his eyes bolt down. She looked down to find the device she'd been trying to figure out for a while now. "You know what it is, don't you?"**

 **"I may."**

 **Cinder handed him the device, well aware her guards would gun him down if he tried to attack her. Jaune took the item and slowly dragged his fingers across the top, letting out tones from the item.**

 **Cinder grinned, "It's a musical instrument?"**

 **"Yep." Jaune finished the song and returned it to her.**

 **Cinder could tell he was more than he was letting on. "You're quite the expert in these things, aren't you?"**

 **"It's kind of my thing."**

 ** _Maybe you'll be able to help me again._** **"I acquired a new pet recently. Would you like to see it?"**

Cinder was getting a little bored now. Even with her other self on screen, nothing was too impressive so far.

Nora was bouncing in her seat to see this new alien being. The Gem creatures were interesting, but it would always be fun to see more types.

 **Cinder walked around form her desk, "You're little partner in crime can spend some time in the lab area."**

 **Velvet huffed, "I have a name!"**

 **"Maybe, but I don't care." Cinder led Jaune off to the Cage.**

 **The Cage was a bunker-like set up with scientists in full hazmat gear around the staging area.**

"What in the world could be in there?" Oobleck was intrigued now.

 **Cinder walked into the room, "We've tried everything, but the creature isn't talking. It seems to have shielded itself from us, but there's clear signs of life inside."**

 **Jaune raised an eyebrow, "Inside? Inside what?"**

 **Mercury walked in from the side. "Welcome back, ma'am. I had to take the power down. The Metaltron is resting."**

 **"Metaltron?"**

 **Cinder shrugged, "Best we could come up with. But I'd be more interested in finding out its real name." She grinned to Jaune. Her plan was obvious to all involved, but it was harmless enough for the moment.**

"So that's it." Weiss huffed, "She's trying to use him to get information. She'll likely turn on him if she finds out he's an alien.

 **Mercury tried to hand Jaune a pair of gloves, "Better put these on. Last guy that touch it… burst into flames."**

 **Jaune didn't seem that bothered. "I won't touch it then." He walked in as the door closed behind him.**

 **Cinder glanced to Mercury and Emerald, "Don't open that door until we get results."**

 **Jaune looked around in the low-light environment. A table was set up with various items including a screwdriver and a hacksaw.**

Ironwood winced a bit, "That explains the screaming comment…"

Winter sighed, "A torture room…"

 **Jaune shook his head and looked to the a large shadow in the darkness. "Look, I'm sorry about all of this. Cinder might think she's clever, but she's not."**

Cinder felt her eye twitch a bit.

 **"I'm the Doctor. I'm here to help."**

Pyrrha and Velvet spared a glance toward Jaune. He would be the type to help anyone and everyone he can.

Yeah… About that…

 **The camera shifted to the darkness, a single blue light the only thing they could see. Then, it spoke. "Doc-tor?" Lights atop its head lit up with each syllable it spoke. It's voice was mechanical, emotionless.**

 **Jaune's blood went cold. "Impossible…"**

 **"** ** _The_** **Doc-tor?!" Then, its voice was fueled with indignant rage.**

"Does that thing know him?" Kali asked with a hand on her cheek in thought.

"Looks like it." Blake nodded.

Gira growled a bit. "It does not sound happy to see him though…"

 **The lights started to come on. Then, they could see it. The creature was an armored form with a domed head. A single eye extension looked off to the world. The armor fell down the form and expanded out to the base. Two appendages formed on the front, one like a plunger and the other a small turret. Several balls formed around the bottom half of the body. It was old, rusting, and broken, but the creature within remained.**

Yang chuckled, "That thing looks ridiculous."

"Like an upside-down trash bin." Blake smirked.

 **The creature started to shake, chains holding it in place. Then, it shouted, "EX-TER-MI-NATE! EXTERMINATE!"**

 **Jaune's feet skid across the floor a bit and moved to the door. "LET ME OUT OF HERE!"**

Ruby blinked "Is it really that dangerous?"

 **"Exterminate! You are an enemy of the Daleks! You must be destroyed!"**

 **Jaune spun around. There's usually a laser. Why isn't there a laser? He looked down to the gun. He saw its condition and started to laugh. "It's not working… Fantastic!"**

 **The Dalek looked down its weapon then back up to him.**

 **Jaune laughed again. "Powerless! Look at you… the great space dustbin. How does it feel?!" He rushed the creature.**

 **"Get back!" For the first time in this Dalek's life, it was afraid. It was face to face with the Doctor, the most powerful and deadliest enemy to all of Dalek-kind.**

Everyone jumped at Jaune's outburst. This Dalek creature was afraid of him. But they were a bit out of the loop.

 **"Or what?!" Jaune was up in the Dalek's eye. "What are you going to do to me?"**

 **Silence.**

 **"Well?" Jaune started to walk to the side. "If you can't kill, what are you good for,** ** _Dalek_** **?" A jab to the Daleks' very existence. They demand purity of the galaxy, and to wipe out all non-Dalek life in the universe.**

Everyone was cold. Such a being was seriously twisted in the head. But they also found it hard to take the creature seriously.

 **Jaune walked around the Dalek, "What's the point of you?! Why are you here?"**

 **"I am awaiting orders."**

 **"What does that mean?"**

 **"I am a soldier. I was bred to receive orders."**

"That's just unnerving…" Ironwood made it no secret he hated mechanical soldiers. His one exception was Penny, but he preferred to think of her as a niece than a soldier. He wanted his subordinates to follow orders, but he allowed them their identities. To do otherwise were actions of tyrants.

 **"Well you're never going to get any. Not ever."**

 **"I demand orders!"**

 **"They're never going to come! Your race is dead! You all burned! Ten million ships on fire! The entire Dalek race wiped out in one second!"**

 **"You lie!"**

 **"I watched it happen. I** ** _MADE_** **it happen!"**

A chill ran down their spines. The nuke from before was powerful, but that sounded far above anything they'd seen before.

 **"You destroyed us?"**

 **Jaune's anger fell away as his memories got the better of him. He turned around and walked of. "I had no choice…"**

 **"And what of the Time Lords?"**

 **Jaune's lip trembled at the memory. His race… "Dead. They all burned with you. The end of the Last Great Time War. Everyone lost…"**

Ironwood gripped his seat. If weapons like the nuke came into existence, then such a situation could very well happen.

 **"But the coward survived…" The Dalek aimed this as a jab at Jaune, but there was one little problem with its logic.**

 **Jaune grinned. "And I caught your little signal. 'Help me.' Poor little thing." Jaune mocked the Dalek back. A Dalek was never meant to cry for help. It was supposed to be a being of hate and destruction. "But there's no one coming because there's no one left…"**

 **The Dalek's eye hung low. "I am alone in the universe…"**

Given they'd never seen a Dalek before, they felt sorry for this creature. It was the last of its kind in all of the universe. It was a daunting sentiment.

 **Jaune had a satisfied grin. "Yep."**

 **"So… are you."**

 **Jaune's grin faded.**

What they felt for the Dalek, they felt for Jaune ten-fold, since they actually knew a version of Jaune. Granted, knowing he caused it made them a bit conflicted.

 **Then the Dalek continued, "We are… the same."**

 **Jaune's anger peaked hearing that. "We are not the same! I'm not…" His anger fell off. "No… Maybe you're right. Yeah… Okay! Because I know what to do. I know what should happen…" He walked back to a circuit breaker off to the side, a grin on his face. "Exterminate." With their own motto used against them, he flipped the switch, intent on frying the Dalek into a bubbling pool inside its armor.**

 **The Dalek yelled out in pain, "Have pity!"**

 **"Why should I? You never did." Jaune pulled another lever to boost the voltage. Jaune lost friends, loved ones… too many people to these monsters to ever have a sense of mercy for them.**

Ruby shrunk in her seat at Jaune's look. "So… Grimm in space that can scream?"

"That's creepy." Yang groaned.

 **Cinder and her guards stormed into the room and dragged Jaune off before he could kill the genocidal alien in armor. As they pulled him off to an elevator, Jaune kept trying to 'reason' with them. "Listen! The outer armor is just a shell, the real creature is inside."**

 **But this only interested Cinder instead, "What does it look like?"**

 **"A nightmare. A mutated being. Every Dalek is genetically engineered. Every emotion was removed. The only exception was hate."**

Cinder felt she could use something like that. She wondered how these things were _engineered_.

 **The Cinder on screen was also intrigued, "Engineered? By who?"**

 **"A genius… A pathetic man, king of his own little world." Jaune's eye twitched remembering an old life. The screen went white starting his flashback.**

 ** _"You have done the universe a great service Doctor._** **"** ** _The screen showed Watts in a mobile chair that resembled the Dalek's lower half. His upper half was dressed in a black leather uniform. His own eyes were sealed shut, but a blue light shined out from his forehead, granting him his vision. "When the Dalek's reign supreme over the universe, there will be no war. There will be peace. They are not a force of evil, Doctor, but of good."_**

 ** _Standing opposite him, however, wasn't Jaune. It was a man with dark hair and brown eyes. He dressed in a dark trench coat over a rather fancy style. He also wore a very colorful scarf._**

"Wait…" Ruby blinked to the screen. "How did… That's still Jaune?"

Ozpin and Oscar glanced to one another. Safe to say, they could see similarities with their own situations.

 ** _Jaune replied. "Watts… I want to ask you something. If you created a virus in your lab that could kill anything on contact, would you use it?"_**

 ** _Watts thought for a moment, "An interesting question…"_**

Cinder knew what she would do.

 ** _Watts moved to look away in thought. "To hold in my hands a capsule that contains such power… To know life and death on that scale was my choice… To know the tiniest bit of pressure from my thumb would be enough to end everything… Yes. I would do it. That kind of power would set me above the gods. And through the Daleks… I SHALL HAVE THAT POWER!"_**

Ozpin felt a chill run up his spine. This was effectively Watts without a filter. A Watts without any sense of subtlety and the means to unleash hell.

 **The memory ended as Jaune looked back to Cinder. "I think you'd get along swimmingly."**

 **But Cinder wasn't paying attention. Her thoughts were on something else. "And… you mentioned a war?"**

 **Jaune sighed, "The Great Time War. Wiped out both our races."**

 **"Interesting… But it's here, and that means that there are other aliens on Earth." She grinned and glanced toward Jaune, "Like you."**

"Cue the betrayal." Roman snapped his fingers into a point toward the screen.

 **Lights came on to show Jaune shackled to an elevated table. Cinder grinned behind a strange device. "Smile~" She activated a very invasive scanner, causing Jaune no small amount of pain. A screen on the device showed his internal organs. "Ooh~! Two hearts? That's interesting. Going to have to patent that."**

 **Jaune, had to take a pained breath before he could speak again. "So, that's your game. You're not just a collector, you're a scavenger. Pick up alien tech and recycle it…"**

 **"And why not? These things are falling from the sky anyway. Why not put them to use?"**

"I have to admit…" Port grumbled, "Though she seems to be rather unpleasant, the sentiment does hold a certain merit."

 **"Speaking of…" Cinder set the device to run again. She would torture Jaune to get all the secrets she could out his alien body. But the screen cut away before it did.**

 **Velvet had made a friend in Cinder's lab technician, a counterpart of Penny. The two had made their way into the Cage after seeing a feed of Mercury torturing the Dalek. They had no context of what this creature is, and this had consequences.**

 **Velvet approached the Dalek, "Are you hurt? My name is Velvet Scarlatina, I have a friend called the Doctor. He can help you."**

 **The Dalek sounded pained. "Yes…"**

 **"I'm sorry?"**

 **"They hurt me… They torture me… Yet, they still fear me. Do you… fear me?"**

 **"No."**

 **"I am dying…"**

 **"No! We can help you!"**

 **"I welcome death. But… I am glad that before I die, I met a human who was not afraid. My race is dead… I will die alone."**

Velvet felt sorry for this being. She wanted to find a way to help it like the counterpart on screen. But she had the context. She knew that Doctor Jaune feared this thing.

The Jaune sitting next to her also caught onto something. "This will not end well…"

This got Velvet to turn to him in confusion, but the screen didn't wait for her attention.

 **Velvet, feeling sorry for this creature, attempted to comfort it, placing a hand on its dome. It burned her, causing her to pull away. The mark seemed to remain, glowing for a moment before dissipating into the creature's armor.**

 **"Genetic material extrapolated! Initiate cellular reconstruction!" The Dale's armored body seemed to glow and reform itself. Within moments, it broke the chains apart. Sure, it was still old and some places were broken, but it could move again. So began it's rampage. One of Cinder's soldiers ran in, not taking the creature seriously. It used the plunger-like device on one arm to stick to the man's face and kill him with little effort. As Velvet and Penny ran, more guards approached the Cage area. As they fired their guns, the Dalek simply moved to a nearby console, draining the power and downloading everything humanity had ever known. In time, its armor was like new again.**

Mercury felt cold. "Thing tells a sob story to escape… And learning everything we could ever know in a couple seconds… That thing is creepy as hell."

 **Soldiers poured into the adjoining hall to intercept the Dalek's advance. One of the other soldiers tried to run but was shot by the Dalek's blue laser. The viewers saw the man as a skeleton as he fell to the ground. As the soldiers opened fire, the screen showed the bullets seemingly disappearing against a forcefield around the Dalek shell. As more filed in behind it, it simply turned it's dome around to look at them. Its mid-section spun around to shoot at them and then back around. In time, every one of them was dead on the floor.**

 **The camera showed Velvet and Penny run in through a door and looked around. Velvet grabbed a railing, "Stairs! Now we're talking. That thing doesn't have legs!" She, Penny, and one last guard climbed the stairs just in time before the Dalek approached.**

 **As the Dalek approached, it looked down at the stairs.**

Yang chuckled, "Some death machine. Defeated by a flight of stairs!"

 **The Dalek looked up, into the camera at the angle shown. "Elevate." The genocidal mutant started to float upward, traversing the stairs without issue. The Dalek had learned since their defeats at the hands of the Doctor.**

Yang's grin died as soon as it arrived. "That's just not fair."

 **The screen changed to show Jaune back in Cinder's office. Being the expert, the tycoon didn't have too many other options but let him out. She was also visibly frustrated. She wanted the Dalek brought in alive and undamaged at all costs. Everyone else was expendable, that thing was unique. "If you're so clever, Doctor, they why don't you try reasoning with the Dalek? There has to be something it needs."**

 **"What's the closet city?"**

 **"Salt Lake City."**

 **"Population?"**

 **"One million."**

 **"All dead. If that thing gets out it'll kill every living creature it can find. That's what it needs…"**

 **"But why would it do that?!"**

 **"Because it honestly believes they should die. Human beings are different, and anything different is wrong. It's the ultimate in racial cleansing, and** ** _you_** **Cinder have let it loose on the world!"**

Gira growled in anger. This thing was effectively the incarnation of everything he hated. Kali placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him, but it was also for support to calm her as well.

 **More soldiers filed into a large area. Each had a gun pointed to hall, ready to put the Dalek down. As the Dalek moved in, the soldiers waited for it to be centered. Then, they opened fire, bullets melting against its force field. The Dalek opened the video feed again to let the Doctor, Cinder, and Emerald see what was about to happen. It started to lift off the ground and shot the fire system. As water fell to the ground, it started to lightly flood the area. The soldiers kept firing at the Dalek as it aimed its weapon to the flooded ground. One shot was all it took to kill everyone on the ground. Another shot killed the men on the upper ramp.**

This sent chills so frigid the room dropped a degree. This thing was a monster. What _could_ they say seeing that?

 **Jaune looked over to the monitor, the Dalek looking directly into the camera.**

 **The Dalek spoke through it, "I will speak only to the Doctor."**

 **Jaune tried to keep a strong face, "You're going to get rusty."**

 **"I have absorbed the DNA of Velvet Scarlatina. Extrapolating the biomass of a time traveler regenerated me."**

Velvet blinked. That thing grabbed her DNA to regenerate? She's a time traveler?! Or, was that thanks to Jaune?

 **"What's your next trick?" Jaune was getting frustrated with this thing again.**

 **"I have been searching for the Daleks."**

 **"Yeah… I saw that. Downloading from the internet. What did you find?"**

 **"I searched through your satellites and radio communications!"**

 **"And?"**

 **"… Nothing. Where shall I get my orders, now?!"**

 **"You're just a soldier without commands…"**

Another reason Ironwood preferred human/faunas soldiers to the robotic pains in his neck.

 **"Then I shall obey the Primary Order! The Dalek directive to destroy! To conquer!"**

 **"What for?" Jaune yelled through the screen. "For what purpose?! Don't you see? It's all gone. Everything you were, everything you stood for. All of it!"**

 **The Dalek remained in the falling water. "Then… what should I do?"**

 **Jaune growled a bit. "Alright… You want orders? Follow this one. Kill yourself."**

Not even Nora could hide the pain and fear. Everything about this was wrong.

 **"The Daleks must survive!"**

 **"The Daleks have failed! Why don't you finish the job and make the Daleks extinct?! Rid the universe of your filth! WHY DON'T YOU JUST DIE?!"**

 **There was a pause. No sound could be heard. Then, the Dalek spoke again, "You would make a good Dalek." The feed died, leaving Jaune in silence again. Neither Emerald nor Cinder dared speak.**

 **The camera now followed the Dalek as it moved through the area. In time, it found itself on floor 46. On that same floor, Penny and Velvet were trying their hardest to get through a closing bulkhead. Penny was able to escape just in time. Velvet… was not as lucky. She had to skid to a halt, just as the door slammed shut. Penny tried to reach for her, but it was too late.**

Velvet's ears drooped in understanding. There's every likelihood she was going to watch herself die.

 **The camera held on her as she heard the sounds of the Dalek's approach. She slowly turned to see the alien before her. It shouted out, "Exterminate!" and fired its gun toward her. Her eyes closed, waiting for the inevitable. But… nothing. Her eyes cracked open to find she was still alive, and the Dalek's gun had moved away from her.**

Velvet's ears perked back to normal and now she was just confused, "What's going on?"

 **The Velvet on screen took a breath. "Well? Go on then. No reason to play with this. Just kill me."**

 **"I am armed." The Dalek sounded frustrated. "I will kill! It is my purpose!"**

 **"And what about them?! They all died because of you!"**

 **"They died because of** ** _us_** **." The Dalek was silent. "I feel your fear…"**

 **"What did you expect?!"**

 **"Dalek's do not feel fear! Must not feel fear!" It fired two more shots, but the laser avoided her each time. "You gave me life! What else did you give me?! I am contaminated!"**

Velvet blinked. "I feel insulted…"

Coco sighed, shaking her head. At least Velvet was more open about that now.

 **The Dalek hacked back into the monitors and opened it to the office again. It shouted out to the Doctor, "Open the bulkheads, or Velvet Scarlatina dies!"**

 **They could hear Jaune speaking through a pa system, "** ** _Velvet? You're alive?!_** **" He sounded so excited to see her again.**

 **Velvet chuckled a little, despite her situation, "Can't get rid of me." It was clearly a way to mask her fear.**

 **"** ** _I thought you were dead…_** **"**

 **The Dalek interrupted them, "Open the bulkhead!"**

 **Velvet couldn't move very far with the weapon pointed directly at her back, no way to miss, "Don't do it!"**

 **But the Dalek knew what buttons to push with the Doctor. "What use are emotions… if you can't save the woman you love?"**

Velvet's face turned bright red at the implication there.

Jaune didn't fair much better, looking down and away from the screen.

This got Pyrrha's heart to crack a bit. There was still hope for her chances with Jaune, but if she kept holding it off, she risked losing him.

 **The bulkhead opened soon after. The Dalek forced Velvet to walk through, keeping her as a hostage. They entered an elevator and started to ascend the floors. Velvet took a breath and glanced at the Dalek beside her. "Please… Don't kill them! You didn't kill me!"**

 **"But why?!" The Dalek turned its head to her, causing her back up and not get hit by the eye stalk. "Why are you alive?!" It turned back to the door. "My function is to kill! What am I? What am I?!"**

This moment actually got everyone to have a bit of hope. This creature, born and trained to kill, was questioning itself and the choices. Right?

 **Then, the elevator hit level 1. The doors opened to show Cinder waiting in her office.**

 **Velvet shouted after it as it moved, "Don't shoot! It's starting to question itself!"**

 **The Dalek moved forward. "Cinder Fall… You tortured me! Why?"**

 **Cinder was visibly afraid of the mobile death machine in front of her, "I wanted to help you! I thought if we could get through to you… to mend you!" She backed away as the creature moved toward her. "I swear! I'm sorry! I only wanted you to talk!"**

Mercury's eyes widened in surprise. He never thought he'd hear those words come out of Cinder's mouth in his life. Yet, there they were. _I'm sorry._

 **The Dalek stopped. "Then hear me talk now. Exterminate!" The Dalek aimed its weapon toward Cinder. "Exterminate!"**

 **Velvet had seen enough people die for a lifetime. "Stop! Stop. You don't have to do this! You don't have to kill her! Isn't there anything else you want?"**

 **The Dalek looked between Velvet and Cinder. Back and forth in an internal debate. Then, it turned back to Velvet. "I want my freedom."**

"I can't tell if that's a good sign or not." Neptune remembered the action before that allowed it to escape. This could be another ploy, but the alien seemed to develop emotions.

Everyone was on edge, uncertain of what was going to happen.

 **The two walked off into another hallway. After a moment, the Dalek fired its weapon into the ceiling, allowing the sun to enter in and wash its armor in light. The Dalek looked up into the light.**

 **Velvet smiled, "There. You're free." She sighed in delight, "Never thought I'd feel the sun again…"**

 **The Dalek, within its armor, felt nothing. "How does it feel?" After a moment, they heard mechanical sounds. The front of the Dalek's chest opened apart and floated down to the ground by its base. The upper section under the dome opened next, revealing the creature within. The Dalek's true form was like a blob, with a single eye and its brain above it. In comparison, it was almost like an octopus.**

"Ew…" Ruby gagged a bit. "He wasn't kidding calling it a nightmare. It just looks gross."

 **"Out of the way!" Jaune yelled from behind Velvet. As she turned around, Jaune was standing there with a large alien cannon in his hands. "Get out of the way, Velvet…"**

 **But Velvet shook her head. "No… I won't let you do this…"**

Velvet closed her eyes and took a breath. "Why?"

Coco turned to her teammate with a raised brown, "What?"

"Why? Why would she care so much? She's only known this thing as a killer, and it couldn't have been very long."

"It does seem like it's changing though…"

"I get that. It just seems weirdly fast to get over her fear."

 **"Velvet! Step aside. I need to do this! To end this! That thing killed hundreds of people today alone! You have no idea how much it's done! How dangerous it is!"**

 **Velvet shook her head, "It's not the one point a gun at me."**

Ruby groaned. "He not pointing it at _you!_ It's at the thing behind you. He warned you! You don't point a gun at someone unless you intend to shoot them." Considering how powerful her weapon is, she had that lesson hammered into her head for a long time. "If he intended to shoot, he would have already."

 **But Velvet's point wasn't done. "Look at it!" She stepped to the side a bit.**

 **Jaune was confused by the sight. The Dalek seemed to be reaching out for the sun with its tentacles. "What's it doing?" This made no sense to the Time Lord. Dalek's didn't do that. They only killed and conquered.**

 **Velvet had never seen this or lived through such a thing, feeling more sympathy for the alien. "It's the sun, that's all it wants. It's changing." She took a breath, "And what about you, Doctor? What are you changing into?"**

Gira sighed. He could understand this Doctor's anger, but he saw Velvet's point of view as well.

 **Jaune shook in place a moment, the cannon falling to the side. He promised himself to protect others, only taking life if no other option was available. He hated what he had done in his previous life during the War. "Velvet… They're all dead…"**

 **The Dalek was the one to reply to him. "Why do we survive?"**

 **"I don't know…"**

 **"I am… the last of the Daleks."**

 **Jaune shook his head, "You're not even that. Velvet did more than just regenerate you. You absorbed her DNA. You're mutating."**

 **"Into what?"**

 **"Into something new." Jaune paused. He knew the implications inherent to this. "I'm sorry…"**

 **Velvet turned to Jaune in shock, "Isn't that better?"**

 **"Not for a Dalek…"**

Winter sighed. "The sense of superiority. That they were perfect beings that demand racial purity in the universe."

Ironwood recalled Jaune's earlier phrasing. "'It honestly believes they should die. Human beings are different, and anything different is wrong.' I believe those were the words."

 **The Dalek almost sounded pained, "I can feel… so many ideas. So much darkness… Velvet… Give me orders. Order me to die."**

 **Velvet shook her head. "I can't do that."**

 **"This is not life. This is sickness…"**

Velvet felt her eye twitch. "Rude…"

Coco raised a brow with a grin. All this was having an effect. Maybe there was hope that she would finally stick up for herself back home.

 **The Dalek was getting angry now. "I will not be like you. Order my destruction! OBEY! OBEY! OBEY!"**

 **Velvet finally broke. "Do it…"**

 **The Dalek turned somber again. "Are you frightened, Velvet Scarlatina?"**

 **Velvet was silent, but she had an answer for this creature. "Yeah…"**

 **And for once, the Dalek could honestly say, "So am I." Its eye closed and it painfully spoke. "Exterminate…" As Velvet ran back behind Jaune, the Dalek rose into the air. The balls off the base and surrounded the armored form. A field formed around it before the Dalek exploded within. The energy was contained before blinking away into nothing. The screen flashed white to transition to a later scene.**

 **Jaune and Velvet were standing before the blue box from the beginning. Jaune had his hands on the box, "A little piece of home… Better than nothing."**

 **"It that the end of it?" Velvet was slightly to the side. "The Time War?"**

 **"I'm the only one left." Jaune now stood as the only survivor. "I win. How about that?"**

Ozpin's eyes fell a bit to look into his mug. "War… It's never about who's right. But who's left…"

 **"The Dalek survived." Velvet wanted to give him** ** _some_** **sense of hope. "Maybe some of your people did, too."**

 **Jaune shook his head. "I'd know." He tapped the side of his head, "Up here. Feels like there's no one."**

 **"Well then…" Velvet put on a smile. "Good thing I'm not going anywhere."**

 **Jaune nodded and gestured for Velvet to enter the box. The camera followed them to show the interior, a large room with a central console.**

Everyone was in shock.

Velvet was just awestruck. "It's… It's bigger on the inside."

 **Jaune started to press a few buttons and pull levers. "Where to now?"**

 **Velvet chuckled a little, "You haven't steered me wrong yet, Doctor."**

 **Jaune smiled and nodded. "Alright. Then let's just wing it." He pulled a level and the scene went black.**

Jaune couldn't help but grin a bit. "That was… different."

"It was crazy." Nora groaned. "And kind of sad."

Jaune nodded. "Most of it, yeah. But I can't help but feel… hopeful?" Everyone turned to him to hear his explanation. "It's like… The Dalek thing was this evil, twisted being. It wanted nothing but death and domination. If something like that can change… it kind of gives me hope that anyone can."

It was a sentiment that got the audience thinking. A certain silver-haired assassin in particular.


	83. Shadow Game

**King: And we're back to this reality.**

 **Knox: This was fun~**

 **King: You still owe me a rematch for the duel you interrupted just before you** ** _lost_** **.**

 **Knox: he he... Right...**

 **Inspiration: Yu-Gi-Oh**

 **/\**

Knox and King appeared again, mid-conversation.

Knox floated toward King, "I'm just saying, it's kind of weird when you think about it."

"Anything could be weird if you think about it enough."

"But I mean… It seems excessive."

"I'm not saying it isn't."

"Um…" Jaune looked between the two, "What's going on?"

King sighed. "You weren't there, so this'll be fun to try to explain. You've all seen this reality before, the card game one."

Yang grinned, "Oh yeah! That was awesome!"

"Right. Well, this reality has a certain… quirk. It's called a dimensional overlap. Technically, there's two dimensions in one form." King seemed to swallow up Knox to make his point. "Two worlds bound to one another, the two live in tandem."

Knox popped back out and groaned, "I hate it when you do that."

"Point is, what we saw was one of the worlds, but the other holds some power over the first. The other reality is one occupied by the monsters we see on their cards. The veil between the two worlds is thinnest during duels. With mystical intervention, the veil drops and the game becomes very dangerous for all involved."

"How dangerous, exactly?" Mercury doubted it was all that crazy.

"More often than not, if you lose the game you lose your very immortal soul."

Mercury went quiet for a moment. "Seriously?"

"It's crazy… And it's your next reality for viewing. Have fun with that." King and Knox disappeared, and the screen came to life again.

 **The first thing they saw was Tyrian Callows, standing in a rocky area in the night. He dressed in a long, dark brown coat with a duel disk that resembled a scorpion, with its tail forming the card 'table.' He leaned forward, almost falling over, with his arms folding up and hands opened in excitement, "Now! Wicked Dreadroot! Attack and unlock the sixth seal!"**

 **A giant behind him looked down toward the camera. It was a huge humanoid being with green skin, large leather wings, and bone armor. It reared its arm back and slammed it into the ground. The shockwave ripped through the ground and over to one of the students of Beacon Duel Academy.**

 **Her red blazer swung in the wind created. Her arms were up to try to shield her face. Her life points counted down to zero.**

 **[Neo – 0 LP]**

Neo scoffed and rolled her eyes. Losing to some prick like… _Wait a second. Those fireballs were talking about losing souls… Does that mean…?_

 **Neo collapsed onto her knees. But it was a short-lived moment. Tyrian walked over and grabbed a glowing pendant around her neck and lifted it, and her, off the ground. Tyrian laughed as she squirmed and gasped for air. He eventually let her fall to the ground, but put a foot onto her gut, pulling at the string of her pendant until it snapped off and she fell back to the ground again.**

 **The only sound Neo could hear was a constant ringing. Her face fell to the side. She saw Jaune in the distance. He was shouting something she couldn't hear. He slammed his fists in the air and a barrier of mystic fire leapt up from the ground to keep him out. After a few seconds, the barrier fell and Jaune ran over to her. She still couldn't hear him. The world through her eyes went bright before going dark.**

 **The camera returned to the world at large to show Jaune kneeling on the ground. Neo's body had shattered into small balls of light that floated off into nothingness.**

Neo went cold. The scene was brutal enough, but to disappear into nothing? That was haunting.

Jaune thought the scene was twisted, but he still had to make sure, "I take it I knew her in this reality…"

Pyrrha nodded. "In this reality, you were both friends. At least, I think so."

 **Jaune shook in place, eyes locked on the ground where Neo had just been.**

 **Tyrian laughed. "Ooh! Such despair~ I love it!" Tyrian saw a similar pendant around Jaune's neck. He gasped in excitement, "The seventh seal!" He danced around like a madman. "Give me the seal!"**

 **Jaune didn't respond.**

 **"No! No, you're right. The seal needs to be earned in a duel. It's the rules of the mighty gods~ Stand up and duel me!"**

 **No response.**

 **"I stand get up and duel! You've been through this before! You want her back, you have to beat me~!"**

 **Jaune grit his teeth and slowly stood again. He glared toward Tyrian, a face he rarely let form onto his face.**

Yang grinned, "Oh ho! He's pissed!"

 **Tyrian grinned. "Despair becomes hatred~ Do you hate me, boy?"**

 **Jaune placed his deck into his disk and it snapped into form. "You wanted a duel, didn't you?"**

 **"Yes~"**

 **The two shouted in unison, "DUEL!"**

 **[Tyrian – 8000 LP]**

 **[Jaune – 8000 LP]**

 **Tyrian took the first turn. He looked over his cards and smiled. "I'll start off by summoning my monster in face down defense mode and another card face down." Tyrian laughed to himself. "You're turn~"**

Weiss scoffed, "An obvious trap."

Blake nodded, "Question is, which card is the trap?"

"What?"

"Each of those cards has a defense value. I'd guess that a card with a lower attack attacks a high defense, there'd be consequences."

 **Jaune's glare remained as he drew his card.**

 **Tyrian chuckled, "So, which Hero will you send to fight me?"**

 **This caught Jaune off guard, "What?"**

A similar reaction fell upon the Jaune in the seats. "What Heroes?"

Nora grinned, "Oh! It was so awesome! Your deck of cards uses these things call Elemental Heroes! They're like comic book super heroes!"

This got Jaune more than a little excited. "Woah!"

 **"I know all about you and those Hero cards. I want to know which one's first. Sparkman? Avion? Ooh! Maybe it'll be Ocean or Woodsman! No! No! I know! A first turn fusion?!"**

 **Jaune let out a breath and drew his card. He started to think to himself.** ** _That Dreadroot is a problem, but he needs three monsters on the field to get it out. I just need to keep that from happening._** **Jaune picked a card out from his hand and placed it onto his disk. "Sorry, but the Heroes are for games that I like to have fun in. You made the mistake of pissing me off. I summon Mirage Dragon!"**

 **The monster started to form up from the light on the ground. The monster was a Long-style dragon with golden scales like a set of armor around its body. Light blue hair flowed out from the back of its head. Small wings cupped over its limbs to defend them. At the tip of its tail, a scythe blade formed and seemed to shine. Its face seemed more demon-esc than dragon-like. It roared out as its stats appeared. [1600/600].**

Jaune was a little disappointed he won't get to see the Hero cards. "Aw man…"

 **Jaune swung his hand forward, "Mirage Dragon! Attack his monster! And, thanks to his ability, you can't activate trap cards during the battle phase."**

 **The dragon flew forward, attacking the card. As it flipped face up, another copy of the dragon. The defensive copy was sliced in half and burst into pieces.**

 **Tyrian laughed. "Too bad! But I'll still crush you and get my hands on that seal around your neck! With it, my Wicked gods will be unleashed! Freed from their prisons!"**

 **Jaune placed a card into the back area. "I play a card face down and end my turn."**

 **Tyrian chuckled and drew his card. "First things first~ I activate my trap card, Sinister Yorishiro!" The card flipped up to show a picture of three monsters in shadows. "With this, once per turn, I can summon level 5 or higher fiend monsters without needing to tribute summon monsters~ But, I also send Ahrima, the Wicked Warden from my hand to the grave to grab my Lair of Darkness, which I'll play!"**

Nora yelled out, "That's no fair! You jerk!"

Jaune was still confused, "What?"

Yang explained it for him, "From what we saw, each monster has a level. Levels 4 and below can just be summoned whenever. Level 5 or 6 needs one tribute. Level 7 and up need two. So, with that card, he has free access to some powerful cards without really needing to."

 **The field around them reshaped into a dark landscape with ghostly wisps rising up from the ground into haunting faces.**

 **Tyrian laughed again, "Now, all out monsters are dark types~ But more importantly, thanks to my trap card, I can summon Archfiend Emperor, The First Lord of Horror!"**

 **The monster formed as a large humanoid demon with a giant red sword. His bone-like armor seemed tinted purple. He made the dragon on Jaune's field look like a puny worm. It let out a dark breath. [3000/2000].**

Ruby shivered, "That's seriously creepy."

"And a problem." Blake's eyes narrowed.

 **Tyrian licked his lips, "Now! Mighty Emperor! Destroy that puny dragon!"**

 **The giant slowly rose his sword before slamming the blade into the dragon's form. The shockwave ripped out over Jaune as his life points decreased.**

 **[Jaune – 6600 LP]**

 **Jaune growled but remained rather stoic.**

 **Tyrian chuckled to himself. "You're turn again~"**

 **"Right." Jaune drew his card. "By the way, my face down is also Sinister Yorishiro." He snapped his fingers and the card flipped up. So, free high-level monsters all around. But I'm not using it yet." He placed a new card into the disk. I activate Dark Contract with the Swamp King!" The card appeared then morphed into a headstone with a monster made of the grime of the swamp.**

Ruby groaned, "Ew…"

Weiss shivered in disgust. "That's just wrong."

 **"Once per turn, I can fusion summon a fiend monster using monsters from my hand or field. The draw back is that I take 1000 points of damage on my standby phase. Now, I send off D/D Ghost and D/D Pandora!" Both cards appeared for a moment, an amber crystal with a creature inside and a monster that was half lock box. They both flew up and swirled together. "I summon Different Dimension Demon (D/D/D) Oracle King D'Arc!"**

 **A ray of light fell onto the field before turning black. The pillar of darkness shattered apart to reveal a woman in glowing white and gold armor complete with a half mask covering the top half of her face. A pair of wings spread out from her back and another at her head. The demon had blonde hair and a sword of a familiar form. [2800/2000].**

Jaune blinked once. Twice. Shock. "What?"

Nora was starry-eyed, "Woah! That looks so cool!"

 **Tyrian laughed, though. "Your monster is too weak! What do you think you'll do with that?"**

 **Jaune placed a face down. "You'll see soon enough. You're move."**

 **Tyrian laughed a little. "Alright. Draw." He looked over his acquisition and grinned. "I summon Fiendish Rhino Warrior~!"**

 **A bipedal rhino appeared looking like a tribal warrior, complete with a tattooed arm. His spear that looked right at home in people's nightmares. [1400/900].**

 **"Now, my fiends can't be destroyed by effects or battle. Just in case~ Now, Lord of Horror! Attack that measly monster!"**

 **As the Emperor raised his sword, Jaune sprung his trap. "I activate Dark Contract with the Witch!" A white feather with strange lettering appeared on the field. "Just like the other contract, I take 1000 points of damage for it, but all my fiend monsters gain 1000 attack points on your turn. Making my Oracle King a 3800 monster."**

 **The Oracle King parried the larger blade and the Emperor's blade reared back. Jaune's monster flew up and ran along the massive blade before leaping onto its enemy's head and ran its sword into the Emperor's forehead. Thanks to the Rhino, it wasn't destroyed, but Tyrian still took the damage.**

 **[Tyrian – 7200 LP]**

Ruby's fist flew up in cheer, "Yes!"

Penny chuckled, "That was a rather good play."

"There's just one problem." Tai sighed. "Those cards take points away from him each turn."

 **Tyrian chuckled. "Fine. You're turn then~" He grinned as Jaune drew his card, waiting to see the points fall.**

 **[Jaune – 8600 LP]**

 **Tyrian's eye twitched. "WHAT?!"**

"What?!" The sentiment was echoed through the room.

 **Jaune grinned. "My Oracle King's ability switches any effect damage into a life point gain instead."**

Penny blinked. "I take it back. It was an amazing play."

 **Tyrian shook in frustration. "Damn it! Damn you!"**

 **"Just wait, it's about to get worse for you. Oracle King D'Arc! Attack the Fiendish Rhino!" The King flew forward and destroyed the Rhino, which wasn't protected by its own ability.**

 **[Tyrian – 5800 LP]**

 **Jaune's glare never faded. "You're turn."**

 **Tyrian drew a card and looked toward his hand again. "I'll place two cards face down." He couldn't attack with the Dark Contract with the Witch still boosting Jaune's monster. "You're turn."**

 **Jaune nodded and drew his card. "Draw!"**

 **Tyrian's face suddenly formed into a grin. "I activate my trap card! Darklight! I tribute a Dark monster and destroy all the special summoned monsters are destroyed! But, with Lair of Darkness on the field, I can use your monster instead of one of my own~!"**

 **"What?!" Jaune's monster convulsed before shattering apart.**

Jaune felt like he'd seen himself shatter instead. It was a weird feeling, honestly.

 **"And without it, you lose those life points again~"**

 **[Jaune – 6600 LP]**

Ruby groaned, "Come on! He can still win this!"

 **Jaune growled and looked over his hand. "Fine."**

 **"Oh! And just in case, I activate Fires of Doom. A quick play spell that gives me two Doom tokens in defense mode." Two one-eyed wisp demons appeared on his field. He laughed again. "You're move~"**

 **Jaune took a breath and took two cards from his hand. "I place D/D Savant Copernicus and D/D Savant Newton to set the Pendulum Scales!"**

 **Copernicus appeared like a gyroscope with a sun forming the center. Kepler looked like an engine with an off shoot with a set of Newton balls on the side. The two formed and a pair of numbers appeared being 1 and 10 respectively.**

 **"With the scales between 1 and 10, I can summon D/D/D Oblivion King Abyss Ragnarok!"**

 **Now, Jaune had his own monster sitting in a throne. His was a demon covered in horns and in a dark steel coat. His coat flared out and up with spikes latched to the ends. [2200/3000].**

"Nice!" Nora grinned. "Big move!"

Neo remembered back to her appearance. She used a similar style of summoning. It was interesting to see it with a different style.

 **"Now, I can use his ability to summon a D/D/D monster in graveyard to the field! Return, Oracle King D'Arc!" The familiar winged knight appeared from the ground.**

Yang grinned, "Nice!"

"But they aren't strong enough to do anything." Roman finally spoke. He was silent since seeing Neo shatter like that. He wanted this kid to get his revenge by proxy.

 **Jaune's glare went from anger to fury. "Now! I fuse my Kings with the Contract to the Swamp King! I fuse them together to form a new, more powerful lord!" The two began to morph together. "** ** _King of Devastation and Lord of Healing! Come together and unleash the unholy might of the end!_** **I summon D/D/D Super Doom King Purple Armageddon!"**

Nora and Ruby giggled a little at how ridiculous the name was.

 **The monster formed before them. It was a giant monster astride a purple dragon. It was a simple creature in form, but it seemed like a king despite it. A purple orb made up most of the body and gold and white armor-like form wrapped around it. A pair of large purple wings sprouted out from its back. [3500/3000].**

 **"Now, for his effect. Once per turn, I can pick a monster on your field in attack mode and I can destroy it, dealing you half its attack points to your life points."**

 **Tyrian went stiff as the Purple Armageddon released a glowing purple light, destroying his monster.**

 **[Tyrian – 4300 LP]**

 **"And my monster can get rid of one of those tokens on top of that." Jaune's monster unleashed a purple flame and destroyed one of the tokens. "Just in case you got any funny ideas about a big tribute."**

Cinder, of all people, had to admit, she was enjoying this. Seeing Tyrian pushed like this was a welcome change.

 **Tyrian drew his next card on his turn. "I play a card face down and my Sinister Dragon."**

 **A dark green and black dragon formed and roared. [2000/0]/**

 **Tyrian growled, "You're move."**

 **Jaune drew his card. At my standby phase, I take my 2000 points of damage.**

 **[Jaune – 4600 LP]**

Ruby was getting a bit nervous, "This is way too close."

 **Tyrian grinned again and swung his arm to the side. "I activate my trap card! Crush Card Virus! I sacrifice a Dark monster on my field with 500 or less attack points, like my token, and destroy every monster on your field with more than 1500 attack!"**

 **The Purple Armageddon erupted into cloud of destruction.**

 **"If it makes you feel better, you can send three more to your graveyard."**

Weiss growled, "How would that make it better?"

 **Jaune grabbed three cards and sent them off. Then, he was allowed to make a move. "I summon D/D Nighthowl!" A creature like a mouth with two wisps for eyes appeared with a loud howling. "His effect allows me to grab a D/D monster from my graveyard and summoning it to the field, but its effects are negated. You actually let me pull this off with your trap, so thanks for that."**

Weiss blinked. "Okay then… I suppose that's understandable then…" She was still a bit confused by the events.

 **"I return D/D/D Chaos King Apocalypse!" A creature appeared as a torso, the lower half being only a purple crystal. The upper half was almost mechanical with a demonic form. "And now, I'll tune them both together, taking 1000 damage thanks to Nighthowl's effect, but that's fine."**

 **The two monsters rose up and Nighthowl became a set of three circles, encasing the Chaos King, who became seven bright stars.**

 **[Jaune – 3600 LP]**

 **"I summon D/D/D Gust High King Alexander!"**

 **The creature that appeared this time was a giant man in armor with a bright green cape that flared out like a pair of wings. Its armor shone like the Lair of Darkness didn't exist on the field. [3000/2500].**

"Woah." Everyone was on the same page here. This card was like a shining knight, ready to bring justice down on Tyrian.

 **Jaune glared toward Tyrian. "And my Scales are still set, which lets me re-summon Ragnarok and Purple Armageddon!" Both monsters reappeared on the field. "And! Alexander allows me to summon 1 D/D monster from my graveyard when I summon another D/D monster to the field! Return to me my Oracle King!" Jaune now had four big monsters on the field. "One more thing. When there's at least 3 D/D/D monsters on my field, Alexander gains 3000 attack points.**

 **Alexander seemed to glow as his attack power raised. [6000/2500].**

"Do it!" Roman called out. "Put this asshole down!"

 **"Alexander! Attack and destroy his monster!"**

 **Alexander raised his sword and sliced the dragon in half.**

 **[Tyrian – 300 LP]**

 **Tyrian roared in pain and annoyance. "No! No! No! I'm supposed to summon my Wicked Dreadroot and back you into a corner!"**

 **"Sorry, but this isn't some cartoon. You and your cronies were bad enough, and I have every reason to hate you. Each time you take a friend, I take them back. That's all there is to it." Jaune raised his hand and his Oracle King swung its blade upward. "Now! Oracle King! End him and his life points!" The Oracle King swung its blade back and lunged forward, impaling Tyrian.**

 **[Tyrian – 0 LP]**

Everyone cheered in their own ways. Some boisterous, some reserved, all in cheer. Except one. Neo. She was still watching to see if she really would return.

 **Tyrian groaned. "D-damn it…" He fell to his knees. "Damn it…"**

 **Jaune walked toward the man, his eyes filled with anger.**

 **Tyrian chuckled, a bit of blood falling from his lip. He looked up and grinned toward Jaune. "I hope you can live with killing me~"**

 **Jaune raised his foot and pushed Tyrian back. When his back hit the ground, his body shattered into dark stars. As he turned back around, he found Neo lying on the ground. Just like with the others, they were brought back if you could defeat the one who took them. He let out a breath. "I can live with that." He walked back to Neo and picked her off the ground, carrying her back to the Academy nearby. The world ended as the sun rose on the horizon.**

Jaune sighed, "Well… that was intense."

Nora nodded, "Yeah! But did you see those monsters?! They were so awesome!"

Jaune grinned and sighed. "Yeah. I guess they were."


	84. What Can You See?

**King: 2 million views!**

 **Knox Dude! This is awesome!**

 **King: Seriously. First time around took 57 chapters to reach. And here we are again in about half that time. All thanks to you guys~**

 **Knox: Time to start the next one though. Shall we?**

 **King: Let's do this!**

 **Inspiration: Naruto**

 **/\**

Jaune sighed. "Alright. So, what's next?"

Ruby shrugged. "Not sure. We don't usually know what they'll be ahead of time.

Neptune was leaning back with his hands behind his head. "It's likely going to be a Psycho-Jaune."

Jaune turned to the blue haired boy, "A what?"

"Oh right. We never told you about that." Neptune returned to a normal sitting position. "Basic idea is that we've seen enough versions with you as the villain to give it a term. Remember the one with the purple eyes? That's a Psycho Jaune."

"Oh… Okay then… Not sure how I feel about that."

 **The scene opened to show Jaune sitting on a stone throne in an empty room. He was leaned back in his seat with hands clasped together and fingers intertwined. He was dressed in a black cloak with red clouds patterned onto the material.**

This gave a few of them flashbacks to the Pain version.

"That can't be good…" Nora lamented.

 **Jaune's closed eyes opened to look to his new guest.**

 **Opposite him was the younger, Ruby-esc Yang they'd seen previously. She was dressed in a dark grey sleeveless shirt and dark pants, a set of bandaging wrapped over her forehead. A straight sword was hung at the base of her back on a wrapped cording around her waist. She was glaring at Jaune with unbridled hate and fury.**

Yang blinked in surprise, "Okay… So, what's going on this time?"

 **Jaune remained stoic despite Yang's glare. "And we meet again after these years. Tell me, Yang. What can you see with your Sharingan?"**

"Shari-what-now?" Yang raised an eyebrow.

Glynda's eyes narrowed, "Something to do with her eyes… Possibly similar to the eyes we saw before. That Rinnegan." The memory was still a sore one to her, seeing Ozpin die…

 **Yang's glare seemed to shift slightly. The camera zoomed in on one of her eyes as lilac faded into a blood red. A ring formed off from her pupil as three tomoe, a shape resembling a comma, formed around the ring.**

Yang's mind paused a moment. "Okay… Doesn't seem all that impressive. My eyes can already turn red."

"But not that weird pattern with it." Tai could tell something was off with those eyes.

 **Yang let out a breath. "What I see, Jaune, is you dead at my feet."**

 **Jaune closed his eyes and took in a breath. When his eyes opened, he had the same pattern and blood red color within his eyes. This was the Sharingan, a bloodline trait of the Uchiha clan.**

Yang got hung up on one little detail. "Bloodline?"

Ruby glanced to Yang, "So, you're related in this reality?"

"Then why would she want to kill me?" Jaune was still very confused.

 **Jaune was silent for a moment. After a while, he broke the quiet air, "Me dead at your feet, eh?" Jaune was suddenly next to Yang, slightly behind. "Then let's get to it."**

Ruby jumped in her chair, "Holy crap, he's fast!" Her semblance gave her super speed, but she couldn't move at speeds like that. Especially not without effecting the world around her.

 **Yang, with a hand on her blade's handle, drew the sword very quickly, blocking a kunai from Jaune's attack. Yang swung the blade off and went to strike him, but he leapt over her, grabbing her shoulder, and tossed her off ahead of him. Yang stayed low, creating hand signs.**

Blake raised an eyebrow, "So, it really is like the other one."

 **When Yang was done, she grabbed her wrist with one hand as the open hand erupted with electricity, the crackling of which almost sounded like birds chirping.** ** _Chidori!_**

This got Nora's interest, "Woah! Can I learn how to do that?! That's so awesome!"

 **Yang charged forward with the crackling ability. She knew this wasn't going to really work on Jaune, but that was the point. She grabbed her blade again and slammed the electrified hand on the ground.** ** _Chidori Stream!_** **The electricity flowed out into the ground. In order to avoid it, Jaune jumped into the air. But Yang jumped after him, fully prepared for this. Her blade was now embedded into Jaune's gut. They collapsed down to the ground with Yang pinning him to the stone floor.**

Jaune jumped in shock. "What the heck?"

 **Jaune coughed a bit from the blade in his stomach. "You've gotten stronger…"**

 **Yang's glare fell to a less intense level, but only barely. "I have one last question for you…"**

 **She was caught off guard as Jaune's hand rose up toward her slowly. Then, it moved to the side, pointing toward something. As she turned, it showed Jaune still sitting on the stone throne as though nothing had happened. When Yang turned back to the Jaune beneath her, his body seemed to tear apart into crows that flew off and disappeared.**

 **Jaune looked down the stairs toward her, "It might not be the** ** _last thing_** **, but you had a question for me?"**

Coco actually had to remove her sunglasses in confusion, as if removing them would have it make sense. "What… just happened?"

 **Yang's glare became hardened again. "Then let's try this again." Her sword broke through the stone and impaled Jaune from behind. The Yang in front of him disappeared into a firelight, her own illusion to catch him off guard. "Now, I have one** ** _last_** **thing to ask you. And I suggest you answer or the pain in your chest will just grow."**

 **Jaune coughed up a bit of blood. "You deliberately avoided my vital organs…"**

 **Yang twisted the blade slightly to shut him up. "Who is the third living Uchiha?"**

 **"Oh? And what would interest you about her?"**

 **"Because when I find her… I'll kill her. It's obvious that you weren't working alone that night. As good as you are, you couldn't beat the entire police force."**

"So, this was a revenge mission." Ozpin observed, answering their questions from earlier. They finally had some context.

 **Jaune smirked, not that she could see it from behind him. "So… You noticed it."**

 **"Who is she?"**

 **After a moment of silence, he answered, "Her name is Salem."**

Salem blinked and her head tilted slightly. "Oh? So, I'm part of this?"

 **"She's one of the founders of the Hidden Leaf, and the first Uchiha to unlock the power of the Mangekyo Sharingan."**

 **"Founder?!" This made Yang both confused at the possibility and angered that he had to be lying. "Then how is she alive?! You're obviously lying!"**

 **"Whether you believe me or not is irrelevant."**

 **"Stop joking!"**

 **"… Each person goes through life depending on and bound by our individual knowledge and awareness. And we call it reality. However, both knowledge and awareness are equivocal. One's reality might be another's illusion. We all live in our own fantasies, don't you think?"**

Weiss's head tilted a bit, "I can't tell if that was profound or nonsense…"

 **Yang raised an eyebrow, "What are you trying to say?"**

 **"That you believing that Salem is dead is just your arbitrary assumption." The camera moved away to sow the two from the side. "Just like how you used to think I was your kind and gentle older brother."**

 **The scene flashed as moments appeared of Jaune helping to train Yang, their lives in the Uchiha home, everything was ideal. The last was of the younger Yang with her arms draped over his shoulders, being carried back home on her brother's back. Both were smiling.**

Ruby giggled a bit, "D'aw~!"

Yang rolled her eyes with a grin. She remembered being the older sibling in similar memories. But her smile faded, hung up on one very important point. That it was fake.

 **And they saw what drove Yang to this moment. She was on her hands and knees, tears flowing down her face. Around her, her clan, friends, family… everyone she'd ever known, was slaughtered. Blood coated walls and streets. She looked up to the cause of this hell on earth. Jaune stood in his Anbu uniform with his blood red eyes. The night he killed his own clan.**

This was a chilling scene that no one dared say a word toward. There was no way that was true, right? There just _had_ to be something they weren't seeing.

Ozpin, though, caught something different. _He killed his entire clan… but let her live?_

 **The returned to the present with Yang being the focus point of the camera. "Back then… I had hoped it was all an illusion. That it was just some horrible genjutsu. But I was trapped in reality." She spun her body back with her open hand flying up and creating a spear of lightning. The camera followed it as it pierced into stone. Then it flowed back to reveal Jaune, still sitting at the throne behind her. His illusion faded and they were back to square one.**

Nora groaned, "This is hurting my head…"

Emerald, on the other hand, was a little too impressed. A part of her wished she could make illusions that thorough and layered. It would certainly make her life easier.

 **Yang glared up to Jaune in his throne, "I'm tired of playing along with your parlor tricks."**

 **Jaune stood up for real this time. "But you still don't seem to have the same eyes I do."**

"What's he talking about?" Ironwood crossed his arms and raised a brow, "They seem fairly similar."

 **Yang scoffed, "Then why not use the Mangekyo? Or am I too strong to measure yourself anymore?"**

 **Jaune and Yang were silent. Each trying to break through the other's eyes and case an illusion through their Sharingan. Neither were able to break through the other.**

 **Jaune finally broke the silence. "The Mangekyo Sharingan are very special eyes. From the moment they are unlocked, they slowly progress to darkness. In time, they are sealed completely."**

 **"What are you saying?"**

 **"That the more one uses those eyes, the faster they lose their light."**

 **"Blindness? That's the secret of the Mangekyo?"**

Yang fell a little in her chair, "He's going blind?"

"But what's this manga-ko, or whatever it is?!" Nora was getting a bit impatient for an answer to that.

 **And an answer to have. The camera zoomed in on Jaune's eye. The black tomoe morphed into his pupil creating a shape of three curved blades, the center opening apart with a red center.**

Nora was unimpressed, "Really? That's it? It doesn't look all that impressive…"

 **Yang glared again, "That's the price for the power to control the Nine Tails?"**

 **"So** ** _did_** **read the tablet… The power first unlocked and perfected by Salem, the immortal warrior who discovered the other secret of the Mangekyo."**

 **"** ** _Other_** **secret?"**

 **"Yes… The most crucial secret of our bloodline." Jaune's eyes strained. His vision was long since blurred, and this was going to exasperate the issue. He had no doubt that by the end, he'd be blind.**

 **"Most crucial? What's is it?" After a while of silence, Yang growled toward Jaune, "Well? Answer me!"**

This got everyone to go quiet. They could tell something important was about to be said.

 **Jaune took a breath. "Then, we'll start at the beginning. Salem once had a sibling, a little brother…"**

Salem, an only child, was surprised to hear that. She'd always wondered it would be like to have a sibling, but it never really stuck as an internal issue.

 **Yang blinked and found herself standing in an old wooden home in the past. Salem was sparring with her brother in that moment. The two were human, lacking the form they were familiar with. The two were blonde and dressed in white training garb.**

Salem always wondered what she would be like if she looked normal, rather than ashen with black veins across her body. It was actually rather interesting.

 **Jaune's voice carried over the world, "** ** _The two honed their skills and in time, unlocked their Sharingan. And as a result of their war-torn world, they had to be better. And soon,_** **"**

 **The scene changed to Salem and her brother side by side with their unlocked powers, both were different from each other and from Jaune's.**

 **"** ** _They unlocked the Mangekyo. They used their powers to make a name for themselves and stood atop the peak of the ninja world. But Salem's eyes grew dark._** **"**

 **The new scene showed Salem lying on a bed with bandages over her eyes. Her brother was sitting at her side.**

 **"** ** _She tried every method she could find to save her sight, but all failed. Until one day, fueled by despair and haunted by the Mangekyo, she found an answer._** **"**

 **Salem reached one hand up and toward her brother. As they heard the brother scream out in pain, the scene turned bright red before the pattern of her brother's Mangekyo appeared on the screen. It morphed into a new form, resembling a combination of the two.**

 **"** ** _She stole her brother's eyes._** **"**

No holding that back. Ruby lurched forward and only just held the vomit back. "That's just… WHY?!"

Salem shook in her chair. She'd seen versions of herself as the villains, but this was just haunting.

 **"** ** _By attaining a new host, her brother's eyes found a new power, the Eternal Mangekyo. Uchiha eyes whose light never fades. A new level of power unlike anything the world had ever seen. But despite this, she failed. Failed to defeat Ozma, failed in her assault of the Leaf, nothing but failures._** **"**

 **The scene returned Yang to the moment across from Jaune.**

 **"But I will not make the same mistakes. I will not be the failure. I shall surpass Salem and become the ultimate shinobi. Don't you see, Yang?" Jaune seemed to radiate with a malicious aura, like a demon stood behind him. "It took killing a friend to unlock the Mangekyo. It takes killing a blood relative to unlock eternal light. That's where you come in. You hold my spare eyes! With your eyes, I shall become even more powerful!" The aura seemed to reach out and grab for Yang's eyes, only for the world to shake and return to normal.**

Nora groaned, "This is getting ridiculous."

Emerald shrugged, "If it works, it works…"

 **Yang, with eyes closed, removed the bandages over her forehead.**

 **"So, you saw my inner self…"**

 **Yang dropped the bandages and glared back at Jaune. They both stood in silence for a moment. Soon, the two both tossed shuriken throwing stars toward one another, only to have the stars collide midair. Their arms were blurs as steel stars flew into each other. Hundreds of stars flew between them, all colliding together.**

Nora grinned, "That's much better~"

 **Suddenly, Yang jumped toward Jaune with her blade set to slice him in two. He blocked the attack with a kunai blade, but this was a trick for his counterattack. He had created a clone and hid behind it. As he jumped up with throwing knives ready, Yang used some of her chakra to form a solid fire to stop the attack. She leapt back and summoned a large, four bladed shuriken, tossing it toward Jaune. She ran lightning through the blades, so it cut through the clone's knife and body. But the clone morphed into a flock of crows. Then the screen showed Jaune's eye again.**

 **Jaune was suddenly directly in front of Yang, within the flock. He caught her off guard and kicked her back into a wall. One hand held down the electrified hand of Yang and pulled it over behind her head. "Forgive me…" Jaune's other hand rose up, thumb, forefinger, and middle finger set around Yang's left eye. "This is my reality."**

 **Yang roared out in pain.**

Yang's turn to lurch a bit. She held it back, used to the messed-up stuff she'd seen in this theater. But that was just… disgusting to think about. She was happy she didn't see it actually happen, though.

 **Jaune placed the eye into a storage vial, sealing it shut for transplant. "Now, for the other one." As his hand returned to her face, the world's colors changed to negative. Then, the world itself split in half, then again, and again. When the world returned to normal, Yang was breathing heavily with a hand over her left eye. When it fell, she revealed she still had both eyes.**

"Another illusion…" Yang sighed in relief.

 **Jaune lurched a bit, hand over his own eye. "So… You broke through the Tsukuyomi."**

 **Yang charged forward with an electrified hand again. The camera changed to show the outside as the roof erupted. The two now found themselves on the stone roof. Both formed matching hand signs and took in a breath. When they both let out this breath, they breathed fire toward one another, flames colliding between them. As Yang's fire threatened to envelop Jaune, the camera fell to his closed right eye. A small tear of blood formed from the closed eyelid. When it opened, it showed the eye was bloodshot. He unleashed a black fire unto the colliding flames. It seemed to swallow up the other flames. Jaune's right eye faded to white. He'd lost all sight in that eye now.**

Everyone felt a chill go up their spines. They'd never seen black fire before, let alone fire that seemed to burn away other flames. Whatever this was, it was unnatural.

 **Yang dodged away to the side, but Jaune's eye followed her. His sight led the black fire toward Yang, hitting her back, and forcing her to the ground. The flames of Amaterasu burned away at anything and everything until it ceases to be. Yang, however, had planned for just such an event. She dropped through a large crack in the floor, her hair revealed to be significantly shorter.**

Yang passed out a bit, seeing her hair that short always got to her, but it had been a long time since she'd see it. She was able to get herself back together before anyone had to worry about her.

 **She'd kept a length of false hair to escape and get a drop on anyone that tried to exploit it. She created another hand sign and took in a large breath. When she unleashed the fire, it rose up like a pair of burning dragons. Jaune dodged the attacks, but he wasn't their target. They were simply to heat the air and drop the pressure around them. As they both looked to one another, it started to rain. A bolt of lightning descended to the world below. She had created a thunderstorm, and with it, her trump card was ready to play. She jumped up to the tallest spire of the building with a hand out to the side. Electricity formed around her hand before shooting up into the clouds. Lightning arched across the sky. Then another bolt. More electric bolts formed, all converging at one point above her.**

Ozpin shook in place. "She's… she's tamed lightning?"

Nora tried to save a bit of face, "That's not _that_ cool…"

 **The lightning all pooled and formed a creature in the skies above them.**

Nora groaned, "That's just not fair…"

 **Yang held her hand up, the electricity in her hand going up toward her beast. "This jutsu is Kirin. Begone, with the thunderclap." Her hand fell toward him and the beast fell upon him. A bolt of targeted lightning tore through the building. The entire, massive hideout was ripped apart in a single strike.**

 **Yang took a labored breath and glanced over to Jaune. He was face down on the seared ground, the coat burned away from the attack. She let her eyes fade back to their usual lilac. "It's over… It's finally over…"**

Jaune took a moment before he could speak, "I mean… it _did_ just kill me, but that was kind of cool…"

No one was really about to argue against that.

 **The rain started to stop and Yang leaned forward, hands on her knees to calm her nerves.**

 **"Is this the death you envisioned for me?"**

 **Yang's eyes went wide and her head snapped up again.**

 **Jaune was slowly standing up again.**

"What?!" Yang jumped a little in shock, "How?!"

 **Jaune coughed up a large amount of blood.**

 **Yang growled and roared out to him, "NO! HOW DARE YOU! JUST DIE!"**

 **Jaune stood up, unable to stand straight. "You really** ** _have_** **gotten stronger. If not for this, I'd no doubt be dead right now." A golden fire seemed to form around him, eventually solidifying into a large ribcage. Skeletal arms followed soon after. "Now… to show you** ** _my_** **trump card. This is the Susano'o, the third power unlocked after acquiring both the Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu."**

 **The skeleton morphed as muscles and armor seemed to form around the skeleton. When it was done, a large form of the upper half of a knight in full armor with a broadsword and shield.**

Weiss froze up in place. It was like the knight's armor she'd been forced to face to earn her father's approval to attend Beacon. The giant armor/Grimm combo that gave her the scar over her eye.

 **Yang didn't even have the power to form her Sharingan. She had nothing. No other skill, no jutsu, no chakra, nothing. She tried to stand defiantly but found it difficult. She couldn't just sit back and do nothing. She was going to fight back, damn it!**

Yang could understand the sentiment. If she were in that place, she certainly felt she would fight. But, in the stands, it was hard not to see things differently. She was afraid. Truly scared for her counterpart.

 **Jaune took a step forward. "Your eyes are mine. I think I'll take my time to retrieve them." Jaune's eyes were blank. He was now truly blind. His body shook a bit and he lurched forward, hand clutching over his heart, falling to his knees, and coughing up blood again. The ethereal knight faded slightly, down to the skeleton and some muscle fibers.**

 **Yang hoped to capitalize and tossed a group of knives with papers tied to them. The papers used special symbols and chakra to become explosives. They erupted into a large explosion. But all for naught. Jaune's Susano'o kept its shield, a special spirit shield that could not be pierced or destroyed. It was one of a kind. Jaune took a step forward again.**

 **Yang tried to step back and found only the wall behind her. She didn't even have the energy to run. Jaune was in front of her again, his hand rising up and out toward her.**

Yang prepared herself for what was about to happen.

 **Then, his fingers reached her. Not around her eye, but to her forehead. Yang once knew the gesture as a way her brother interacted with her, often with an apology because he had to work or simply didn't have the time. Jaune's hand fell down her face and his body crashed forward face first into the wall behind her. He fell to the ground, dying right next to her. Yang was left in shock.**

As was most of the audience. No one was expecting this, but from what they'd seen they had only one real thought. _He was blind. Maybe he just missed._ The gesture may have been an old endearing motion, but they only saw a blind mad man.

 **As the rain fell, they hear Yang speaking again. "** ** _That was it. I finally had my revenge…_** **" She sounded older, more experienced that the one on screen. "** ** _Then, I learned something that I'd never thought about. Something I never cared about until then. Why did he do it?_** **"**

Yang blinked. "So, we get to find out what happened?"

 **The screen faded to show Jaune as he was before that night. He was dressed in his usual home attire.**

 **"** ** _He was a kind soul, a gentle beast. Though part of the elite Anbu black operatives, he hated violence. But he hated war even more. He would assassinate someone to prevent war from breaking out, albeit begrudgingly. He would do anything for his village and his family._** **"**

 **The scene faded again to a paper fan symbol, the bottom section being white and the top being red. A fire forming at the bottom.**

 **"** ** _But then he had to choose. Our clan, after years of silent anger, planned a coup against the village. An act that would no doubt have spiraled out of control, becoming a civil war. Jaune had to make a choice. Stand with his family or remain loyal to the village._** **"**

 **The screen changed to show Jaune in his Anbu attire, a black bodysuit with grey armor pieces and a short sword placed on his back, over his shoulder. He was perched on top of a light post with a red moon behind him.**

Ruby was wide eyed again, "Woah…" She'd never seen a Blood Moon before. None of them had. It was a harrowing sight.

 **"** ** _He desired peace above all else, so he only had one true option._** **"**

 **His eyes shifted to a glowing blood red.**

 **"** ** _He sacrificed everything. His family, his friends, his reputation, the very village he loved so much… All to maintain peace. But, in the end, there was one thing that remained._** **"**

 **The scene showed the younger Yang though his eyes in that moment.**

 **"** ** _He couldn't bring himself to kill me. He placed himself as the villain, the mass murderer without hope for salvation, and he set me against him. I was to become the hero seeking justice for what befell my clan. So much so, that when he contracted a hellish illness, he prolonged his life so that I would be the one to kill him. So, I could be the hero…_** **"**

This shook everyone involved.

Yang was choking up hearing all of that. It was a painful realization.

Ozpin clutched his mug a little tighter. "The greatest illusion one could form. No powers or mirages needed…"

 **The scene faded again to a forest scene. The wind caused the branches to sway slightly. "I'm not proud of how I took learning that… My anger and hate moved to the village instead." Yang was walking through the forest. "But that's a story for another day…" Yang was now dressed in dark attire and a long cloak over her body.**

 **Next to her, what looked like a smaller version of Yang walked next to her. She dressed in a white shirt and dark jeans with boots. "You lived a crazy life, you know that mom?"**

Yang choked on nothing, coughing in shock. "Woah, what?!"

Blake shrugged, "I can see it."

Tai chuckled. He always wondered what his grandchildren would look like.

 **Yang smiled, "You have no idea…" It only got weirder after that fight, but, again, that was for another day. "Come on, Joan. Let's head back…" The scene ended; and, with it, the viewing.**

Pyrrha took a breath, "She named her daughter after her brother…"

It was a sobering sentiment. And one that would force a few of them to re-evaluate their lives and events within it.


	85. Hunting Rogues

**Knox: And he shall be known as Lord... Vader...**

 **King: Don't confuse them. Wrong movie.**

 **Knox: But he is playing the big guy.**

 **King: Yes, but after** ** _that_** **moment/era. Now, let's do this. Hope you all enjoy this one~**

 **Inspiration: Star Wars Rogue One**

 **/\**

Next round. The screen came to life again.

 **The scene opened to a transport ship flying over a field of lava and rocks. The ship flew up the side of a volcano and to a massive, very foreboding castle at the top.**

Blake read enough novels to guess who would use that. "Oh boy… This can't be good."

 **The ship landed at a pad and a ramp opened with a hydraulic steam release. Cardin Winchester descended the ramp, dressed in a white military uniform with a matching cape over his shoulders.**

Ruby groaned, "He does _not_ deserve a cape…"

 **Cardin took a breath and walked to the automatic doors in front of him. The doors opened, revealing another layer of doors behind them. It was a way to best control the heat within the castle. After a few turns and halls, he found himself in a large room, the meeting chamber. It was massive, with the only floor being two ramps to two exits and a large circular platform in the center. Cardin took to a breath to calm his nerves again. He didn't like coming here. He didn't lie meeting with…**

 **His thoughts were interrupted as the wall opposite him opened up, allowing the light behind it to fill the room. The camera's angle showed a shadow of the man standing in the opening. He was tall and armored, a cloak over his form. Then, they heard him breath. A mechanical apparatus mixed with the sounds of his breathing. He sounded intimidating on a level few could truly reach.**

Everyone felt a chill run up their spines. This could only end well.

 **The shadow shrunk as he approached Cardin. When he finally met with the man, they saw his black armor, helmet, and a feint red glow within the eyes of his mask. A long black cape hooked at the base of his neck and over his shoulders. He stood over Cardin with an authority and power. He looked down to Cardin, his voice reverbing through his mask. "Director Winchester…"**

 **Cardin swallowed a lump in his throat. "Lord Arc."**

Nora froze up a second, "That's Jaune?"

Jaune groaned, "Well, that's unnerving…"

Velvet saw something a little different, "But… Cardin looks afraid of him."

 **Jaune stepped to the side, "You seem troubled." He looked out to the side and through a large opening/window. Before them was a land of magma and fire.**

 **"No. Just… pressed for time."**

 **"My apologies…" It was clear he wasn't actually sorry. "You** ** _do_** **have a great many things to explain."**

 **Cardin was getting a bit exasperated at his situation. "I delivered the weapon Empress Salem requested! I deserve an audience to make sure she understands its remarkable…" He was caught off guard as Jaune moved toward him. He shook a bit in fear of this man, Salem's second in command. "…potential…"**

Cinder huffed, a little annoyed some brat was the second to Salem. Especially a Salem that sounded more in tune with the version she was familiar with.

Yang nodded, "Okay, so Jaune is Cardin's boss… That makes sense then."

 **Jaune's voice cut him down faster than any blade, "Its** ** _potential_** **for causing problems has been established. A city destroyed and an Imperial facility attacked?!" Jaune moved passed him again.**

 **Cardin turned, trying to explain himself. "It was Governor Fall who ordered the test!"**

Cinder raised an eyebrow with a smirk. So she _was_ part of this still, and apparently high in command.

 **Jaune turned back to Cardin. "You were not brought here to grovel, Winchester."**

 **"No… I just…"**

 **"There is no** ** _Death Star_** **. The Imperial Senate has been informed that Shion was destroyed in a mining disaster."**

 **Cardin hung his head. "Yes, my lord."**

 **"I expect you not to rest until you can assure the Empress that Marcus Black has not compromised this weapon in** ** _any_** **way."**

Mercury clutched into his chair's armrest in fury. He hated his father to no end after what he went through. Just hearing his name pissed him off.

 **Jaune turned again and walked back to his ramp.**

 **But Cardin just had to open his big mouth. "Does… that mean I'm still in command of the project?"**

 **Jaune stopped, a few steps onto the ramp.**

Coco grinned, "He messed up now. Probably get chewed out for overstepping."

 **Cardin continued, "You'll speak to Empress on my behalf?" They could hear something in the background. It sounded like a build up before suddenly closing shut. Cardin's words suddenly caught in his throat. He pulled at his collar before brushing at his neck, trying to grab something that wasn't there. He fell to his knees, his breathing failing him.**

 **Jaune turned slightly back to him, his hand held up a bit with his hand seemingly clutching around something. "Careful not to** ** _choke_** **on your aspirations, Director." He dropped his hand and Cardin took in a very needed breath. Jaune turned and walked away to let him pick himself up off the ground.**

Coco tugged at her own collar, "Yikes…"

The fact that Jaune could do something like _that_ scared them. Sure, it wasn't there Jaune, but it was the idea that scared them. And his crack did not help matters.

 **As Jaune walked back to his side of the room, the wall closed behind him. A man in a black robe kneeled down as he walked passed, "My lord, the Empress has requested your presence in the Scarif system."**

 **"No doubt to clean up Winchester's mess."**

 **"She, uh… didn't say."**

 **"Ready the Destroyer. And alert the 501st."**

 **"Yes, my lord." The man bowed his head low before the mighty Sith Lord.**

"Sith?" Jaune's head tilted a bit.

Ruby closed her eyes with a hand to her chin, "That sounds familiar…" She tapped her head trying to remember it, _what was it?_

 **Jaune walked on as his soldiers scrambled about to prepare for their journey. Many were in black military uniforms. Others were in white full-body armor.**

"Hey, hang on…" Coco tapped her chair trying to recall the world. "This is like the other world where Jaune was that Jedi thing."

Ruby slammed her fist into her other hand, "That's where we heard that before!"

Jaune looed toward the two, "Um… what?"

"It was… the fourth world we saw? I think. It was a while ago. I don't remember the specifics…" Ruby blushed a bit in embarrassment, "I was kind of distracted about the lightsabers…"

"The what now?"

Now Ruby was able to gush, "Oh! It's so awesome! It's a sword, but its blade is made entirely out of light! I can cut through metal like it's nothing!"

Coco chimed back in, "But the armor here is different. They look more modern, but also kind of worse… It's hard to explain."

 **As Jaune approached a smaller transport ship, several of the armored soldiers lined up on either side with weapons leaned up against one shoulder each. At the ramp were two guards in red cloaks with strange helmets, the Imperial Guard meant to defend his castle. Technically they were to defend his person, but he didn't actually need them for that. As he walked inside, his soldiers began to march in from the end up to the ramp. As the ramp closed, the ship started to fly up into the air and toward a massive ship in the upper atmosphere. The camera caught a lens flare from the nearby sun that blinded the scene.**

 **This allowed for a transfer to another planet in the galaxy, the world of Scarif. Floating in its orbit was a large dark grey moon. A large circular crater seemed to be formed on a large section of the surface.**

Ozpin felt a shiver run up his spine. It was too spherical to be a natural creation. "That's no moon…"

 **Sure enough, it was a space station. Project Stardust, commonly known as the Death Star. The 'crater' started to glow slightly green. After a moment, the green energy focused through the outside area of the crater. All the energy gathered in the center before a large bolt of energy fired into the planet below it. The explosion was massive, dust and earth flying into space. It put any explosion they'd ever seen to shame.**

This shook everyone to the core. Even Cinder was in shock. Unlike the atomic bomb, Cinder recognized the unholy terror such a weapon could unleash. Then again, she didn't have a space ship or viable option of secondary living in space, so she was kind of stuck with what she had. So, using that on Remnant would only hurt her plans overall. So, there's that.

 **But the Empire was too little too late. A nearby cruiser had received a transmission from the planet of Scarif. Within were the plans for the Death Star. If they got out, either the Imperial Senate could attempt to overthrow the Empress, or the rebellion forces could attempt an assault on the base. And then, Jaune's transport appeared from the side as it approached the cruiser, flanked by strange (but rather iconic looking) fighters.**

Jaune groaned, "I have a bad feeling about this…"

 **The scene transferred to the inside as soldiers in blue and black uniforms with white helmets. One ran up next to the man at the console, "Hurry!"**

 **"Got it!" Once the download was down, the soldier grabbed the disk and started to run down the hall to a faster transport docked nearby. The soldiers reached a large blast door and tried to open it, only to have it jam without enough space for them to escape through. A few tried to open the doors, but to no avail. The power was cut into the hall and they had no way to get through. One of them tried to pound on the window to get someone's attention. Then, they heard something off.**

 **They all turned to the darkened end of the hall. The alarms were the only thing they heard. Metal strained before them. Then… breathing. Mechanical and imposing. With a twisted hiss, a red blade formed before them, washing the hall in its glow. It revealed Jaune as its wielder.**

Yang let out an impressed whistle, "That's a pretty cool shot."

Velvet took a breath to calm her nerves, "Looks like we get to really see why Cardin's afraid of him."

 **The soldiers were face to faces the Empress's right hand. The only appropriate reaction was desperation. "Open fire!" They fired blaster bolts toward the Sith Lord.**

 **Jaune just swung his blade, each action was deliberate and controlled. Every bolt that got close to him was deflected away from him into the walls around him. As he marched forward, he sent two bolts back into the soldiers, killing two of them with their own blaster fire.**

Everyone was silent, unable to speak as a result of the scene.

 **As Jaune approached, one of the soldiers pounded on the window of the door even harder, "HELP US!"**

 **Jaune deflected another bolt and held his hand out toward one of the other soldiers in front of him. The man was now held by his power over the force, dropping his gun and unable to move. Jaune slammed his hand into a fist and the soldier rose up to the ceiling. As he passed the man on the ceiling, he swung back and into the man's gut, leaving a sickening burn along with his death. Jaune thrust his hand back out and ricocheted a bolt back and killing another soldier. Bringing his hand back, he disarmed what was now the front line. He marched forward, decapitating the first soldier he passed. When another tried to grab a dead soldier's gun to fight back, he raised his hand and choked the man, lifting him into the air with the Force. Jaune slammed the man into the wall, leaving only one soldier live in the hall.**

 **The soldier was able to get someone on the other side of the door. He passed the disk through. "Take it! GO!"**

 **As the disk passed, Jaune impaled the man and the door in front of him. As the door finally unjammed, the blade melted through the metal as the soldier ran to the other side of the short pressure lock. The door closed and the ship forced a launch into space. Jaune stood in the hanger with blade still ignited. He disengaged the sword and he watched as the ship started to fly off.**

 **The viewers heard a militaristic march playing in the background. Then, the music and the scene cut out and to black. The last thing they heard was Jaune's mechanical breath.**

Jaune shook in his seat, "Well… that was unnerving."


	86. Intermission 6: Bonus World

**King: I just... I can't wait for 100. It's getting me too excited to write the rest in between. I'm still going to have fun with it.**

 **Knox: You're weird.**

 **King: I'm aware. Let's do this and hope you enjoy.**

 **Inspiration 1: n/a**

 **Inspiration 2: Zero Punctuation**

 **/\**

The screen blinked to show the usher version of Jaune again, signaling an intermission. Everyone stood and stretched again.

Jaune cracked his back a bit before twisting around. "I think we could use some exercise… A bit of training might be good."

Yang stretched her arms up over her head, "That actually sounds good. I could use a good workout."

Nora jumped up among the seats, "Let's do this!"

The students all made their way to the arena for a bit of practice. The rest of the viewers split up depending on their interests. One notable interaction was Emerald and Mercury. Emerald had pulled the silver haired assassin to a side room to confront him.

She glared daggers at him with arms crossed, "What's going on with you?"

Mercury raised an eyebrow, "What are you talking about?"

"Don't bother Mercury. You already know what I'm talking about. You've been ignoring us and outwardly challenged Cinder."

"So? Not like she can do anything to me here."

"That's not the point, Mercury. You need to get your act together or…"

"Or what?!" Mercury snapped at Emerald, causing her to recoil a bit. "I didn't kill my old man just to end up under someone else's boot! The only reason I followed you two was because it made sense at the time. You needed my skills, I needed somewhere to go. I'm not some blind little lost puppy like you. I see Cinder for what she is."

"What?!" Emerald moved to slap him, but he caught her hand.

He looked in her eyes, silent. After a moment, he shoved her off and back into the wall. "You _do_ know… don't you? That she doesn't give a shit about us. We're just her pawns. She'll just use and toss us when she's done. Well fuck that. When we're back, I'm going to do things my way." He turned and walked off, leaving Emerald stunned against the wall in shock.

Mercury left her behind and up to the library. It was the last place they'd expect to find him, with some good reason. He looked over the shelves and the books resting atop them. He raised his eyebrow at seeing a book that appeared out of place. The rest of the books along the shelf were white with two golden lines across the spine, likely a reference to Arc's symbol. But this book was black with two red lines instead. It was the only one like it, so it stuck out like a sore thumb. So, he decided to pick it up and take a look. It had no words on the cover, only a black surface with two red arches like a palette swap of that kid's symbol. But once he cracked open the book, he knew a little too well what it was.

Within its pages were profiles of men and women he knew by name, mostly through his father's rantings. Some of them had a large red X over their pictures. This was a hitlist, or a collection of Most Wanted profiles. His father had a collection of these books that he kept as trophies of the people that tried to hunt him down. Though he'd never seen one like this. He flipped through its pages and found his reason, Marcus Black wasn't in the book. Mercury smirked to himself out of spite for his father, that he wasn't good enough. But, he did find something rather interesting.

Within the book, four names stuck out: Arthur Watts, Tyrian Callows, Hazel Rainart, and Cinder Fall. Each one had a full profile and motivations. At least as complete as they could. Tyrian was a serial killer in Vacuo known for his brutality and the fact he was never caught, supposedly disappearing. Arthur Watts was a political saboteur that reveled in bringing the smaller cities outside the kingdoms to ruin. Hazel was the least criminal of the group, apparently going on a revenge mission against Ozpin because his sister died during Beacon's initiation.

Then, there was Cinder. He was well aware he know next to nothing about her before joining her cause, but it was jarring how little he actually knew. According to the book, she was orphaned at a young age after burning her family home to the ground. After that, she burned down the orphanage. She disappeared and everyone thought she finally scorched herself to cinders. Reappearing later with more self-control over her pyromania, she had joined Salem's group and did her bidding until reaching the inner circle, though the book only knew she was alive and dangerous.

Mercury sighed and nodded, "That explains a lot." He closed the book and placed it back among its contemporaries. He looked over to the side plate of the shelf, confirming it was his reality and not some weird parallel version. Sure enough, it was his. He smirked to himself, "I might be able to use this."

\/

The students decided to spit up today. Teams RWBY and JNPR spent the time in the training arena. Coco and Velvet, though, decided to wonder. As they walked the halls, they found a new room, door opened slightly. It was labeled [Relic Room]. Coco was too curious not to take a peek and Velvet didn't have the will to be able to stop her.

Coco opened the door and too a step into the room. She let out an impressed whistle, "Well now…"

Behind the door was a large room filled with various displays with items from across the multiverse. The room itself resembled a high-end museum people would pride themselves for merely existing. Tile flooring and tapestries formed together like a wonderful piece of art. But the real attraction was those displays.

Coco passed by a display with a large brick of solid gold. Arc's symbol was etched into the bar, and it came with a bit of lettering to indicate weight and purity. She turned to the plating at the side that told its story. It was an Arcadian gold bar and old as hell. It went back four generations. "Why would this be here, though?"

Velvet shrugged and looked around. She blinked seeing a gold of a different variety. Within the glass case was a trio of golden triangles formed together into a larger triangular form with the center missing. "Huh… Hey Coco!"

Coco approached and raised an eyebrow, "What is it?"

"It says here it's something called a Triforce."

"That's a dumb name."

"Apparently, it's made up of three key aspects: Courage, Knowledge, and Power." She ran her finger over the plate as she read from it, "'When brought together, the Triforce can grant a wish to one who wields its might.' So, there's that."

"Huh…" Coco looked over the golden trio, noticing that she couldn't see her reflection within. "That's pretty crazy." Coco moved away, getting a weird feeling from that thing. She found her gaze falling on a red teardrop-shaped gemstone with a vinyl record wreathed in gold on the outer edges. She leaned down and looked over the plate.

[Umbral Tear and Angelic LP]

"Okay… So, what are these supposed to be?"

Velvet looked over to the side of the case to fine four pistols in blue metal with gemstones embedded into their sides. "Not sure… Why _four_ pistols?" Something caught her eye to the side. She turned and found a new display. On the far wall was a bright neon sign. It was a glowing red outline of three words, Devil May Cry.

Before they could ask anything about it, the PA system popped to life, " _Five minute warning, everybody~!_ " It was Knox's turn to use the microphone.

Coco and Velvet turned to one another and nodded, leaving the room.

\/

As everyone gathered again, Knox and King were mid-argument.

Knox floated to the side, "I'm just saying, it doesn't seem like our style."

"Isn't that the point?" King remained motionless in the air. King sighed and turned to the group of viewers, "Sorry about that. Knox and I need to discuss something. We'll play a short reality for you to tie you over."

The two disappeared into flickers.

Yang leaned back and kicked up her feet, "Let's see what we've got this time."

It won't be very long, but the screen started to glow for the next world.

 **The world opened as a blue screen with white lettering. [Zero Punctuation reviews Painkiller]. A simplified cartoon was sitting behind a desk in the lower corner. He was solid white, with no neck, arms, or mouth and detached legs. He was also wearing what looked like a fedora on his head.**

"A review?" Yang raised a brow, "Really?"

Ruby shrugged, "Maybe it'll be fun…"

 **The cartoon appeared atop a strange imp-looking creature's back as they heard him speak, revealing it to be Jaune, "Now that we've left Grand Theft Auto 4 in the dust and MGS 4 is an overly verbose speck on the horizon we enter the season known as 'Bugger All's Coming Out.'" He spoke rather quickly, similarly to Oobleck, but still at un-caffeinated human standards.**

Velvet blinked a bit in surprise. She'd not heard a phrase like that in a while. "Huh…"

 **The picture moved to show an arrow from Jaune's cartoon to a version wearing a Christmas hat. "Too far from Christmas to be of interest to any publishers to the point where games stop trickling out and reviewers like me can indulge themselves in strange retro reviews of games that interest them and no one else."**

 **The new picture showed Jaune sitting next to a pile of game boxes. He pulled out a game from his desk with a sort of smile. Again, no actual mouth. The picture moved to show him running with a game over his head, "Either to bring attention to an under apricated gem, or to add a few bitch slaps that managed to escape the first time around. So let's talk about a game I found in a bin."**

Yang nodded slightly, "Okay… I have to admit, as a review this is a good format."

 **The screen swapped to show the game box, "Painkiller is the latest game by Polish developer People Can Fly, perhaps best known for their previous game E.T. for the Atari twenty-six hundred."**

Everyone felt a shiver run up their spines. It was like a twisted omen of doom that could bring ruin upon those within its reality.

 **"Not really. Painkiller is the** ** _only_** **game by People Can Fly."**

Everyone felt a certain relief hearing that, but they weren't sure why.

 **"Which makes it all the more amazing that Painkiller is** ** _fucking awesome!_** **" The picture swapped to show the game with a set of the cartoony legs like Jaune's and a pair of very muscular arms mid flex. "And can kick the ass of most big mainstream titles and can have them for breakfast afterwards."**

Nora snickered a bit at the picture of the game with arms.

Yang grinned a bit. "Oh?" She enjoyed games in her off time from time to time and was looking for a new one… Why not see if this one's any good? She can go back to look if there's anything like it back home.

 **Jaune hung his head at his desk, "Because if the game blew goats I could have made a joke like 'Painkiller, you'll certainly need one.'"**

Yang and Tai let out a small snicker.

 **"Painkiller is in the same bucket as Serious Sam and the original Doom games, a fun antidote to fancy pants modern FPS-ing. There are no stealth missions, no escort quests, no key hunting, no dorky support character dribbling in your ear hole, no mission objectives besides kill everyone… There's just you, some guns, and the entire population of Murder Town between you and where you want to go." The screen showed Jaune with several weapons standing amongst a hoard of the imp creatures, "It's pure genocidal fun," The cartoon of Jaune blinked to be wearing a familiar red and white mask, but it was short lived as the picture swapped as soon as it appeared, "that most triple A developers seem to think is beneath them.**

Blake, Ilia, Sienna, Kali, and Gira could see the joke, but didn't think he'd turn out _that_ badly… right?

 **The cartoony Jaune now had a long grey beard and a cane, hunched over, "Now, I'm not about to shake my walking stick and complain that shooters were better before they started putting on airs, but sometimes you just want to enjoy the old school catharsis of action games with the immersive greyish-brown of modern gaming technology. And that's a niche Painkiller fills beautifully. That's not to say that Painkiller is nothing but murdering tons of dudes. There's a card system that makes it easier to murder tons of dudes. There's a soul collecting element that results in new and interesting way to murder tons of dudes…"**

Nora snickered, "I'm starting to see a pattern here~"

 **"Okay… maybe it** ** _is_** **nothing but murdering tons of dudes, but it does it so well, what more could you want? You can hunt through the levels for secrets and treasures if you really must, but if more than a minute passes without a dude and a murder you're not playing it right."**

 **The new scene showed what was supposed to represent People Can Fly, "It's like after the developers resigned themselves to making an unsophisticated shooter, they decided to make the most stylish unsophisticated shooter ever and spent the rest of the escort quest money on tarting it up."**

Velvet shook a little, laughing silently to herself in knowing the meaning where no one else did. They could infer based on the conversation, but they didn't know what he means when he says 'tart.' So, you know, fun.

 **"Levels range from giant cathedrals to military bases and it all gives me a big, fat architectural stiffy."**

This got a chuckle out of those with the dirty minds.

 **"There are 50 distinct types of dudes to murder, all amazingly well designed."**

 **The new scene showed Jaune at a counter with [Getcha Weapons] on the side.**

This got Ruby's attention. Games like that usually had crazy weapons that could give her new ideas.

 **"The weapons are a bold effort to escape the usual line up of melee, pistol, shotgun, machine gun, rocket launcher, over powered exotic thing you can never find ammo for and only use in boss fights anyway. The default weapon is the titular Painkiller, a rotating blade arrangement perfect for forecasting light showers of body parts and reinacting the lawn mower scene from the movie Brain Dead. That's Dead Alive if you're American and fat."**

Ruby blinked and got a bit excited at the idea. A multi-bladed spinning wheel of death! That was pretty cool.

 **"As for the guns, I could mention the hugely satisfying penis extension gun that pins baddies to walls with entire trees,"**

Cue another set of snickers.

 **"But all you really need to know is that there's a gun that shoots shurikens and lightning."**

Everyone went quiet. That just sounded too awesome of a concept and make Ruby drool a little.

 **"I wish I could make something like that up. It shoots shurikens and lightning! It could only be better if it had tits and was on fire!"**

Jaune brought his hand to his face in sheer bewilderment and a hint of embarrassment. Hearing those words flow out from his mouth was just weird.

 **"Surprisingly, there** ** _is_** **a story here, contained within overly long cinematics wherein a man resembling a shaved bear has a lovely life of sunshine and rainbows until he takes one too many lingering looks at his sexy wife and barrels straight into a truck. Wife-y goes to Heaven and our hero goes to Purgatory because God wants him to kill the demon generals from Hell trying to invade and blah-di-blah-di-blah! The story is unimportant. Now, I advocate for games as art and thus enjoy a good story, but any game where you can separate a dude's limbs in separate directions is already an art form. There are certainly criticisms besides the story can go fuck itself. The requirements to unlock of the cards are asinine, souls take forever to show up, so you end up twiddling your thumbs waiting for them to appear, the AI is pathetically thick getting stuck behind bits of scenery. But any criticism I have is immediately quashed when I remember it has a gun that shoots shurikens and lightning!"**

Ruby grinned, "Still sounds so awesome."

 **"And that's Painkiller. The best way to blow off some steam is to blow off someone's naches."**

Velvet froze up, a grin stuck on her face and her eyes wide. _Yikes…_


	87. Swallowed by the Fires of History

**King: So... technically, the inspiration is Japanese history, but I was more influenced by the version told in the game series Samurai Warriors.**

 **Knox: What's that?**

 **King: You already know what it is... You made an analogy to it before. Remember?**

 **Knox: Yeah, but what about the readers that don't know.**

 **King: Fine... It's a hack and slash game series by Koei, the same people that made Dynasty Warriors, Fire Emblem Warriors, and Hyrule Warriors. (I like the genre...) It's effectively Japanese history as told by over the top anime. It's not for everyone, but I have fun. Now! Enough about my gaming preferences, let's get to the chapter. Hope you enjoy~**

 **Inspiration: Samurai Warriors / Japanese History**

 **/\**

King and Knox appeared again. King floated a little higher, "Alright. That's taken care of."

"What did you need to talk about, anyway?" Ruby looked up to the fireballs.

"Just a house keeping matter. Don't worry about it. Now, let's get the next round going, shall we?" They both disappeared, leaving the viewers alone again as the screen started to glow.

 **The world formed in a field of trees, summer on the horizon as the wildlife scurried about. It was the Twenty-first of June in the year 1582. The sounds of marching pulled the camera down to show a small army walking through the forest. At the lead was a man atop a horse, dressed in a long black and red coat, his hair slicked back slightly and a pair of horns sticking out from his hair.**

Blake blinked in surprise, "Adam…"

 **Adam's attire beneath the coat resembled light samurai armor. A katana hung on his side and swayed slightly as he moved. He wore no mask, revealing his face as he looked down toward the ground beneath his horse. His mind was filled with a conflict unlike any he'd fought before.**

Yang grinned with a light chuckle, "Oh? This ought to be good."

 **His eyes fell closed as his mind went back to that night, the night his faith in his Lord shattered.**

Yang's grin fell a bit. She leaned lightly and whispered, "Blake…"

Blake shook her head, "Before you ask, this does _not_ appear in the books…"

"Good."

 **The world went white as his flashback began.**

 **Adam stood in a forest, surrounded by white canvas walls of the army camp. Many of the banners showed the familiar dual arcs in the center of the stretched canvas.**

Kali blinked in surprise, "It would seem Mr. Arc, I think it was?" After Jaune nodded, she continued, "It seems he's a samurai lord this time."

Ruby gasped, "Woah! That's so cool!"

Yang leaned back toward Kali, "How can you tell?"

Oobleck pointed to the canvas, "The banners. That style is used for mobile army camps often used by old forces, primarily from Mistral's historical accounts."

Kali nodded with a grin, "Quite~"

 **Adam continued forward before dropping down onto one knee, bowing before the person off screen. "My Lord, you wanted to see me?"**

 **The camera panned over to show the back of a tall blonde in a long black coat with golden accenting around the form. The dual arcs appeared across his shoulders, "I did." His voice revealed this to be Jaune Arc. He spoke with a sense of power and unyielding ambition.**

Emerald and Mercury couldn't help but be reminded of Cinder in they he spoke.

 **Jaune remained with his back to Adam, "Tonight, we make our move on the temple." As he spoke, the camera moved up behind him to show the mountain before them, the tree line faded to reveal a large temple at the summit. "Tonight, we quash this foolish rebellion."**

 **"I look forward to it, my lord. How may I be of use to you?"**

Sienna sighed, "If only he was that loyal in our reality…"

Gira sighed and shook his head, "He's going to get you killed at this rate."

 **Jaune kept his gaze on the mountain. "You need not do anything. I've learned from Ishiyama. I will not make the same mistakes I had before. Assailing the temple will only lead to another 11-year headache."**

 **"Then… What are we to do?" Adam's head rose to ask of his lord.**

 **Jaune turned, but the camera continued to hide his face in Adam's memory, "What we must…" Smoke started to rise from the forest around the temple. In time, the entire mountain was wreathed in flames.**

Everyone was silent. Many in the audience were taken aback at the scene, some denying he was responsible. Some could see the military application, but also its cruelty. One saw this with a certain appreciation.

 **Adam was one of the first, "My lord! What's the meaning of this?! You would willingly burn down a temple?!"**

 **"A temple built by and harboring our enemies. Those who would harass and impede our work for unification of Menagerie." Jaune turned his back to Adam again, "These monks must learn what comes from getting in my way."**

 **"And you would burn their place of prayer to the ground?!"**

 **"Ishiyama also taught me that would be a meaningless gesture."**

 **Adam's expression fell, "Then… what are…"**

 **"They call me a demon, then I shall rule Hell itself!" Jaune swung his arm to the side, "Burn their temple to the ground! Any who attempt to flee will be captured and executed! This is my first command as the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven! KILL THEM ALL!" The memory ended with the sounds of fire, gunshots, and the screams of the monks within the temple.**

Those sounds were going to haunt them. The unholy screams and the hellish version of Jaune that seemed to stand on the screen.

Only one felt no fear or empathy for the monks. Cinder grinned, feeling she could get along swimmingly with this version.

 **The scene returned to the present as Adam brought his horse to a stop. Below him was a large temple compound of Honnoji, in the capital of Menagerie. He was supposed to go west to aid in Sun Wukong's campaign. But he chose to defy his orders. His enemy was not to the west. He drew his blade and addressed his army behind him, "The enemy is in Honnoji!"**

 **His army shouted as they ran down the hillside to the temple. They reached the doors and Adam's soldiers killed the guards. They broke through the wooden barrier and assailed the compound. The camera panned down to one of the fallen guards to show the symbol of the Arc clan on his armor.**

 **June 21, 1582. The night of Adam Taurus's betrayal.**

No one said it out loud, but many could feel this was the best option. This version of Jaune was clearly one of the psycho variants. This was horrifying to the viewing group. Except Cinder, she just got mad at Adam for his betrayal.

 **As Adam's soldiers flooded through the gate, a chain of blades cut through many and tossed them back. The camera hung on the wielder, a young woman with a long brown pony tail. Her tanned skin seemed to shimmer into a furious red. Her weapon snapped back into the form of a single sword.**

Ilia blinked in surprise. "Is that me, then?"

Blake nodded, "Seems like it."

Ruby was too enamored by the blade, "Wow! A whip sword! You hardly ever get to see one of those! They're really hard to make and even harder to master."

Ilia felt a certain pride, considering she used a similar weapon type.

 **Ilia stood with a glare toward the enemy troops. "No further! You won't take a single step further into this temple! Do you hear me?! I won't allow any of you any further!"**

 **"Ilia…" Adam dropped from his horse and walked through the front line of his army around Ilia. "I have no conflict with you. Please… leave and…"**

 **This just got Ilia even more pissed, "Shut up, traitor!" She held her weapon out, pointing toward Adam, "You and I have more than enough conflict. You would turn your back against our Lord?!"**

 **"He is no lord of mine. Not after what I've seen him do."**

Ilia would agree with him, or she wanted to. She followed Adam since Blake left and did terrible things. Perhaps this version had the same issue.

 **"Enough!" Ilia swung her blade back as the sections snapped apart to whip form again, "You will pay for what you've done."**

 **Adam closed his eyes, taking a breath. He slowly drew his blade and readied himself for a fight. Ilia charged forward, spinning her blade around his weapon and trying to pull it away from him. But Adam had fought alongside Ilia for long enough to know how to counter her. He moved forward with the attack and pushed his shoulder into her gut. He dug his foot into the ground and spun his arm around to smack her with the back of his fist. This knocked her off balance enough to rear back a bit and place his blade parallel to the ground and pointed at his opponent. One swift step buried the blade into her gut, her own weapon still wrapped around it and digging into her skin.**

Ilia jumped with a lump in her throat. "I…" The scene was hard to watch for her at this point. It was quic and efficient, but a wound like that would definitely be fatal. She would bleed out in moments.

 **Ilia coughed up some blood, but her eyes still filled with defiance. She unhooked her blade from his and it snapped back to a solid form. She knew it would likely be her last action, but she would still fight! Unfortunately, without her blade wrapped around his, Adam was able to snap his blade around and pull it back to exasperate her wound. Her strength drained and she was forced to her knees.**

 **Ilia had no strength to fight anymore. Her consciousness was fading, only lucid long enough for one final act. "I lived by my blade. / I served in joy and sorrow. / I die as I lived." She fell to the ground, dying with weapon in hand.**

Kali felt a shiver run up her spine. She'd witnessed the final poem of a warrior. She had her own prepared in her early years, but she hadn't thought about it in years. Not since Blake was born. Few others in the audience knew the practice, so were confused by the event.

 **Adam took several breaths and shook his head, steeling his will again. "I must continue…" He moved on through the temple as his soldiers swarmed the Arc clan guards. Some among his subordinates took to the wooden structures with torches, setting the compound ablaze.**

Ren groaned a little, "A poetic moment, I suppose. Given what we saw before."

Jaune nodded. He didn't like the idea of seeing himself die, few ever would. But he couldn't exactly get behind the version he saw on screen.

 **Adam moved through the courtyard and stopped, looking down to something he'd kicked. One of his soldiers was on the ground with a large gash across his torso, through his armor. Adam recoiled a moment.**

 **"Poor little bull…"**

 **Adam's attention snapped back upward and forward.**

Emerald and Mercury blinked in surprise. Mercury raised an eyebrow, "So… You're part of this too?"

Emerald shrugged, "I guess."

"Always following someone else… Never living your own life."

 **Emerald stepped out of the shadows, revealing she was wearing a kimono that hugged her form, allowing both to be alluring and functional. The long and wider sleeves allowed her to conceal her weaponry until she needed them. She stood in the temple, looking out into the courtyard.**

Mercury let out an impressed whistle, "Damn~"

Emerald rolled her eyes but admitted, internally, that she liked the look. Then again, it was likely the material and functionality. The main reason she wore what she did was because it was the most functional for her style. No frills, no loose clothing to catch, nothing that would get in her way.

 **Emerald took a step forward, revealing another of Adam's soldiers with a similar wound from his chest and over his face. Emerald stepped down toward Adam, "So, you finally turn your back on us."**

 **Adam dropped his stance quickly, expecting an attack.**

 **But Emerald moved slowly around him, as if she had no reason to fight him. Without fear of an assault, "After everything we've been through, after walking through Hell itself, do you believe this will change anything? That this could be some act of repentance?" She spun on her heel and back toward Adam. "Then so be it. But to fight the Demon King, you must get through me." She snapped her hands to her sides and a pair of serrated claws appeared on her hands.**

Ruby's turn to have a shivering effect on her body. "Yikes…"

Yang, who fought someone with claws already, wasn't in on the finer details, "What? The claws aren't _that_ impressive."

"They don't have to be." Tai shook his head, "Those things are nasty. Designed to rip flesh with each attack. Against Grimm, they're more a liability since it would catch on their bodies and leave you vulnerable. But against people…"

Yang held up a hand to stop him, "I get the picture…"

 **Adam growled and widen his stance. Emerald's fighting style relied on keeping him off balance to get in one big strike. One strike would rip him apart like his soldiers. There was also her sneak attacks. His thoughts were interrupted as a small round item flew toward him. He knocked the item away just in time for it to explode into a green explosion to the side. He glared back at Emerald as she tossed another grenade in one hand. He'll have to stop overthinking and focus.**

 **As he moved forward for an attack, Emerald tossed another grenade. He hopped back to avoid it, but she never lit its fuse. The grenade was a distraction for her own attack. She swiped her blades from either side in a crossed pattern, but Adam was able to dodge backward to avoid it. He spun on his heel and swiped at Emerald who jumped over the sword. She kicked forward and smacked into his nose with her heel. Adam stumbled back but got back to form in time to block her claw from burying into his neck. He used her serrated blade against her and dug his blade in for leverage to push her back. The camera tracked as her other hand came in to swipe at him before swiping back to his blade as it moved up toward her. A moment later, the camera snapped back to show both at the side.**

 **The camera came in on a close up of Emerald's face, a smile spread over her face. "I shall await you / Lord Arc, my precious husband / 'till we meet in hell." She fell to her knees as the camera tracked down to show a deep cut into her body.**

Mercury chuckled a little, "That explains that, I guess. You married the power mad psychopath. That you're type or something?"

Emerald growled, "Shut up, Mercury."

 **Adam took a shaky breath, his hands losing their grip on his weapon for a moment. He had killed people before in war, but he had killed two people he once called his friends. And yet, he knew he wasn't done. His hands clenched around his blade's hilt. He had to keep moving ahead. He had one final challenge.**

No one ever really thought about it. That some betrayals could be the only option and what would that person be going through? Granted, they weren't naïve enough to believe that this was a norm. Just food for thought.

 **Adam moved through the courtyard and among the burning temple. His final challenge waited for him in the inner building. Adam glared up into the burning building. Sitting on the steps of the burning structure, Jaune had a shallow cup of sake in his hand. He tipped the cup up to his lips and finished off the drink. Jaune looked up toward Adam and grinned. "I was wondering how long you would remain under my banner. How long you would wait until you stabbed me in the back."**

"He seems… Rather composed about it." Glynda raised an eyebrow. "He doesn't even seem angered by Adam's betrayal."

 **Jaune stood again and picked up his blade still in its scabbard. He swung his sword and the scabbard flew off and away, revealing his double-edged blade. "You've reached the Demon King." He pointed his blade toward Adam and a demonic aura seemed to form around him, "Don't lose your resolve now."**

 **Adam took a breath and set himself into a fighting stance. "My resolve remains steeled. I will stop you."**

 **They were both silent as the fires raged around them. One of the tongues of fire flew off and into the air. As it burned away into nothing, both parties charged toward one another with blades clashing together. Unlike in movies, however, both reared away to avoid a counter and clashed again and again, all at different angles to try to trip the other up. Both of them tried to step around the other, but the other would block the attack. As cinders and burning wood fell down toward them, they would slash it apart as their assaults continued.**

Everyone could say they now understood how this Jaune became a lord. He was a force of nature with his movements. But Adam was keeping up with him. It was on a level that put some huntsmen to shame.

 **Adam twisted his blade in hand and tried to force Jaune to lose his grip on his blade. A blade flew into the sky, spinning in the darkness above them. When it landed, the blade revealed to be a curved katana rather than Jaune's straight sword. Adam was knocked to the ground with Jaune's blade point just under her chin, brushing lightly against his neck. Adam closed his eyes, awaiting the inevitable. But it never came. Instead, he heard laughter. Jaune had lowered his blade, just laughing as everything burned around him.**

"Okay, it's official." Mercury scoffed. "This one's nuts."

 **Adam lurched forward, still on his hands and knees, "How can you laugh?! Everything you've worked for… Everything you built. It's all burning away! Don't you understand?!"**

 **Jaune suddenly leaned down toward him, his smirk never faltering, "No man can have everything he wants."**

Ozpin placed his mug onto the arm rest of his seat in surprise, "Not the reaction I would have expected."

 **Adam was too stunned to reply.**

 **This left Jaune to continue. He stood upright again and gestured around him with his blade, "If this land could be bent to my will, it would not be worth fighting for. Generations have passed, clans have risen and died, all for the same goal to sit atop the mountain. All we differ on is the color of the banners. Our world turns on these conflicting ambitions." Jaune held his arms out to either side with his head back and eyes closed, "Feel it, Adam."**

 **The screen flashed to show Sun Wukong in golden samurai armor looking out over a massive lake. In the lake's center, a castle seemed to float on the water, the surrounding countryside flooded to form an impenetrable siege. His mission was to capture this fortress in the name of the Arc clan.**

Blake tapped her chair in thought, "That's… actually rather impressive."

"Is it?" Sun was skeptical, "It's just water."

"Consider the world. They don't have airships or war boats. Even if they did, they wouldn't fit into a castle like that. If they tried to escape, they wouldn't be able to fight back, anyway."

"Huh… Awesome."

 **Jaune's voice carried through the scene, "The world is moving again."**

 **The new scene showed a soldier being knocked back to reveal a samurai Ruby with a naginata. She twirled her weapon back to a neutral position. She and her forces were the first line of defense to the eastern borders in service to Arc.**

Ruby was starry-eyed, "Woah! That looks so awesome!"

Coco turned to the youngest huntress, "Thinking of changing up your look?"

"Not really. But it still looks cool."

 **The scene returned to Jaune as his arms lower and his head returns to face forward. "But it is no longer mine." Jaune was silent, only the sounds of fire burning around them cut through the world. "I once asked you if you could envision a world where I was no longer necessary, and you told to me you could not. I beg to differ. My greatest goal is a world where I am unnecessary. Where a warlord will no longer need to rise. To live under a single banner. The way I see it, I simply wasn't strong enough to break the cycle of war."**

Ironwood let out a heavy sigh. "So that's it… He became a 'Demon King' so no one else would have to. Uniting them under his banner long enough that they wouldn't have to fight anymore…"

Ozpin shook his head, "I disagree with his methods, but such is the nature of the road to Hell…"

 **Jaune looked off into the world, "Adam…"**

 **This shook Adam out of his stupor. "My lord?" He spoke out of habit, not catching his wording.**

 **But Jaune didn't care. "I forgive you."**

Cinder groaned to herself. She had hopes for this version, but this swerve just didn't sit right with her. She missed the more truly villainous, if only to get passed this.

 **Jaune walked off as the camera tracked his feet hitting the weakening wooden steps of the temple. His time had come to an end. He could strike down Adam, but that wouldn't change his position. He had weakened and his enemies would swarm like vultures. He had failed to scale the mountain and would fall to the flames. He sat down in the temple as the entrance caved in to the fire.**

 **He took a breath and grinned. "Forever in fire. / I lived as the Demon King. / Now they succeed me."**

 **June 21, 1582. Jaune Arc was swallowed up by the fires of history.**


	88. A Star Shall Fall

**King: Real talk, I never played the Genocide run of Undertale.**

 **Knox: Really? Why not?**

 **King: I just... can't. I can't bring myself to take away their happy ending, you know?**

 **Knox: You're willing to be the master assassin and lord of thieves in Skyrim, going on a total power trip, but you can't do the same there?**

 **King: Testimate to the character writing, isn't it?**

 **Knox: ... You have a point I guess...**

 **King: But that's enough about me, hope you enjoy and go check out the source if you're interested.**

 **Inspiration: Undertale Genocide Package - Power of NEO by Man on the Internet**

 **/\**

The next world was set to load in, taking a little time to appear. But when it did… woah boy.

 **The first thing they saw was a younger version of Neptune in a black void. Accompanying him was a voice over in a voice similar to King's, "Every choice creates a new reality. But what if it wasn't a choice, but a circumstance. If someone else took your place… What would change? What would change if they made all the choices you didn't get to?"**

"Wow…" Roman fell back in his chair, "That's a thinker…"

Neo nodded.

 **The screen went black completely before opening up like a pair of doors. "What if, they made all the choices you wouldn't."**

 **Behind the doors, Emerald walked through with light at her back. She was younger than the version in the audience, no more than about 12. She carried a knife in hand, stained by blood.**

 **A box-like structure was balancing on a wheel in the center of the room.**

Yang gasped seeing it. "Please! PLEASE! Let that be who I think it is!"

Jaune looked toward her, confused, "What's going on?"

 **The box let out a bit of steam and the front plate lit up with twin golden bursts from the bottom of the screen. "So, we meet again."**

Jaune blinked in shock, "That's me?"

Yang's grin spread further, "It's Metta-Jaune!"

Nora giggled, "This should be interesting~"

 **Jaune 'sighed,' "You know… after our first meeting, I realized something ghastly. You're not just a threat to faunas, but to humanity as well. And that simply won't do."**

 **Emerald glared toward the robot and took a step forward.**

 **Jaune just laughed, "Eager as always, eh?! But don't touch that dial, there's something you haven't accounted for. You see, as any** ** _true_** **fan would know, I was developed as the ultimate human eradication machine. When I became a star, I was given a more… photogenic body, but those primary functions were never truly removed. So I warn you now, if you take one step closer, I will be forced to stop you using my true form!"**

Coco chuckled, "Oh! I remember this one. He looked pretty good with the true form."

Nora got up onto her chair, finger pointed to the sky, "Metta-Jaune EX is ready for his big debut!"

Jaune just looked around, "Seriously, what's going on?"

Pyrrha tried to figure out how to explain it, "It's like he said, he was built to hunt humans because there was a war and now all the faunas are trapped underground. What we see now is a base form, while he has an upgraded for called Metta-Jaune EX."

"Okay… that's a weird story."

"No kidding…"

Nora chuckled, "I wonder if this will be the musical version."

 **Emerald grinned and took a single step toward him.**

 **"Fine then!" Jaune's body seemed to open apart as steam filled the room, lights shutting down, "Ready?! IT'S SHOW TIME~!" Everything went black around them before they heard him speak again.**

 **The black screen soon filled by golden wire effects, flowing into the center before forming a three-letter word.**

 **[NEO]**

Neo blinked and tilted her head.

 **"Oh yes~" The build up was fast as music started to play along with Jaune's words.**

 **The steam blew away to reveal Jaune's true form. Unlike the previous version, this Jaune's body was partially detached, the legs being unconnected to the torso but still functioned with the whole through. He retained his semi-androgynous style with one major change. The right side of his face was now revealed and showed to be black steel. His eyes were also mismatched, the left being blue and his right was blood red. His blonde hair was tipped by pink (think a color swap of what Ruby has). His right arm was replaced with a cannon and his shoulders extended further with a pink energy flowing out like a cape. His armor had a large heart over his chest and a smaller, upside down heart directly beneath it.**

Jaune blinked a little and turned to Coco, "Is that what I looked like before?"

Coco shook her head, her glasses falling a bit, "Nope. Nothing like that… Well, kind of like that, but less weird."

Roman chuckled, "He looks like some weird combination of the kid and Neo, just as a robot."

 **Then, the singing truly began. "** ** _My name is Metta-Jaune, and I am here to say, with the power of NEO, I stand in your way!_** **"**

 **The text appeared on the screen like last time, with one major difference, it read [Metta-Jaune NEO stands in your way].**

 **"** ** _Saving the kingdom from a maddened child of man, others failed to stop you, but I know I can! Real heroes never fear! Real heroes laugh at death! I will stand in your way until my final breath! I dedicate my life to upholding what's right! Take a bow, human. And smile, it's closing night._** **"**

Yang's grin fell a bit, taking in the lyrics, "That's different. It has a different feel than the last one…"

Jaune, who wasn't there, had no point of reference. "What do you mean?"

"It's like… the last one was this big production about being a star and how awesome he was. But this one just feels… I don't know…"

Ozpin, however, had her answer, "It feels somber, but defiant. Like the world is falling down all around him, but he's standing against it anyway."

Yang nodded, "Yeah… Like that." She wasn't necessarily surprised to hear Ozpin say something like that, but it was still kind of weird to hear.

 **"** ** _Drama! Romance! Bloodshed! I did bring~_** **"**

Jaune blinked, "That's… a weird combo."

 **This also came with accompanying vocals, "** ** _(We love you Metta-Jaune!)_** **"**

 **"** ** _But I will never let you destroy everything!_** ** _(We love you Metta-Jaune!)_** **"**

 **Jaune's hand seemed to grasp at the air as energy flowed out from his fingers. It formed into a blade of pure energy, like that of a sword.**

Ruby gasped, "Woah! Creating a weapon out of nothing like that?! That's so cool!"

Velvet chuckled a bit, "It's not from nothing, it _is_ rather nice."

Coco grinned and lightly punched Velvet's shoulder.

 **Emerald held up her knife, his reflection visible in what remained of the reflective surface. Through it, they saw Jaune bring his other hand (the cannon) up toward her, unleashing a flurry of energy bolts toward her. She dodged most of them, but a few singed her.**

 **"** ** _Unleashing, all the power I can! This is the final act for us, child of man!_** **"**

 **Jaune's bolts stopped as his cannon charged. After a moment, he unleashed a massive blast of energy, dealing significant damage to Emerald, but she simply healed it away.**

Penny smiled a bit, finding similarities between their attacks. Perhaps she could discuss smaller, less situational energy attacks with her father.

 **Emerald tried to charge Jaune, knife held to strike him as soon as she arrived.**

 **"** ** _Raising my face to the sky, giving me wings and the power to fly!_** **"**

 **The energy flowing out from Jaune's shoulders stopped suddenly, replaced with bright flames. His cape became a pair of burning wings, lifting him off the ground and kicking up smoke from the ground.**

 **"** ** _Curtains rise, salvation I bring, this ballad I'll sing!_** **"**

 **Jaune flew off and around the area, slamming his hand into Emerald's head, and pulling her along with his flight. He reared his hand back, with her in tow, before slamming her head into the ground and dragging her across the hard surface.**

Emerald felt a sickening feeling flow through her. The pain something like that would cause was excruciating. Just thinking about it made her wince.

 **"** ** _Will they all remember my face? Can they escape this terrible place? I must try, even though I may die, to protect land and King!_** **"**

It was, honestly, pretty jarring. The last time they saw Metta-Jaune, he was upbeat and over the top. He addressed people as 'Darling' and he acted like he was always on a set. He was the kind of person that you couldn't help but smile seeing. But now? Now he was subdued and angry. He fought with the ferocity of a man that has nothing left, who doesn't care about anything but this single moment.

 **"** ** _My name is Metta-Jaune, and I am here to stay! I'll stand and fight here, forever in your way! Come and stop me, human, if you think you can. I will not bow down to a maddened child of man!_** **"**

 **Jaune snapped his hands to either side and they both formed into a pair of long blades. He slashed at Emerald, getting a few hits into her, but her high level helped her decrease the damage she was dealt. The flames of his cape seemed to get more intense and he boosted forward, punching her in the gut and sending her flying backward.**

 **"** ** _Real heroes never fear! Real heroes laugh at death! I will stand in your way until my final breath! I dedicate my life to upholding what's right! Take a bow, human. And smile, it's closing night._** **"**

 **Jaune's flight continued toward her and he swung his foot into her side and punted her clear across the room. Jaune leaned back, slowing his flight and landing on the ground again, cape reforming.**

Ruby was enamored by the idea of a cape made of energy, but she still recognized how brutal he was being. And, this got her to ask the big question, "What did she do to make him that mad?"

Yang turned her sister, an eyebrow slightly raised, "What do you mean? It wouldn't be the first weird turn, right? Maybe he's just programmed like that."

Ruby shook her head, "The opening made it seem like it was the same world, but with her in Neptune's place. Right?"

Blake nodded in agreement, "It did seem to insinuate as such. It's likely this would be the same Metta-Jaune, just effected by different events. In other words, her. Whatever she's done, it pushed this version of Jaune to what we see now."

Yang's face fell a bit in thought. "Huh… That makes sense. Then, what _did_ she do?"

 **Jaune walked toward Emerald, who was trying to pick herself up off the ground.**

 **"** ** _How do you think this will end?! (Come on now Metta-Jaune!) After the slaughter of heroes…_** **"**

 **The scene flashed to an image of Pyrrha in full plate armor and wielding a spear, her armor broken and her body bleeding. It was moments before her death as Emerald's hand.**

 **"** ** _…and children…_** **"**

 **Next was a rather young Weiss, fear spread across her face. Emerald's shadow loomed over her in that scene.**

 **"…** ** _and friends!_** **"**

 **The final moment showed Ruby with simple armor, stained with her blood and a somber smile on her face. A smile that still held some level of hope for her killer to become a better person.**

Ruby felt a chill run up her spine. "Oh…"

Yang nodded slowly, "Yikes…"

 **Jaune marched forward toward her.**

 **"** ** _Your mindless march to an ultimate goal! Are you even still the one who's in control?!_** **"**

 **The camera zoomed in on Emerald's face as she glared back up toward him. Her eyes were not their usual bright red. Instead, they were a burning, golden amber.**

Emerald felt a chill run up and down her spine. She would recognize those eyes anywhere. They were Cinder's eyes. There was a thought in the back of her head from her discussion with Mercury, about being used by Cinder. It forced her to look back at her life… It forced her to truly consider what she wanted…

 **"** ** _If this is the last time we meet, then I shall accept my defeat. If it means, my people are safe! My people are free!_** **"**

 **Jaune swung his blade, creating a stream of energy flying toward Emerald, who rolled away from the attack's path.**

 **"** ** _You must know… that you are too late! The doctor did evacuate! If you've the will, the desire to kill, then you must go through me! My name is Metta-Jaune, and let no one say I was a coward, I didn't save the day! I'll sacrifice my life, but I'm doing what's right! Every second I'm here, we've saved another life!_** **"**

The elder huntsmen all felt a pang of grim understanding. It was something they all accepted, that they may end up in a similar position. They had to accept, long ago, that they would likely have to die in their service to others.

 **"** ** _Real heroes never fear! Real heroes laugh at death! I will stand in your way until my final breath! I dedicate my life to upholding what's right! Take a bow, human. And smile, it's closing night._** **"**

 **Emerald jumped over another slash and tagged a few more shallow slashes onto his metallic form. He kicked his legs up toward her, missing the first strike, but he then slammed said leg down in an ax kick to knock her to the ground again.**

 **"** ** _Then end of the world, I face it with pride! (Exploding Metta-Jaune!) If I've got the slimmest change to stop your cruel genocide! Hopes and dreams must prevail! So I shall stay here until the bitter end of this tale!_** **"**

 **Emerald and Jaune were in a dance of death, each making small marks onto the other. Emerald would bleed and Jaune would spark. Neither gave an inch to the other, each trying to finally put the other down.**

 **"** ** _Will they all remember my face? Can they escape this terrible place? I must try, even though I may die, to protect land and King!_** **"**

 **Jaune's cape fell away to form flames again as he rose up into the sky, flying toward Emerald for one last big hit.**

 **"** ** _Raising my face to_** ** _the sky! Giving me wings and the power to fly! Curtains fall, salvation I bring, this ballad I'll sing!_** **"**

Ren caught a little change. "That's interesting. At the beginning of the song, he said that the curtains were rising, but now he said they were falling at the end of the song."

 **As Jaune flew up to Emerald, the camera tracked her hand as she spun the knife to hold it in a reverse grip. As he approached, the screen went black and a red slashing motion flowed across the screen and the music cut abruptly. When the scene returned, Jaune slammed face-first into the ground. The attack finally severed his wing and arm on his left side. His right arm was heavily damaged and now no longer functioned. Emerald swung her blade to the side out of habit, as if to remove some of the blood that wasn't there.**

 **There was a pained chuckle echoing through the room. Jaune was still alive, but barely. "You… may have defeated me… but I can tell… you were holding back."**

Emerald stared up at the scene, "He's still alive?"

Cinder smirked, "Not for long."

Emerald couldn't place it, but that made her feel worse.

 **Jaune rose up shakily, resting on his knees as his arm dangled uselessly. "You're not absolutely evil… If you were trying to be, you certainly failed there. And so late into the show." Jaune let out a pained set of coughs. "Surely… you won' hurt them… right?" His weak smile fell away, as did his body. He fell backward, revealing a knife buried in the center of the heart on his armor. His eyes flickered before going dark.**

Jaune felt his whole body jump with the impact of the knife. In a way, he'd just watched himself die. It was the kind of thing that would haunt someone.

 **Emerald walked over and picked the knife out from his body, his last sparks flying out as she moved. Her eyes were still like those of Cinder instead of her own. After a blink, they returned to their usual red color. She seemed a little shocked by the scene before her, but she shook her head and moved for the door. The door closed with a loud slam and the screen went black.**


	89. Don't Fuck with a Witch

**Knox: A thoguht occures...**

 **King: Okay?**

 **Knox: There's** ** _actually_** **a character in the original called Jeanne. Our Jeanne appears, but not as that character.**

 **King: Funny that, isn't it?**

 **Knox: Also, happy Valentine's Day ererybody~**

 **Inspiration: Bayonetta**

 **/\**

Jaune sighed, "Can the next one not be that emotional…"

Pyrrha placed a hand on his shoulder, "They tend to play at random…"

Qrow took a swig from his flask, "Might make you feel better if it does. Means that it just happens, like a storm or some other natural thing you can't stop."

 **The next world started to open on an old era, bustling city. Tall, ornamental towers rose up atop cathedrals and the roads were lined in cobblestone. Both old and new buildings stood next to one another in a sense of harmony.**

Ruby giggled a little, "It kind of reminds me of Vale."

 **The camera zoomed along to meet the back of a woman walking through the streets. What little they could see as she was right now wasn't much. First, she was wearing a long white lace dress with a matching, wide-brimmed hat. Second, the way she moved seemed to indicate she was in heels. Third, they could tell was that she had short blonde hair in a pixie cut. Lastly, she had a body that women would kill for, tall and curvaceous.**

Ilia's face turned a light pink, but it was short lived, returning to normal after a second. She admitted the woman looked good, but that wasn't impressive enough to sustain any blushing. If it was, she'd be bright pink in this room from Sienna alone.

 **The camera moved around to profile, showing she wore a pair of custom glasses, black framed with golden designs in a circular form with a familiar set of dual arcs within the pattern.**

Jaune paused for a moment before remembering the basic systems this screen had used, "Is that… supposed to be me?"

Nora giggled, "It's Jeanne!"

"What?"

Coco nodded lightly, "It does sound pretty similar…"

Pyrrha chuckled at the scene as she explained, "We've seen versions where our genders were flipped around."

Jaune nodded, understanding slightly, "I get that part. Still kind of weird."

Nora crossed her arms and nodded, "Oh, no doubt."

Meanwhile, the teachers were seeing a different similarity on screen. Ironwood was the one to voice what they were all thinking, "She looks like a taller Glynda…"

 **Jeanne pulled a lollipop out of seemingly nowhere, placing it into her mouth. Being a witch had its perks.**

"A witch?" Nora bounced in her chair a bit, "As in actual magic and stuff?!"

Weiss sighed, "Don't get too excited Nora… It's not like our world has any real magic."

Ozpin and Oscar glanced to the side but kept their secret for now.

 **But, of course, it also made her a target at the most inopportune times.**

 **The ground beneath her exploded suddenly, causing the people around her to panic and run away.**

This caused the viewers to jump at the sudden action, their instincts kicking in to prepare for a fight. This got the world's natural laws to calm them again. The only exceptions being Salem, who was a civilian from a different dimension, and Ozpin, who'd seen so much random shit in his lifetimes it stopped shocking him.

 **After a light purple glow, Jeanne just walked out of it like nothing happened. She removed her lollipop and sighed, "I can't even have peace on my day off, can I?"**

Coco snickered, "Her accent sounds like Velvet's."

 **A bright light shone over the street as creatures descended from the heavens. They looked like birds with human-like forms. Each had a pair of white wings and a strange, halo-like glyph over their heads. Each was dressed in robes of varying colors and brandished weapons of gold and white.**

Qrow stopped just before he could take a sip from his flask, "What the hell are those things?"

Ozpin shook his head, "I have no idea."

Port crossed his arms, "The cloaks, halos, and wings would denote something angelic, but the creatures are unlike anything I've ever seen."

 **Jeanne leaned her weight to one side. One arm rose up to act as a rest for the other, which still had her treat between her fingers. She had a smirk on her face as she spoke, "But, since you all came all the way from paradise for little old me, I think I can humor you for a while~"**

 **One of the beings pointed toward her, "Umbra witch… You are an afront to the holy powers of the creator. You're reign over the world of dark shall be brought to an end in the majestic light of Paradise!"**

 **The camera flipped to Jeanne as she rolled her eyes. She took a breath and held the candy like a dart. After a moment, she tossed it using her magic, embedding the stick into the creature's forehead.**

Yang jumped at the impact with an impressed grin, "Holy crap!"

 **Jeanne removed her hat, tossing it to the side, "That's the problem with you angels, you just can't stop talking."**

Oobleck adjusted his glasses, the creatures reflecting in the lenses, "So those _are_ angels…"

Port nodded, "Though not what I would have imagined."

 **Jeanne kept walking forward as one the angels swung around to attack her from the side. Its spear slicing through the dress, but only the dress. Jeanne fell from above the angel and curb stomped the angel's head into the concrete. She was revealed to have been wearing a bright golden body suit beneath the dress. Silver chains accented the suit along with a pair of elbow-length gloves and heels, one of which was buried in the back of an angel's head. She hopped down off the angel with a hand on her hip, "Now, do try to make this fun for me since you went and interrupted my day."**

Coco tapped her chair with another hand over her mouth in thought. "Something's off here…"

Velvet turned to her partner, "What is it?"

"I can't place it, but something's weird about her outfit."

Velvet rolled her eyes, used to Coco's antics, but she also kept on edge about that suit. Coco had an eye for things like that, after all.

 **One of the angels flew in forward, getting into Jeanne's face and roared out toward her, arms reared back to bring its flail down onto her skull. Jeanne hopped back and the world seemed to slow down, a light purple tint covering everything. Jeanne reared her leg up, twisting her body at an angle for a heavy kick. The world returned to normal speed and the angel looked up in surprise as her heel slammed into its face, sending it back into the group. Another with a spear tried to slash at her, but she ducked under the attack and slammed her palm into its chin, wrenching the weapon from its hand. As more tried to crowd her, she swiped the weapon around and knocked them back a bit.**

Yang chuckled a bit, "Damn~! Look at her go!"

Tai nodded, arms crossed and a grin on his face, "It is pretty impressive as fighters go."

"That magic seems to help." Qrow took another swig from his flask.

 **The angels all surrounded her, but she remained nonchalant. She rested the angels' spear over her shoulder and smirked toward her opponents. "Come now, surely you can do better than that." She spun the spear around her body and impaled an angel attempting to sneak up behind her.**

Roman let out an impressed whistle, "Damn, she _is_ good."

Neo grinned and rolled her eyes.

 **Jeanne glanced back at her victim, "Well. Aren't you cheeky?" She noticed it was still writhing a bit, trying to reach toward her, "Resilient too." When its hand started to approach her, hoping to slow her down, she swatted it away and swung the spear around and into the street, perpendicular to the ground. "Ah, ah~ No touching."**

Qrow paused just before taking another sip. He closed his flask and placed it aside.

Tai noticed this and raised an eyebrow, "Something wrong, Qrow?"

"Nope. Just waiting."

"Waiting? What for?"

"The look on your faces."

 **The angels tried to swarm again. Jeanne just smirked and brought a hand to the spear in the ground. The angel's dogpiled her, creating a small mound of angelic anger. After a moment of silence, they all flew backward to reveal Jeanne spinning on the spear, one leg hooked around the spear as she spun like a pole dancer.**

Everyone was in shock to various degrees. Penny was the weakest degree, not seeing anything odd in the motion. Ozpin, who didn't recognize the signs like Qrow had, ended up with a coffee-fueled spit take.

Qrow just laughed at everyone's faces, "Oh calm down. That's seriously mundane stuff. Nothing you wouldn't see from any other fitness head with a dance routine."

 **Jeanne spun so fast that the spear started to glow from strain. The angelic weapon was about to dissipate. Before it did, she slowed her spin and separated her hooked leg from the spear. She slowly slid to the ground to stand upright again. She grinned and the spear disappeared as she released it, "Pity. But I don't have of a choice since a** ** _certain someone_** **still has all my weaponry for work."**

 **The sky went black as a red portal opened in the ground between her and the angels. A figure rose up from the ground as a hellish silhouette, a single red eye glowing.**

Everyone felt a chill go up their spines. Things seemed to have taken a very serious turn.

 **The man seemed to flick a lighter, a small orange flame forming. The light revealed the fire didn't come from a lighter, but actually rested over his thumb. The light also showed a small amount of his body, not much but it was something. Then, he raised his thumb toward his mouth and lit a cigar. When he blew out the fire, the world returned to normal. He was a tall man with orange hair with his eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses. He was dressed in an open white coat, dark slacks, and boots.**

Roman let out an impressed whistle, "Well now. That's a sight."

Neo grinned and rolled her eyes. They could both tell it was him, just a bit more muscular.

 **Jeanne smirked seeing him arrive. "Roman. You have impeccable timing."**

 **Roman chuckled a little, "Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Special delivery." He held up a small box with one hand. One of the larger angels brought an ax directly onto his head, only for the blade to shatter on his skull. He didn't move from his spot, simply sighing before suddenly spinning around and punching the angel into the ground. "Bad time?"**

Tai chuckled and leaned back into his chair. "Wish I had that kind of durability."

 **The camera returned to show Jeanne had knocked a group of angels into a pile as she sat atop the group with her arm resting on her knee. "I'd say its perfect timing. Assuming your visit means my toys are ready."**

 **Roman tossed her the box, the packaging opening on route to her. Four sky blue pistols started to spin in the air toward her.**

Ruby had to say something, "Why are there for of them? That doesn't make any sense."

 **Jeanne grinned and hopped off the pile. The camera pulled in as she caught one of the guns, then the other…**

"Now… what about the other two?"

 **Then, the next pistol flew past her hands. The camera followed it as it lined up with a slot on the back of her heels, and then as the last pistol followed suit.**

Ruby took a moment to think the scene over but found nothing. "What…? More importantly… why? What good would that do?"

Mercury shrugged, "Works for me."

"Yeah, but your weapons aren't separate pistols. You can fire those based on impact and force change. That's kind of hard to do for a trigger system. So, how does that work?"

"Uh… Magic." Nora said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. And given that this version was shown to possess such supernatural abilities, it kind of was.

Ruby was still a moment before bringing her palm straight to her face.

 **Jeanne landed and posed with her weapons finally in her grasp again. The guns were her favorites but having them means the rest were ready as well. She licked her lips as another angel tried to get in close. "I thought I told you no touching." She jumped back and a circular glyph appeared at her hand as she swapped out her weaponry. When she landed, she slid her foot across the ground and snapped her hand to the side. This was accompanied with the sound of a whip going taught, which made sense as she was now holding one. The attacking angel took a step back as the whip snapped across his beak, sending him flying back with a spin.**

Port and Oobleck felt a chill run up their spines. They were having a flashback to their time at Beacon alongside Glynda. She was a monster if you pissed her off and that crop _will_ leave marks.

 **Jeanne spun around and used the whip to grab another and pull it in so she could rear back and land a heavy kick into the angel's gut. Once the angel was off balance, she spun it around and tossed it into the crowd, swapping weapons again to fire a set of heavy bullets in the shape of a heart.**

This got Nora's attention, "Woah~ I have to figure out how to do that with my weapon!"

 **Another glyph followed and Jeanne was wielding a katana. The world moved in slow motion as she brought her hand to the handle of her weapon, ready to draw the blade. A second later, she was ten feet passed the angels with her blade out and too the side. She returned the blade to its home and the angels erupted into bloody mists.**

 **Roman cracked his neck and took a puff from his cigar. "Glad you're having fun. You know where to find me." He disappeared into a red portal in the ground he arrived through.**

 **Jeanne flipped over the group of angels and killing the rest of the troopers. Unfortunately, there was one last challenge for her. She looked up the street to see an angel the size of a building standing in the streets. It stood with a massive blade in one hand dragging across the street. It started to move toward her before spinning its body to bring its sword down onto the witch before it. The impact caused a massive cloud of dirt to fly up around the point of the attack.**

"Holy crap!" Tai jumped at the impact, "Thing's the size of a goliath! How is she going to beat that?"

Nora jumped up onto her chair, "Just you wait! She'll totally kick its butt!"

Ruby was starry eyed, but cautious, "But… The weapons don't seem like they're strong enough to hurt that thing. So what can?"

 **A feint glow could be seen from within the cloud. A second later, the angel found a massive fist straight into its face. The fist knocked it back down the street. As the cloud faded away, they saw the arm was coming from a large portal with a hair-like effect wrapping around the base.**

Ruby gasped, "It's like Weiss's glyphs!"

Weiss sighed, "I can't create anything like that, though… Just small things so far…"

Winter smiled toward her sister, "Continue your training and you will one day."

Yang raised an eyebrow with her grin still on her face, "But what's with the hair?"

 **The clouds continued to fade, revealing Jeanne was standing beneath the portal, posed with her hands behind her head and her outfit becoming very… minimal.**

Yang burst into laughter seeing the scandalized face Weiss was making.

Nora chuckled a little at her own team's reaction as well. But she was still coherent enough to ask, "What happened to her outfit, anyway?"

 **The arm disappeared and the portal with it. As it did, Jeanne's attire seemed to flow over her again. The suit was revealed to be woven from her own hair, through which she was able to cast her spells.**

Coco shivered a little, "That's just… why?"

Blake shrugged, "In some novels, the magic someone uses needs to be through their body or something like that. Maybe she has to use her hair to cast those spells. Wouldn't be the weirdest magic system."

"I'm almost scared to ask what the weirdest is." Yang grinned.

 **Jeanne smirked and gestured with her finger for the angel to approach her. The angel roared and tried to attack, but Jeanne dodged this attack and ran along the length of the sword. She kicked the angel in the face, knocking it off guard and to the ground. Jeanne landed and slid her foot across the ground and moved her body like a dance. When she was done, her hair/suit flowed off and up into a mini portal. A larger portal opened above the angel as it stood up again. The angel looked up to see a pair of red eyes staring down at it. A massive demon's head shot out from the portal and bit the upper half of the angel clean off its body.**

Yang was in a general state of shock, but had a thought pass her mind, "Almost wish my hair could do that…"

 **An Umbra Witch's hair was her magical strength. It was often safer to keep it close to the body to prevent it from being cut in battle.**

Coco thought it over a bit, "Okay… I guess, in terms of practicality, it makes sense. Though that would need a _lot_ of hair."

 **Jeanne smirked and walked over attire returned to her body again. One of the angels, the one with the lollipop in its skull, was still alive and reaching out in desperation. Jeanne stopped and placed a foot on the angel's shoulder and pulled the candy from its head, placing the untainted candy back in her mouth as the angel died.**

 **Jeanne smirked, "Let this be a lesson. Don't fuck with a witch."**

Ozpin couldn't help but let out a snicker. His mind went to Glynda, imagining the words coming out of her mouth. To be fair, it summed her up pretty well. It was just funny to think about.

 **The world closed on a scene of Jeanne's glyph coving the canvas.**

Weiss, a sort-of expert on glyphs, raised a brow, "The structure is good, and the design is well formed… Jaune's symbol also seems to be designed to appear like the moon."

Ruby shrugged, "Okay… but why?"

Jaune actually had the answer. "Umbra means shadow. That might have something to do with it."

King appeared again, "Correct. The Umbra Witches are most powerful in the night while their counterparts, the Lumen Sages, are fueled by the light of the sun. They are the eternal balance of light and dark."

Weiss looked up to the fireball, "And the dancing and hair-based suit?"

"That's just her having fun. Jeanne is very… outgoing."

Knox popped in next to his creator, "No kidding."

"But let's get back on track. Another round of snacks or drinks, anyone?"


	90. Don't Touch That Dial

**King: I love this. I love this so God damn much.**

 **Knox: ... was... Was that pun?**

 **King: Maybe~ Important bit though, I used two clips on youtube to make this one and tried to bridge the moment between them. I can't wait for it to finally be released. Go check out the clips by Vivziepop.**

 **Knox: Seems a little short, isn't it?**

 **King: They're just clips, only like... a minute each and not actually connected to each other. I'm working with what I've got.**

 **Inspiration: Hazbin Hotel by Vivziepop**

 **/\**

Once everyone was settled again, the screen started to form the next reality.

 **The screen opened to a door with a yellow and red stain glass on the upper half resembling an apple. A forehead soon came to rest on the glass. The camera pulled back to reveal this was Weiss Schnee. She spun around to put her back on the door with a sigh, sliding down to sit against the barrier. Her project was falling apart all around her. Being the devil's daughter put a lot or pressure on her. Trying to facilitate the salvation of the residents of Hell was way too stressful.**

Ruby blinked, "That sounds familiar."

Coco snickered, "I remember that one. It was the one with the kinky boots~"

Faces turned red remembering that one.

Jaune just looked around, confused, "What?"

 **She sighed and placed her head in her hands. Then, someone knocked. It was that novelty knocking the more playful individuals would do. Weiss jumped up and turned to the door. She was a little scared to open it after what happened, but she lamented and decided to open the oak. She was face to chest with her guest, accenting the height difference. The man before her wore a red, pin-stripe suit with a red dress shirt and black bowtie. Her gaze moved up his form, becoming wide in shocked terror.**

 **Standing before her was Jaune Arc. His blue eyes seemed to burn brighter than the Hell around him. His grin was wide and sharp. He held an old microphone with a stand like a walking stick and a monocle pulled the look together.**

Coco snickered to herself, "Aw… No kink boots this time?"

Ruby was focused on something else, "Why is she so afraid of him?"

 **Jaune started to speak, "Hel-!"**

 **The door was slammed in his face as Weiss turned away. That couldn't have been him… Right? She opened it again.**

 **He was still there, "-lo~!"**

 **Cue door slamming again.**

This got most of the group to laugh at the scene. It was pretty funny after all.

 **Weiss turned down the hall. "Hey, Ilia…"**

Ilia blinked in surprise. "What?"

 **The camera moved to show Ilia, dressed in a white dress with an eyepatch over her left eye. A bow was wrapped to create her long ponytail. She was resting after saving Weiss's butt from the mob of demons from before. She wiped her hand over her forehead, "What?"**

 **Weiss put on a nervous, terrified smile, "The Radio Demon is at the door."**

"Radio Demon?" Nora tilted her head slightly, "That doesn't sound all that impressive."

 **Ilia's eyes snapped open in shock, "What?!"**

 **The camera's angle now showed they weren't the only ones in the room. Sitting at a table behind Ilia was Lie Ren in a familiar pink suit. His legs were also kicked up to reveal the bright pink boots Coco was talking about. "Who?"**

Coco grinned, "There they are~"

Ren sighed and shook his head.

Nora didn't have the same reaction as the others when they say Jaune. She just thought he looked pretty cool.

 **Weiss was freaking out, dragging her hands across her face, "What should I do?!"**

 **Ilia was equally as scared, "Well… Don't let him in!"**

 **Weiss turned back to door. She steeled her nerves and walked back over, having an internal pep-talk.** ** _Come on Weiss! You don't need to be scared of him! You're the daughter of the Devil!_**

This got a snicker out of Ilia and Sienna.

 **She reached the door again and opened it to show Jaune hadn't moved since she slammed it on him last time. "May I speak now?" His voice had a slight distortion one would hear on old era radios.**

Yang grinned, "He sounds like those old recordings Professor…"

"DOCTOR!" Oobleck cut her off.

"How do you know I wasn't talking about another class?!"

Oobleck just raised an eyebrow.

Yang sighed and relented. "… _Doctor_ Oobleck played in class."

Blake shook her head, "We've had his class enough. I'd have thought you won't make that mistake anymore."

"He's the only one that actually cares."

 **Weiss crossed her arms, trying to look like she held the power in the situation. "You may."**

 **Jaune's hand extended toward her to shake hands, "Jaune Arc!" His hand grabbed her wrist instead of her hand and pulled her in, "A pleasure to meet you sweetheart, quite a pleasure!" It was clear he didn't see her as having any power right now. He let go of her hand and walked passed her, into the building.**

Blake rolled her eyes and smirked, "So much for keeping him out."

 **Jaune turned back to his not-so-willing host, "Sorry about my sudden visit, but I saw your fiasco on the picture show! And I just couldn't resist. What a performance! Why, I haven't been that entertained since the stock market crash of 1929!" Jaune laughed at the memory, sighing with a sense of nostalgia, "So many orphans~"**

Nora groaned, "That doesn't sound like a good thing…"

 **Jaune turned back down the hall and found a spearhead in his face. He was still smiling though. Nothing could ever remove that toothy smile from his face.**

 **The spear was wielded by Ilia, "Stop right there!" She cursed a bit under her breath that she was face to face with** ** _the_** **Jaune Arc. "I know your game. And I'm not about to let you hurt anyone here, you pompous, cheesy, talk show shit lord!"**

A few people snickered at the insults. It as less that they were cutting, but more that they were so simple.

 **Jaune just smiled through the scene, the angle briefly showing a grin one could only call menacing. The lighting on the scene made it worse.**

Tai's blood went cold. "That's just creepy."

Port nodded, "It's the kind of smile that haunts you. Of a man so powerful and dangerous, that he's unconcerned by anything going on around him."

 **Jaune chuckled at Ilia's threat, pushing her spear aside with his finger, "Dearie, if I wanted to hurt anyone here," the distortion in his voice became more pronounced, his eyes blanked before resembling radio dials, his head bending a little too far to the side, and his smile became wider and sharper, "I would have done so already~" Demonic runes floated around his body and world seemed to flicker in and out of static.**

 **Weiss and Ilia were stunned stiff.**

As was most of the audience. No one could speak seeing this demonic being. It was more haunting than any Grimm they'd ever scene.

 **The scene returned to normal as Jaune shook his head, his face returning to normal. "No! I'm here because I want to help!"**

 **Ilia just blinked in shock, no able to move her spear back toward him, "You… help? But you're…" She let out a frustrated and tired groan, "I need to sit down." She tossed her weapon to the side and flopped onto the couch.**

 **Jaune just laughed at the scene. "As I was saying, who better to help you than me?"**

 **The camera followed Ilia as she slumped her head back. Ren moved over and sat next to her, "So… what's up with smiley over there?"**

 **Ilia's eyes burst open again and she turned to Ren, "Wait, you've never heard of him before? You've been here longer than me."**

 **Ren just shrugged.**

 **"The Radio Demon. One of the most powerful beings Hell has ever seen?"**

Jaune wasn't sure how to take that. On one hand, he was powerful in this reality, something he felt he needed to be to be a hero. On the other… he was a dangerous demon. So… there was that.

 **Ren leaned back into the chair, "Not really big on politics."**

 **"Ugh…" Ilia leaned toward Ren as she started the tale, "Decades ago, Jaune manifested in Hell, seemingly from nowhere."**

 **The scene burned away to show a puppet-like story moment of Jaune, made more intimidating by the art style.**

 **"Then… as if overnight, he started to topple overlords that had held their power for centuries!"**

 **The new scene burned to show Jaune looming over what looked like a circus tent of dying bodies. His smile was ever present. Demons screamed out in horror as they were erased from existence.**

Velvet hid behind her chair at the scenes. This was a little over her threshold for horrors.

Everyone was more than a little scared. They were terrified.

Even the seemingly unshakable Cinder was stiff in fear.

 **The scene burned again to a moment of Jaune attacking a group of demons with a set of underlings he'd acquired in his conquests. He held his mic like a scepter, commanding them to his bidding.**

 **"That kind of raw power had never been harnessed by a mortal soul before. Then, he broadcast his carnage to all of Hell, so they could bear witness to his atrocities."**

 **The next scene showed an old radio with his hands hovering over the sides, broadcasting the screams of his victims. The next after it showed a Jaune looming over Hell itself, his eyes solid blue and his smile like knives. A demonic glyph hovered in the sky behind him with a second layer spinning around it.**

 **"The sinners started to call him… The Radio Demon. As lazy as it was…"**

Mercury looked up to the screen, a bit impressed, "I was wondering about that."

 **"Many have speculated what force could have given the power to rival our world's most ancient evils. But, one thing is for sure, he's an unpredictable source of danger, a wicked spirit of mystery, and a violent monster of chaos the likes of which we can't risk getting involved with unless we want to end up** ** _erased_** **!"**

 **The world returned to normal as Ren leaned back and ruined her intimidating moment, "You done?"**

This got a few of them to chuckle, if only as a way to get passed what they'd seen. It was the best they could muster to get back to a normal state.

 **Ren chuckled, "I'm not sorry. I just can't take him seriously. He looks like a strawberry pimp!"**

This got a laugh of five out of the audience. Both from the description and the fact that Ren had just uttered those words.

 **Jaune finished his talk with Weiss and turned to the camera. His grin seemed to widen before he brought a finger to his mouth. The scene faded away to that same demonic glyph they'd seen in the sky. Jaune continued to speak, the glyph glowing and fading with each word. "And this concludes our radio broadcast~ This is Jaune Arc, signing off. See you in Hell~"**

 **The screen turned to static.**

Ruby shook in her chair, "That was just…"

Yang sighed, "Yeah."

Mercury leaned back in his chair, "Pretty short, though."

Emerald took a breath to calm her nerves, "It's for the best if you ask me…"

"That's too bad." Everyone went stiff. Eyes turned to Jaune, the source of the voice. He spoke with a distorted effect similar to that of a radio. He was smiling and his eyes seemed to burn. "I feel like I haven't done enough to entertain you all now."

Everyone jumped away from Jaune in surprise.

Pyrrha wanted to threaten him, but the rules superseded her anger, "What's going on here?!"

"Standard demonic possession." Jaune stood up with hands behind his back, "You'll get lover boy back when I'm done with him."

Salem grabbed Jaune's collar and pulled him toward her, "Big mistake."

'Jaune' just smiled, "You can't hurt me. Besides, its not like I can hurt him in this place. Its laws make that impossible. I might be powerful, but that's in the confines of Hell and its demonic influence."

Salem growled, but rules forced the strength from her body, and she had to drop him.

'Jaune brushed himself off, "Better. Now, for why I'm here. I just wanted to stop by. Maybe give you all a fright. But then I sorted through my counterpart's memories. So many wonderful moments." He grinned toward Pyrrha and Velvet, "So many unseen feelings."

The two girls turned a bit red but were still angry with the demon that just hijacked Jaune's body.

'Jaune' laughed. "Oh, come now, don't give me that look. Really, it's partially your fault. But let's not get into that right now."

A very angry purple fire ball formed before them. "And just what are _you_ doing here, demon?"

'Jaune' smirked up toward the flame. "Just stopping by to say hello. Get a taste of a different life. Don't worry, I didn't do anything to the boy."

"You don't belong here."

"Neither do any of them." 'Jaune' turned back to the people around him. "Until next time everyone. Tune in for a real show~" Jaune's eyes returned to normal and he grabbed his head in pain. "What… what just happened?" His speech was back to normal as well.

King sighed, "Don't worry about it, Jaune. Take your seats and let's get to the next one."


	91. Choose and Obey

**King: So, we meet again. Shall we have a bit of fun? A new chapter?**

 **Knox: But how can you ensure they read it?**

 **King: ...**

 **Knox: King?**

 **King: Read it, would you kindly.**

 **Inspiration: Bioshock**

 **/\**

 **The world opened to show a vault door opening to reveal Ilia standing on the other side. She was dressed in a white dress shirt and tan slacks with suspenders. She had a small firearm in one hand as she walked. One interesting note was her hair being tipped in golden blonde at the ends.**

Coco raised an eyebrow at the scene, "Hmm… Old school."

Oscar blinked before adopting a deadpan at the realization he had the same style on right now.

Ilia raised an eyebrow. She'd never seen, or imagined, her hair in a different color pattern before. She admitted it was a nice look, but she didn't like the color. _Maybe dark green…_

 **She walked in and saw a large machine in the center of the room. The screen flickered to show those golden dual arcs before snapping to show Jaune's face. "** ** _Even in a book of lies, you sometimes find truth._** **"**

Yang groaned, "What is this, a philosophy lesson?"

 **"** ** _I see that there is, indeed, a season for all things. And now that I see you face to face… I know that I cannot raise a hand against you._** **"**

Jaune tapped his chair in thought, "I kind of sound older… a bit like my dad."

 **"** ** _But know this… you are my greatest disappointment._** **"**

 **"** Harsh." Yang frowned.

Blake shook her head, "Not quite. Think about how he said that. There was no malus or anger. He sounded… sad? I think."

"Okay, but why?"

 **"** ** _Does your master here me?! Well, Atlas?! You may kill me, but you'll never have my city!_** **"**

Yang kicked up her feet and raised a brow, "So, she works for a guy _named_ Atlas?"

Ilia growled, "I'd almost call it ironic…"

 **"** ** _My power is not in steel and fire! That is what the parasites will never understand! A season for all things! A time to live and a time to die! A time to build… AND A TIME TO DESTROY!_** **"**

 **The room shook as an alarm blared though the speakers.**

 **Ilia's guild through the city, Atlas, spoke through her communication device, "** ** _Shit! He's activated the self-destruct! Get out of there and get to his office! If you can get the genetic key, we can stop the meltdown!_** **"**

Yang took in a sharp breath, "Oh… that's not good."

 **Ilia ran fast and far through the room, but Jaune's voice carried through again, unheard by Atlas, "** ** _Come my child… We have one final thing to discuss…_** **"**

Yang fell over herself and had to pick her self up to sit, "Woah, what?!"

Ilia blinked in surprise. She shook her head and dismissed the insinuation. It was likely just some crack about the age difference.

 **Ilia hopped into a duct and through the steel confines, breaking into another room. She fell onto the floor of the room and checked the area to ensure no enemies were around. She eased her stance and looked up to a strange board. It was an old cork board with dozens of papers pinned to the area to the point where they would flow over and be tapped to the table. Red string connected various photos and notes with strange red paint behind it all. [Would you kindly].**

 **Ilia looked over the wall before noticing a set of tapes on the table. She picked it up and looked over a label taped to the side, [Mind Control Experiment]. She placed on in her communicator to see what she was glean from this.**

Ironwood's eyes narrowed, "Mind control experiments? I've a feeling this won't be pleasant."

 **The tape started to flicker in and play. They heard the scientist speaking through, "** ** _Miss Sova, that's an adorable puppy you have._** **"**

Port growled, "Merlot… You're right James. This _cannot_ end well."

 **They heard a young dog barking on the tape.**

Blake and Kira tensed up but were able to keep watching.

 **They could hear this Miss Sova speak, "** ** _Thank you, doctor._** **"**

 **"** ** _Yes… Yes… Break his neck for me._** **"**

Yang slammed her fist into her chair, "The hell?!"

 **"** ** _W-what? No! I…_** **" Miss Sova was weeping.**

 **"** ** _Break his neck… would you kindly._** **"**

 **The dog's barking was loud, joyful, before becoming momentarily panicked. It let out a sharp yelp before going silent. The only sound remaining was Miss Sova's weeping.**

Ruby, Weiss, and Yang went stiff and silent at the sound. It was haunting and disgusting. Why would she do that?

Blake didn't like dogs. That was no secret. But she still found that seriously fucked up. She didn't want any dogs dead, just away from her.

 **Ilia saw the other tape and looked it over, choosing not to hear this one out for now. She had a job to do. She marched through the doors on the other side of the room and into a dark room with a high ceiling. Jaune was waiting for her, still unseen.**

 **"The assassin has overcome my final defense… And now, she's come to murder me." As she approached, the light washed over the scene and she could finally see Jaune Arc. Though, it was through a window to his inner office. He wore a solid white suit and was currently playing with an office golf set. "In the end, what is it that separates a man from a slave?"**

Sienna's eyes narrowed, "This can go two ways… Let's see how he plays this minefield."

 **Jaune walked around to crouch down and line up his shot, "Money? Power? No. In my years I have learned it is simpler than that. A single dichotomy. A man** ** _chooses._** **A slave obeys."**

Sienna blinked in surprise. "Okay, I'll admit, that's not either of the directions I was expecting."

Ironwood crossed his arms, "It's a rather deep sentiment, really. Even if you follow an order, you would choose to. But something feels off."

 **Jaune leaned onto his golf club like a cane, "You think you have memories." As he spoke, moments from Ilia's eyes flashed before her eyes matching each. "A farm. A family. An airplane. A crash. And then? This place." Jaune putt the ball down along the green carpet. "But… was there really a family?"**

 **Ilia's memory showed her as a young child, hooked up to some kind of machine.**

 **"Did that airplane crash? Or was it hijacked?"**

 **A package in front of Ilia on the flight with a gun inside.**

 **"Forced down. Forced down by something less than a man. Something bred to sleepwalk through life until they are awoken by a simple phrase spoken by their kindly master."**

Everyone was getting a chill through their blood. This was getting heavier than they expected.

 **"Was a man sent to kill me, or a slave?"**

"Shouldn't he be saying woman?" Ilia asked.

Blake shrugged, "It's probably a collective thing. Saying between _human_ and slave."

 **"A man chooses! A slave obeys…" Jaune walked to the side, out of site. His door unlocked. "Come on in."**

Mercury huffed, "An obvious trap."

 **Ilia was caught off guard but moved to the door. She was finally face to face with her target, the man who commanded the City of Rapture. She growled and took a step toward him.**

 **Only to have his club meet her shoulder, "Stop. Would you kindly."**

 **Ilia froze up, her body shaking lightly.**

Ilia felt her body go stiff. "What's… what's going on?"

 **Jaune pushed her back lightly, "Would you kindly… Powerful phrase. Familiar phrase?"**

 **Scenes played out in Ilia's head. Atlas repeating** ** _would you kindly_** **before she would take on a task. Each moment flashing in succession as he spoke. Each horror or death she would cause, accented by those damn words! Until, she saw the board again.** ** _Would you kindly go to Arc's office and kill the son of a bitch!_** **It wasn't a question. It was an order. And she followed it this far. Reality returned to Ilia and she backed away slowly, her head pounding at the memories.**

 **Jaune placed his club on the top of her shoulder, "Sit. Would you kindly."**

 **She sat.**

 **"Stand. Would you kindly."**

 **She stood.**

 **"Run!"**

 **She ran.**

 **"Stop!"**

 **She stopped.**

 **"Turn."**

 **She turned to face him once more. Every action without her input. Every act without her say. Without her choice.**

The scene scared them. Not on the more horror-based levels of previous versions. No… It was existential this time. The pure terror of a loss of control. To have your body without you wanting to. To act at someone else's word. This would be a nightmare for a long time to come.

Meanwhile, Cinder was wondering if it was too late to train her subordinates in this method.

 **Jaune tossed his club up again. "A man chooses… A slave obeys…" He sounded like a man who was alone. His world crumbling around him. He couldn't fight her, he couldn't bring himself to. Even after all these years, he still knew who she was. She looked too much like her mother not to be.**

Yang leaned forward a bit, "So… it _was_ saying that she's his daughter."

Jaune blinked, "Okay… but… how? The ages don't add up."

 **Even after Merlot's experiments aged her beyond her years, he still knew it was her.**

"Oh…"

 **In the end, she only had one thing to do, and he knew that. His hand tightened around his club. He held it out toward her. Once she took it, he spoke again, "Kill."**

 **Her hand moved without her say, striking Jaune across the head with his club.**

Everyone jolted up at the sudden swing. It was way too fast to have any thought behind it. It was more reflex than anything.

Ilia, in particular, recoiled at her swing. This scared her more than any of the previous versions.

 **Jaune was bleeding from the blunt force trauma, but he looked back up toward her. "A man… chooses…" His voice was getting weak and he strained to speak at all.**

 **Another strike exasperated his wound and bent the club further.**

 **He was on his knees now, "A slave… obeys…"**

 **Anther hit bent the club even further.**

 **Jaune grabbed at her shirt collar and lifted himself toward her, "OBEY!"**

 **Ilia buried the end of the club into his head. Jaune Arc, architect of Rapture, was dead on the floor of his once proud city.**

Ilia shrunk in her chair. The loss of control? The murdering of her father? In this dimension, at least. Things only got worse for her. She lost her parents while she was young and only wanted to belong. It made her an easy target for White Fang recruitment. To go as far as she had to in order to belong. She shook in her chair and took a breath to calm her nerves.

 **Ilia shook in place, her breath unsteady. She looked to the club in her hands and tossed it to the ground. Every action until now had been her actions. Her choice. Right?**

 **Before she could really think about it, Atlas called to her from her radio. "** ** _Quick! Grab his genetic key! And would you kindly stick it in that goddamn machine!_** **"**

 **Ilia jolted up and rummaged through Jaune's coat to find the key in question. She moved to a machine in the back room to override the self-destruct of the city's core. As she placed it into the machine, she heard the core powering down again.**

 **Atlas let out a relieved and a chuckle of relief. This chuckle hardened, becoming more villainous. "** ** _Nice work, lassie~_** **" His voice changed from its jovial accent to something more refined or sophisticated. "** ** _Time to end this charade._** **"**

 **The machine let out a mass of steam as the monitor flickered between Jaune's symbol and something else, but it was hard to make out for the moment.**

 **Ilia looked around in confusion. "What's… what's going on?! Atlas!"**

 **'Atlas' laughed. "** ** _There is no Atlas, kid. Never was. In my line of work, one must adopt a number of aliases. You've been a wonderful help, so I suppose I owe you a bit of honesty. My name is Arthur Watts._** **"**

Ozpin growled up toward the screen, "Watts… This _does_ seem up his alley."

Ruby turned to the professor. "That guy that arrived with Salem? The one with the mustache?"

"That's him."

Yang scoffed, "He doesn't seem that tough."

"He's a dangerous man that's toppled cities like they were dominoes. He may not be physically strong, but he doesn't have to be. He outwits anyone, getting them to fight amongst themselves before he swoops in and picks through their ashes."

Yang's grin fell away, and she was left stunned. _Okay… note to self, stay away from that guy…_

 **Watts laughed. "** ** _I've had plenty of business partners, but you've proven to be the most capable. Of course, the fact that you were genetically engineered to bark like a cocker spaniel if I said 'would you kindly' likely had something to do with it. You've been wonderful, but you know what they say. Never mix business with friends. So long, kid._** **"**

 **The machine started to spark and flicker. Ilia broke through the barrier and ran from the room. She ducked back into an air duct as the machine erupted. As she crawled through those vents, she just heard those damn words over and over.** ** _Would you you kindly. Would you kindly!_**

 **Then, something new.** ** _Are you man or slave?_**

 **Ilia jolted stiff in the duct.**

 ** _I gave you an order._**

 **Ilia thought for a moment. Jaune Arc's last order… He only said 'kill.'**

Mercury laughed. "Got to love those loopholes."

 ** _Choose and obey!_**

 **Ilia, fueled by anger toward Watts, smiled. Finally, an order she wanted to follow. The she wanted to accomplish. To** ** _choose._** **The world came to a close on that note.**

 **One final message flashed on screen.**

 **[WOULD YOU KINDLY]**


	92. KWoR: Arcadia

**King: Hope you're all ready to learn~**

 **Knox: Do we have to?**

 **King: Quiet you. Today is a bit different. It's not another reality or some crazy action moment. This is their version, a part of the King Timeline. It's a World of Remnant video. I hope you all enjoy~**

 **Inspiration: n/a**

 **/\**

King appeared again. "Okay… that was unexpected. Let's go a little lighter now. I have a presentation to act as a small break, to fill in anyone not in the know."

Blake glanced up to the floating ball of flame, "In the know about what?"

"You'll see." With that, he disappeared, and the screen lit up again.

Weiss sighed, "This _cannot_ end well."

 **The screen opened to a black void. Bright purple lettering started to form.**

 **[King's World of Remnant]**

Yang groaned, "What is this, school? Why are we getting a lesson _now_?"

Oobleck chuckled, "Ms. Xiao Long, I believe you'll find that every day shall teach you a lesson. We, as people, never stop learning for as long as we live."

Yang sighed, "I get it! I get it…"

 **The lettering and void burned away in purple fire, turning white with a shimmering golden symbol in the center. It possessed those familiar two golden arcs. A banner across the bottom had a word written across it, [Arcadia].**

Ruby grinned, "Wait. Are we going to learn about Jaune's home?"

Glynda crossed her arms, resting back in her chair, "It would seem."

Yang chuckled a little, "Alright. I take it back. Let's see what we've got."

 **The image faded out to a map of Remnant. "** ** _The world known as Remnant is one known for its dangers. The Grimm, The White Fang, the criminal underground, and the unseen horrors we may never fully understand. It's the kind of place that could use a save haven for people to just live their lives. Unfortunately, all we got are these schmucks._** **" The board lit up at four points on the map. "** ** _The four kingdoms of Remnant._** **"**

This got a good-natured chuckle out of most of the audience.

 **"** ** _Atlas, Mistral, Vacuo, and Vale. As of the moment, a majority of the population live in these four locations or extremely close by. The largest settlements outside these kingdoms have found ways to stick around_** **." The kingdoms dimmed as each settlement lit up as they were listed, "** ** _The hybrid city of Argus, the faunas settlement of Menagerie, and the Principality of Arcadia._** **"**

Ruby's head tilted to the side, "Princa-what-now?"

Ozpin finished a sip from his mug before explaining, "It's similar to kingdom, but it's ruled by a Prince instead of a King."

"Oh… But, why not a king?"

"It's often a power play, meant to recognize the political power it would hold compared to its contemporaries."

Jaune explained it, "Basically, when Arcadia was founded, it had a lower station than the other kingdoms because our land was ' _gifted_ ' by the kingdoms instead of conquered."

 **The camera zoomed into the map to show the area in question, "** ** _Arcadia is made up of two primary land masses: the island and the continental. Taken together, the two possess the same living space as a kingdom. As a whole, they are addressed as Arcadia, while both chunks of land_** **do** ** _have separate names. The section on the continent is called Argenti, while the island is Aurum._** **"**

Yang tapped her chair, "Those are some weird names."

Jaune shrugged, "If you translate them, they're silver and gold."

"Really?"

 **The scene moved to show the white and gold banner of Arcadia. Two arcs radiated along the form with a sword piercing down through the center. "** ** _Arcadia has never been recognized by the kingdoms, but the people living in these kingdoms know of the products Arcadia creates. Arcadia is home to several businesses and products that the people of Remnant are familiar with._** **"**

 **The symbol moved to the lower left corner as another appeared in the center. This symbol was a silver crescent on a black surface resembling a smile. "** ** _The Laughing Knight company is known for several small products, mostly electronic appliances._** **"**

Ozpin blinked in surprise. "Well then. Now I know where my favorite coffee maker came from." He remembered the same symbol on said appliance's side.

 **The symbol faded as a new one faded in. This one was a trio of what looked like leaves tied together at a base (fleur-de-lis).**

Coco nearly doubled over in shock, "What?!"

Velvet jumped at her teammate's outburst, "What is it Coco?"

 **"** ** _The famous fashion group Gilded Lily finds its home in Arcadia as well. Every item made by the Lily are custom made and a symbol of status in the fashion world._** **"**

Coco stood and grabbed Jaune by his collar, pulling him out of his seat, "Listen to me, Arc! When we get back, you are taking me to the Gilded Lily! Do you hear me?!"

Jaune was just in shock at how Coco seemed to snap from calm to her outburst. "O-okay…"

Velvet got between Coco and pried Jaune out of her hands, "Coco! Calm down. What's so special about their clothes anyway?"

Coco looked like Velvet had just said every curse in the book, "Are you serious?! Gilded Lily cloths are one of a kind~" Coco was in her own little world. "They're some of the best in all of Remnant, able to find the perfect balance of form and function~ They all look amazing and you could take them through a war and they'd never rip~!"

Yang let out an impressed whistle, "That would _definitely_ come in handy."

 **The Gilded Lily faded off as a new symbol faded in. "** ** _And it wouldn't be a semi-isolated kingdom without its own Dust company._** **" The symbol resembled the profile of a dragon's head, complete with a set of horns off the back of its skull. "** ** _The Dragon's Nest Dust Company is to Arcadia what the Schnee Dust Company is for the rest of Remnant, just with less exploitation of its workers._** **"**

Ilia grumbled under her breath, "Must be nice…"

Weiss tapped her chair with one hand while bringing the other up to her chin in thought, "I can't say I've ever heard of this Dragon's Nest company."

Jaune shrugged, "Most of our stuff doesn't get out since no one else has ever heard of it. There are exceptions, obviously, but not that many."

 **"** ** _But we're getting off topic. Let's get to the next section before I spend the next hour talking about Heartland Halo._** **"**

This got Yang's attention, "What the heck is Heartland Halo?"

Jaune was the only one with an answer, "A special honey mead made on Aurum. It's usually taken out for celebrations."

Qrow nodded, "Hmm… Might have to check that out then. See if it's any good."

Nora had been quiet, trying to remember something. "Hang on… I swear I saw some of that stuff at some point."

Yang turned to the hyper hammer wielder, "Really? Where would you see any of that? It's not like you go clubbing. At least… I don't think you do."

Nora finally had her eureka moment, "Oh yeah! I remember now! It's back in our dorm room!"

"Wait… what?"

"Yeah! Jaune has some under his bed!"

Eyes turned to the knight in question. Some half expected to see him shrink away in embarrassment, but he just sat firm and shrugged. "Waiting for something to celebrate. The legal drinking age in Arcadia is 16, as long as you can keep it under control."

Qrow chuckled, "I'd be screwed~ So, is it any good?"

"It's the only alcohol _I_ can stand. So, take that however you want."

Yang chuckled, "What's wrong, Vomit Boy? Can't hold your drink?"

"Yang… you promised not to call me that, remember?"

Yang laughed a little, "Sorry. It's a habit. It won't be that easy to break."

Jaune sighed in defeat.

 **"** ** _Now, transition!_** **"**

 **The screen faded to the white and gold title card from before. [Government]**

 **"** ** _The government of Arcadia is unlike any other on Remnant._** **" The scene moved to show a round table with twelve stone seats. "** ** _Unlike the councils of the Kingdoms, Arcadia is run by a team of twelve warriors called the Paladins. That's right Atlas, they had them first~_** **"**

This got a snicker or two toward Ironwood and Winter.

 **"** ** _The Paladins act as both as military officers and as lawmakers. Their primary purpose is to manage the day to day law and order of Arcadia. Each member holds their seat for life and is voted into the seat, not by fellow Paladins, but by the citizenry. A law is made and voted on by the Paladins to determine if it passes or is discarded._** **"**

Weiss had a question to ask, "A thought occurs. There are twelve of these Paladins. If they make laws by this method, what would happen in the event of a tie? It's the main reason that our councils have odd numbers of members."

 **"** ** _In the event of a tie…_** **"**

Weiss blinked before nodding and sitting back, a bit eager to have her question answered.

 **"** ** _… the law is placed in a state of limbo. For the next seven days after this vote, the Paladins may change their votes in accordance with new information. If, after this week of deliberation and thought, the vote remains tied, the proposal is passed on to the High Prince as the tie breaker. Speaking of High Princes~_** **"**

 **The title card appeared again with [Arc] written in the center.**

Eyes held to the screen in a state of shock for a moment before snapping toward Jaune.

Nora was the most excited about the prospect, "You're a prince?!"

Jaune shrunk into his chair a bit, "Kind of?"

Ren raised an eyebrow, "Define 'kind of.'"

"Well… When Arcadia was founded, my great-great-grandfather refused to take up a dictatorship, since he just fought a war against one. His only act as a monarch was to set up the Paladins' Court. Ever since, we were just citizens like everyone else. We just have an extra title."

Yang grinned, "It's more than most of us. You have to admit, it's pretty cool."

"I guess."

"I mean, come on! How often can you say your friend is a _mon-Arc_? Huh?"

This was met with a group of groans in annoyance.

Velvet, however, thought about it for a moment, "Does this mean we'll be learning about Jaune's family?"

Coco snickered a bit, "Looks like it. You plan on taking notes~?"

"Coco…" Velvet turned a slight pink and groaned in embarrassment.

 **"** ** _Now, don't get too excited. We'll only be discussing living Arc family members. And even then, only a few highlights. If we went over everyone, we'd be here all day._** **"**

Yang chuckled, "Damn, Jaune! How big is your family?"

 **"** ** _Now, let's get started with the oldest living Arc._** **"**

 **The screen changed to show a portrait of a man with hair of pale gold. His deep green eyes looked out to the world like a king, a master of destiny itself. His attire resembled that of a military king from the old years of Remnant. The man had a very familiar sword under his hands like a cane.**

 **"** ** _Let's start with Charles Arc, the mighty Charlemagne._** **"**

"Sharla-main?" Nora turned to Jaune, "What's that mean?"

"It means Charles the Great."

"Oh! That's fun~"

 **"** ** _Charles is a man of convictions and power. Even into his mid-seventies, the man can lift a solid 320 kilograms or a bit over 700 pounds._** **"**

Port stuttered in shock, "My word! That's rather impressive for someone that far into their years."

 **"** ** _Charles made his name during the Faunas Wars as the Field Marshal of the Arcadian forces and a teacher to faunas rebels in battle tactics and campaign strategy._** **"**

 **The portrait changed to show Charles standing among faunas in, very clearly, newly sewn uniforms. He stood with an open book as he addressed the newly uniformed rebels.**

 **"** ** _He was a man who truly believed at no matter what traits a person had, they were no less human._** **"**

This sentiment gave Charles a serious boost in the eyes of a few faunas in the audience.

 **"** ** _Charles exemplified the traits of leadership calm, collected, and mindful of his subordinates._** **"**

Ironwood nodded, "If only _every_ leader was so qualified." His mind drifted to the Atlassian Council and their underlings. He sighed in disappointment just by thinking about them.

 **The picture changed again to show Charles with his army at his back. Charles's section ended with him speaking directly. He was gruff but refined. The voice of a man who had seen combat all his life but retained a level of regality. A gentleman solder, if you will. "Under my banner, you are never alone. Human or Faunas means nothing. Now, you are brothers and sisters under the banner of Arcadia. I give to you a choice. We either live together or die alone."**

Ironwood nodded in sympathy, "To join a military means you put your prejudices at the door. You work together at all times or it'll be your heads in combat."

Sienna felt something hearing that, a bit of respect for the man she'd thought was just as bad as the rest of the Atlas Council. Perhaps, there was hope to avoid fighting after all.

 **"** ** _His son, Montesquieu… was the exact opposite._** **"**

 **The picture changed to show Montagne in the middle of a battle during the very war his father commanded as Field Marshal. At the time, he was only a few years older than any of the students. He looked remarkably like Jaune but having a trimmed beard and a full foot taller. The man was an unmovable mountain both in size and in the moment. A heavy mortar shell was breaking across his tower shield. Crocea Mors had been handed down to him but hung at his side rather than finding use in battle.**

Nora's head tilted slightly, "Your dad didn't use the sword?"

Jaune shook his head. "Nope. He didn't use offensive weapons, just his shield. He just wore it as a sign of pride and lineage."

Salem, being from a separate dimension where she was the wife of the man on screen, was in a sense of bliss seeing him so triumphant and powerful. She had a weakness for her husband when he was in his armor~

 **"** ** _He is a passionate, gung-ho, jovial man who tends to smile pretty often. A man people look up to for the opposite reasons of his father. He's unrestricted and unfiltered, an honest man that speaks his mind at all times._** **"**

 **The scene changed to show a moment after the battle, as Montagne stood atop a hill with a banner in his unarmed hand. The flag was captured mid-fluttering with a slight fraying at the end.**

 **"** ** _Making his name during the Faunas Wars, Montagne stood as an unbreakable mountain, hence the nickname, and always stood out among the soldiers. He was the frontline soldier, the flag bearer, and the motivator. Moral would never fall in his presence, because he would never let a single man fall._** **"**

 **The scene moved to show Montagne from the front, mid charge, "Stand with me my brothers! Lock shields and stand as a wall! For as long as we survive, the innocent shall never fear the aggressors. Stand together!"**

Ruby smiled at the scene, "He seems really nice."

Jaune chuckled, "I certainly think so. But, he's my dad so I'm a little bias."

Weiss sighed silently. A part of her wished she could say the same about the rest of her family. The only one she could really talk about like that was Winter… One out of four was _not_ a good ratio.

 **"** ** _You know… his nickname is easier to say than his actual name, but I think we might be a little easier just to call him Monty._** **"**

 **A gunshot rang out and the screen seemed to crack.**

This got all but one in the audience to jump. The only exception was Salem, who smirked knowing why this happened.

 **"** ** _SHIT! Right! Not allowed to call him that!_** **" King sighed "** ** _Since that came up, why not put one more on the end here._** **"**

Nora's head tilted a little, "Wait, why can't he call him Mo-"

Jaune stopped her by placing a hand over her mouth. "Only my mom is allowed to call him that. She made that _very_ clear to everyone."

Nora was confused for a moment. Why stop her from saying it here? His mother wasn't here right? Then her eyes moved to Salem, the interdimensional counterpart not from their world and Jaune's mother in her version. _Oh…_

 **The screen shifted, like adding a new lens, to show a woman in a long white and gold combat gear; long sleeve shirt, gloves, thick pants, and combat boots. Her hair was a bright platinum blonde, cut short to only reach her shoulders. She had piercing blue eyes that could only be described as frigid. She had a non-scoped sniper rifle in one hand, held up next to her.**

Ruby blanked for a moment. "That's a heavy caliber, semi-automatic, marksman's rifle. But why doesn't it have a scope?"

 **"** ** _During the Faunas Wars, Simone Hayha acted a bit outside her scope (puns~!) by acting as a frontline marksman rather than holding back. She remained in the forward trenches and picked off enemy forces one by one, earning the moniker the White Death._** **"**

Ruby's gasp left her a bit lightheaded. "JAUNE'S MOM IS THE WHITE DEATH?!"

Yang recoiled and covered her ears a little, "Sheesh… Is it really impressive?"

"Are you kidding?! She was the best sniper in all of Remnant! She was the reason Crescent Rose is a sniper rifle instead of shotgun like Uncle Qrow's weapon."

Yang paused in surprise. "Seriously? That's… Huh…" Yang knew how much trouble Ruby had trying to make a scythe work with her smaller frame and lacking strength. But she bothered to ask why she made it a sniper on top of that.

 **The picture moved to show Simone and Montagne side by side in combat. Montagne was blocking a bullet while Simone fired off toward their attacker.**

 **"** ** _She actually met her husband during this time. The two fell in love and you know the rest. In a way, they two were the perfect team. He was outgoing, she was reserved. He was the defense, she was the offense. She was cold, and a bit snarky. But! Nine people on Remnant can get her to flip on a dime; Montagne and their eight children. EIGHT!_** **"**

This still left so many in shock at the fact that Montagne and (as they have now learned her name) Simone had _eight_ children.

 **The next scene showed Simone in a long white and gold dress with a bright cobalt scarf. She had her husband and her children at her side. It was a scene of the whole family gathered, all with smiles.**

 **"** ** _Her family has always been the most important thing to her. Her demeanor melts to be the doting mother type that was always there for her children and her husband. But to anyone else, she remained the same cold sniper that could rip you apart with a single glare._** **"**

 **The last scene of Simone Arc showed her with a long dress with a slit up the side and her rifle in her hands, "My husband is the defender, but I am not so kind. Threaten my family and you'll have a hole in your head the size of a golf ball. And don't bother running. I** ** _never_** **miss." (She'll have a Finnish accent, by the way.)**

Yang let out an impressed whistle, "Damn. Jaune… Your mom is pretty intense."

Jaune laughed a bit, scratching the back of his head, "Yeah… She can be."

 **The screen morphed back to the map of Remnant. "** ** _Unfortunately, that's all the time I have. Hope this was helpful and taught you something~_** **" The screen went black, ending the presentation.**


	93. Jackpot

**King: What the hell?**

 **Knox: What is it?**

 **King: A tear in the dimensional field of the theater.**

 **Knox: Is that bad?**

 **King: Not inherently. It's just odd that it happened at all.**

 **Knox: Should we hold the viewing off?**

 **King: No. Run it as usual. I'll look into it and see what I can find.**

 **Inspiration: Devil May Cry**

 **/\**

Knox popped back and chuckled, "That was kind of fun. But what about the sisters?"

King appeared next. "You nuts? I'm lucky I had the time to talk about the three I did. Imagine trying to cover seven, vastly different personalities in so short a time."

"Okay… fair point."

"Any way, I'm popping in because this is going to be a fun one. We're visiting a favorite of mine~"

The two disappeared again.

Jaune sighed. "Okay… I hope it's not too crazy."

"It will be." Ruby sighed.

 **The world opened to an old back ally. The camera moved down the street until it reached an old storefront with a glowing, red neon sign reading, [Devil May Cry]. They heard a phone ringing from within. The camera moved inside to see the inner area, more like an old bar lounge, complete with pool table and a jukebox. They heard the ringing again. Then, the camera moved to the phone in question, an old antique landline. They saw a hand reach and pick up the receiver, "Devil May Cry." It was Jaune's voice answering the phone, though they couldn't see him yet. After a pause, he continued, "Sorry. You got the wrong place." He tossed the receiver back onto the base and they saw him kick up his boots onto the desk. The camera then panned over to show a large, two hand weapon hanging on the wall similar in form to Crocea Mors.**

Coco nodded, "Okay. So, this is the world that sign in the Artifact Room was from. This should be interesting."

 **The camera panned back to an open magazine about weaponry.**

Yang snickered, "Is Ruby there too?"

 **They heard a ringing bell, the kind used for doors opening in shops. Jaune groaned from behind the magazine. "We're closed. Go away."**

 **A hand grabbed the magazine, revealing Jaune's face at last. He just looked like Jaune, but with different attire and a slightly lighter shade of hair. He wore a dark, long sleeve shirt and a white vest with blue jeans and dark chaps with western boots. In a way, it looked like his usual attire, just in a different form. Jaune dropped his feet back to the ground again, sitting normally, "Why am I not surprised?"**

 **The camera spun around to show the woman opposite him. She was dressed in a red coat purposefully fashioned to show off her cleavage, black short, knee high black expeditionary boots, red gloves, and sunglasses. Ammo packs adorned her side, a harness was over her upper chest with a knife, and a giant bayonetted rocket launcher on her back. Her dark hair framed her face with red fading onto the ends.**

Everyone was just stunned at the sight. There was no mistaking who this was, and it felt ridiculous seeing her in a fashion style like that. It seemed more up Yang's ally than hers. Ruby was just gushing about the launcher.

 **Jaune smirked, "Ruby. What did you bring me today?"**

 **Ruby removed her glasses and leaned her weight to the side with a hand at her hip, "What makes you think I brought you something?"**

 **"Ruby… You don't** ** _do_** **social visits. You don't show up unless you have a job for me that will inevitably end with you taking most of the cut."**

 **Ruby grinned, "At least I'm consistent." She opened one of the pouches and pulled out a folded paper. "A big one. I put a bit of work into it and can confirm this isn't a human made issue. We've got our work cut out for us."**

"What does she mean by 'not a human made issue?'" Ilia became a little concerned this was a faunas attack and they were about to see retaliation.

Oh you poor naïve thing.

 **Jaune stood up and pushed his chair back as he did, "How's it pay?"**

 **"Enough to pay off your tabs and then some after cutting three ways."**

Qrow raised an eyebrow, "Three ways? What's that about?"

 **"Three?" Jaune thought for a moment then nodded, "I was wondering where she went." Jaune grabbed a long white coat and flipped it over himself and onto his body. Then he grabbed a pair of high caliber pistols, one light metal the other dark, and placed the large sword onto his back. "Where are we off to?"**

 **"A small town off to the south, place called Batha." Ruby turned and started to walk to the door, "And you're driving."**

 **Jaune shook his head and followed her out.**

Yang thought for a moment before turning to Jaune, " _Can_ you drive?"

Jaune shrugged, "Yeah. But I haven't in a while."

"I thought you got motion sick."

"On the Bulkheads, and I've gotten past it."

Nora jumped into the conversation, "Oh! Did you have a car bac at your house?"

Jaune chuckled nervously, "Kind of? _I_ don't personally own one, but my family has a couple. Kind of comes with the territory of a large family."

 **The door opened with a mass of bright light, acting as a transition to skip the drive and reach the town. The camera took a position to show as Jaune and Ruby walked into the town's square.**

 **Sitting on the edge of a fountain at the center was a woman wearing a white leather corset with a lightning pattern down her chest, tight leather pants with pink lightning streaks on the side, and a pair of high-heeled boots. Her orange hair was long, slicked back away from her face and over her shoulders. "Took you long enough."**

Nora giggled, "It's me!"

Ren felt a bit flush but was able to make it pass.

 **Jaune waved. "Hey Nora. So, what's our plan?"**

 **Nora held her hand up toward the girl with the cannon, "Ask Ruby."**

 **Ruby nodded once before addressing the issue, "If you haven't noticed, the town is empty. There isn't a soul for miles. That's because this town was abandoned a few decades back due to mysterious disappearances and murders. People started to say this place was cursed."**

Blake shook her head with a sense of disappointment, "There's an obvious explanation. Likely a gang or cult trying to clear the area out…"

 **Nora leaned forward toward Ruby, "That just sounds like normal demonic work. I don't see why this requires all three of us."**

Blake paused, thought, then spoke. "Come again?"

Sun blinked in surprise, "Like… actual demons?"

 **Ruby shook her head, "I was getting to that. The point is, this happened before any of us were born."**

 **Nora's face snapped with a realization. "The era of the land grabs."**

 **Jaune folded his arms, "Okay. So, a Demon Lord has been hiding out here?"**

 **Ruby nodded, "That's what I think, at least. At the least, the lord will have an army."**

Weiss was a little nervous hearing them talk like that, "They're very… nonchalant about this issue."

Qrow shook his head a bit, "Really, kid? You got a word a day calendar or something?"

 **"And," Ruby continued, "Without Sparda or Mundus around anymore, it's the perfect time to make a play."**

Ruby's head tilted a little, "Sparda and Mundus? Who are they?"

Penny tapped her chin in thought, "If we consider their use in the sentences, we infer that they are demons. Likely rather powerful."

 **Ruby folded her arms, finishing her address to the two, "Any questions?"**

 **Nora raised a hand slightly, "We're getting paid, right?"**

Roman grinned, "Asking the important questions."

 **Ruby sighed, "Yes… We're getting paid. Pretty handsomely too. And, even better, we've got a blank check for collateral damage. The city is going to be demolished once we're done here. We're safe to go nuts."**

 **Jaune grinned wide hearing that, "Nice. No need to worry about them taking away our payout? I like this job already. Let's party~"**

 **Jaune and Nora ran off in separate directions into the city, leaving Ruby alone. Ruby sighed and shook her hanging head, "Why do I put up with those two?"**

Weiss could sympathize with this version of Ruby. Her team _could_ work together when things got heated, but they would often could fly off on their own.

 **A demon crawled along the building above Ruby. It looked like a collection of stitched fabrics and a scythe for a hand. It moved slowly, seemingly unnoticed.**

Ruby let out a breath, "I kind of expected them to look a lot worse…"

Blake chimed in again, "They're still pretty bad."

 **The demon leapt off the building with blade barreling down toward the girl on the ground.**

Ruby screamed up to the screen, "Look out me!"

 **The camera moved close to show Ruby's smirk. She swung her launcher around and impaled the demon on the bayonet. "Oh yeah~" She crouched down and fired a shell into her victim, blowing him to bits. "Because I love my job."**

 **A few more jumped out from the shadows and tried to skewer the demon hunter on their claws. Ruby jumped up and spun her launcher around to point to the ground. She fired another round and flew upward, burning the demons that tried to attack her.**

Ruby was starry eyed again. "Oh my gosh! That is so cool! I need to figure out how to do that with Crescent Rose!"

 **Ruby jumped off to the side and landed on one of the demons' head. She sat herself onto its shoulders, legs wrapping over its head, and fired a powerful shot into the demonic crowd from her launcher. The force of which snapped the demon's head clean off and sent her back again. She slammed the blade of her weapon into a nearby building and used her launcher as a perch. She pulled at one of her pouches and tossed a small set of grenades into the air. The mere act of tossing them pulled their pins and detonators, causing them to explode as they reached the demons below.**

Yang leaned forward, amazed by the events on screen, "Holy crap! That was awesome!"

 **The smoke transitioned the scene to another part of town. Nora walked down the street with a pistol in each hand and one hand resting on her hip. As demons approached, she shot their heads apart. As they got larger, more powerful, she just smiled and placed the guns into a pair of holsters on her lower back. She waved her hands in a circle and a glowing yellow, demonic glyph appeared in front of her. She moved her hand back to the circle and bolts of lightning shot out from the glyph.**

Nora chuckled, "Yeah! That's how it's done!"

Yang challenged the point, "Not as cool as Ruby leveling those demons!" She grabbed her sister in a headlock out of a certain, sisterly pride.

 **One bolt flew over the streets and connected with a bright metal blade. Jaune used his sword to take the lightning and fling at another of the demons, stunning it long enough to use it as a shield and impale the demon behind it. He kicked the demons off his sword and back into the crowd around him. He spun his blade onto his back as another demon, a large armored humanoid with horns and a barbed tail, charged toward him with a giant ax. Jaune ducked to the side and the fingertips of his hand was at the demon's chest. With a bolt of red lightning, he was wearing a pair of gauntlets and weaponized boots. Then, it was but an inch, but the force of his punch obliterated the demon's body leaving only a black mist.**

Yang drooled a little, "Okay. I _need_ to learn how to do that!"

Tai laughed a little, "It's a one-inch punch. On its own, its not that impressive, but with I think there's something in those gauntlets that boosts his striking power."

 **Another demon tried to charge toward him again from behind, only to met with his elbow as he reared his arm back. A small mechanism on the back of the gauntlets opened up and a burst of steam shot out and burned the demon's face.**

Ruby was scrutinizing the weapons now, "Okay, so there's a steam system somewhere inside the mechanism. But how would that actually work? What system could actually use steam to increase the attack power of a punch?"

 **Jaune spun around and kicked his leg up. Said boots were supplemented by a spur that started to spin like a buzz saw. When he brought his foot down in an ax kick, the demon's body was ripped apart by the blades.**

This got Mercury's attention. He'd never thought about putting blades on his boots and how they would work with his fighting style. _Food for thought, I guess._

 **As Jaune's foot hit the ground again, demons swarmed around him, dogpiling on top of him.**

The Beacon crowd got a little concerned, but they were sure he'd knock all those things away!

 **After a second, another bolt of red flowed around the pile. Then, an electric guitar shred rang out with as all of the demons flew off of him. A bubble of purple energy surrounded him and the vantage point showed he had said guitar in his hands. It seemed to be like bone and steel fused into a single material.**

Weiss felt her eye twitch at the memory of Jaune and that damned guitar from before the dance. She found the memory more annoying than anything that happened in that moment. To be fair, this wasn't Jaune's fault. Before, he was a nuisance, but at least now she could call him an actual friend. But that damned guitar… She refused to forgive that instrument. Boys would try to woo her with that exact instrument hoping to get close to her family and her wealth.

 **Jaune smirked and ran his fingers over the strings and a cord rang out through the area, purple electricity bursting out and running through the demons around him.**

Yang gasped before bursting into a fit of laughter, "IT'S AN ACTUAL ELECTRIC GUITAR!"

 **Jaune then proceeded to play a short set as electricity continued to fry his demonic, and captive, audience. He jumped up and out or the field, sliding onto his knees with one last cord played. A giant bolt of purple lightning ripped into the demons that remained stunned by the playing before. The camera made it appear like a grand finale of a rock concert.**

Yang's laughing stalled, but she spoke soon after, "That… was… AWESOME!"

Nora jumped up and cheered, "YEAH!"

Weiss… was conflicted. She hated the guitar due to annoying experiences. But… when it wasn't trying to be romantic and sappy, she had no choice but to admit it sounded rather interesting. Nothing she'd listen to on her own time, but she at least softened to the idea.

 **Jaune laughed and stood back up again. "Hell of a party~"**

 **A distant explosion sent Ruby into the air to land at Jaune's side. "We're not done here."**

 **One of Nora's lightning bolts shot passed and she walked up to the other two. "Sounds good to me. These small fries are getting a little boring."**

 **"Then…" a large demonic monster resembling a blood red wolf, three slash marks across its face. Its form was too unwieldy in the city streets, so it shrunk its form to its humanoid variation. He was a large demonic being, rather werewolf-esc.**

Blake, Ilia, and Sienna all had a moment of surprise, then a realization what they were seeing. This… thing resembled the current logo of the White Fang. That was a fun moment.

 **The demon continued his tirade, "I am Shiro Kiba! The Lord of the Demons!"**

 **Jaune shook his head, "If I had a nickel… Look! I'm pretty generous. Leave the town and slink back into Hell, and we'll let you live."**

 **"You would dare to speak to me in this tone?! Who do you… Wait…" Shiro's demeanor worsened as he recognized them, "The explosive human… Mundus's puppet… and the Son of Sparda…"**

 **Jaune smirked, "Would you look at that. We're famous."**

Penny remembered the earlier mentions of the demons, so she was able to place it in context for the rest of the group. "Friend Ruby is the human… So Friend Nora must be the puppet and Friend Jaune is the son of those previous demon lords."

 **Shiro laughed, "Excellent! When I kill you, my power over Hell shall never be questioned! To do what Mundus could never achieve!"**

 **Nora smiled with a raised brow, "Awfully presumptuous to think you** ** _can_** **beat us. Some nobody of a demon like you?"**

 **Shiro roared in anger, "I WILL MURDER YOU!"**

 **Ruby smirked, "You'll die trying."**

Yang grinned, "Aww! Look at you go sis! Acting all confident~"

"Yang…" Ruby groaned at her sister's antics.

 **Shiro dove forward, trying to slash at Ruby, but she dodged with a blast to the ground and Shiro barreled into the double attack of Jaune's punch and Nora's kick. Shiro recoiled back before trying to swipe at the two that hit him, only to have a rocket fly into his face and knock him back.**

 **Ruby landed back on the ground, "You know, if it was just one of us, you might have had a chance."**

 **Nora cracked her knuckles before drawing her pistols again, "But with all three of us here?"**

 **Jaune's guitar disappeared in red lightning as he drew the sword off his back again, "You're screwed."**

 **The fight that followed was a one-sided slaughter. Shiro tried to attack only to the blow dodged and another of the group landing a hit.**

Port chuckled, "Oh ho! Excellent teamwork and coordination~ Truly an impressive group."

"Quite!" Oobleck readjusted his glasses before taking a drink from a filled mug, "Take notes students! This is the effective skill of a truly capable team."

 **Shiro roared and swung a claw at Nora, only to find a hidden glyph in the air causing a shock to run through his body.**

Weiss had something new to think about now. Could she hide her glyphs and create a trap for her enemies? It would be rather helpful in combat. She'll have to test this at some point soon.

 **Ruby was able to capitalize on this with a bayonet slash at Shiro. Jaune followed with a heavy slash back downward and knocking Shiro into the concrete beneath him. Shiro tried to dig himself out and roared, "I WILL NOT DIE!" His wounds were healing despite the damage they were causing. Shiro roared out in laughter, "I AM IMMORTAL! I AM THE LORD OF THE DEMONS!"**

 **Ruby growled, "He's healing everything we throw at him."**

 **Jaune cracked his neck, "Then let's hit him so hard he** ** _can't_** **regenerate."**

 **The three dodged another attack and moved to three separate directions. Ruby's launcher unleashed a torrent of steam as her rocket was charged with stored energy being forced into the ballistic missile within. Nora created an electric glyph in front of her, the outer ring of which now had an extra layer. Jaune pulled his two handguns from under his coat and spun them around, bringing them together toward the demon.**

Roman tapped his chair in thought, "Seems the kid is the type for a bit of flare in his fights."

 **The screen split among the three, each getting a section of the canvas as they spoke in unison, "Jackpot!" All three fired their attacks toward Shiro at once: Ruby's heavy missile, Nora's bolt of lightning, and Jaune's demon-powered gunfire. The three attacks collided together and created an explosion powerful enough to rip the street apart around them. As the smoke cleared, they saw Shiro's body was eviscerated, leaving only a floating white orb in his place.**

 **Ruby had ducked into a nearby ally to avoid the explosion. As she rounded the corner again, she looked to the orb in confusion, "What's that thing?"**

 **Nora, being created by the demon Mundus to fight Jaune, didn't have to worry about the explosion. She was just sitting on one of the chunks of rubble, "Have you not seen this part before?"**

Nora gasped, "Oh my gosh! That's so awesome! Even when I use my grenades, I have to make sure they blow up next to me, but to be able to not worry about the explosion would be awesome!"

 **"What part?"**

 **Jaune brushed off a mass of dirt that got onto his coat, "Should consider switching to wearing red." Large chunks of glass were buried in his flesh, his blood staining his coat.**

Velvet nearly fell over in shock, but was able to stay up because of one fact, "He seems… fine?"

Coco turned to her teammate, "What do you mean? He's got glass in his chest!"

 **Jaune grabbed the glass and ripped each of the shards out of his body.**

Coco groaned, "And that'll just make it worse. You don't remove them until you can get…" Velvet tapped her shoulder and got her to focus on the screen again, "…treatment?"

 **Jaune's wounds had healed almost instantly. Even his coat was fading back to its usual coloration. Jaune walked over to the orb and looked at it from either side. "Alright,** ** _Shiro Kiba_** **. Let's see what you left me." He grabbed the orb and it started to shine, blinding those in the area, or watching beyond the canvas. When they could see again, Jaune had a blood red katana in hand. He ran his thumb down the side of the blade before testing its weight.**

Blake almost found it poetic. The blade resembled the one used by Adam.

Ruby, however, saw something else, "Where did that come from! How did…! What's going on!"

 **Jaune smirked before kicking up a set of boulders that fell back toward him. He used the blade to block each and sword started to glow. Once it was done, he swung the sword forward and the street in front of him was torn up by an energy wave. This was his new Devil Arm, Taurus.**

"Devil… Arm…" Ruby thought it over, came to a conclusion, and burst out, "HE HAS MAGIC WEAPONS MADE OF DEMONS! THAT IS NOT FAIR!"

This got a bit of chuckling based on Ruby's reaction, but some in the audience felt similarly to her. The idea of such weapons intrigued some and made other jealous.

 **Jaune placed the blade into a scabbard and turned back to his associates. "Alright. Let's head back to the office and celebrate a successful mission that we** ** _actually_** **get paid for!"**

 **Nora grinned, "I'm in."**

 **Ruby stopped the two from advancing, "Alright, but no pizza and sundaes this time!"**

 **Jaune turned to the demonic lightning wielder, "Nora? Your thoughts?"**

 **Nora tapped her chin in faux thought for a moment before smirking, "Pepperoni and vanilla for dessert."**

 **"You heard her, Ruby. Two against one!"**

 **As they walked passed her, Ruby sighed in exasperation. But she smiled all the same. Just another day for the trio under the name Devil May Cry.**

Yang laughed, "That was awesome! Gave me some new stuff to try."

Ruby nodded, "And I have some new ideas for weapons~"

The screen showed another intermission screen, prompting everyone to stand up and stretch their legs.

Weiss took in a breath and started to walk toward the back, "I… do have to admit that it was entertaining at times."

Yang chuckled at Weiss's statement, "Nice to see you having fun for once."

"I have fun!"

"No offense Weiss, but I don't I've ever seen you actually have fun before."

"Quite the conundrum." Jaune said from behind the two. "How can one prove the concept of _fun_ to another if it remains so subjective."

Weiss and Yang froze in place. Why, you may ask? Because Jaune Arc was in front of them. Everyone turned around to the person who spoke.

Standing before them was Jaune Arc, dressed in a white suit with a golden tie. His hair was combed to the side and he stood with a certain poise that Jaune just didn't have. Next to him, however, was just as shocking. A blonde female with her hair fashioned similarly to Jaune's and in a white blazer, vest, and skirt. The two seemed more alike that identical twins.

The woman spoke soon after, "One simply cannot prove such a concept, brother. After all, who would believe you?" She sounded, and looked, an awful lot like depictions of Jeanne.

King popped in and saw the scene playing out before him. Only one word could suffice for what he was seeing. "Fuck."


	94. Intermission 7: The Twins

**John: This is certainly interesting. The power to converse with others throughout the multiverse.**

 **Jeanne: It** ** _is_** **rather facinating.**

 **King: You... how did...**

 **John: A pocket within a pocket.**

 **Jeanne: I wonder if we can use such a principle in our travels.**

 **King: WOULD YOU TWO GET OUT OF HERE?!**

 **Inspiration 1: Intermission**

 **Inspiration 2: Bioshock Infinite (The Twins)**

 **/\**

Weiss took a step away from the two intruders in shock, "W-what's going on here?!"

The suited 'Jaune' glanced to his sister, "How to explain such a thing-"

Jeanne glanced toward him as well, "-when such things are so simply complex?"

King roared in frustration before sighing in defeat. "Okay! This is Jaune and Jeanne Arc, commonly referred to as the Twins."

Jeanne nodded, "Though, we twins seem to now be triplets."

Her brother bowed lightly to the group, "To avoid confusion, you may address me as John. Similar, but distinct enough to be distinguishable."

Pyrrha looked between the two with a sense of confusion, but felt it best to try to be friendly, "Well… It is nice to meet you both."

Jeanne bowed lightly, "Ever the pleasure-"

John mirrored his 'sister's' action, "Was, is, and will be."

This just confused them a bit before King explained it. "They're in this weird state of existence, both everywhere and nowhere at the same time."

Weiss's mind took a hit to her sense of understanding, "What? How is that even possible?"

"A simple enough process to explain," John pulled a coin from his pants pocket.

King flew in between the twins and the main group, "Brevity, my friends. Long story short, these two aren't twins, but counterparts from parallel dimensions who found a way to communicate with one another. With this power, they set out to tear the laws of reality asunder through collaborative research and, when all was said and done, they ended up scattered across realities and used this new state to make the multiverse their bitch."

Jeanne placed a finger on her chin, looking up to the side in thought, "A bit vulgar on the end, but not an inaccurate sentiment."

"They can just show up wherever and whenever they want. _However_ , even that doesn't explain why they're here!"

John looked around at the theater, "An excellent question indeed."

Jeanne had used the exact power in question and walked out from behind the curtains of one of the balcony boxes, "Curiosity. A reality beyond both space and time? Naturally we wanted to see what we could find."

Weiss, who held herself to a sense of rationality and poise, was losing her shit. "But… that's not… HOW?!"

John had disappeared and reappeared, walking in with an open book in hand, "The fundamental explanations are filled with words your reality doesn't understand due to having more… pressing matters than scientific study."

King started to glow brightly, filling the room with a purple light, "ENOUGH!" This got things to slow down and the mini-dimension's god pulled John and Jeanne back to where they started. "You two are not staying here."

Jeanne waved this off, "We never intended to remain."

John followed soon after, "We're simply stopping by."

"Curious of what allows us to be here."

"As we only seem to traverse through parallel versions rather than all possibilities."

King sighed in exasperation, "Right… We're on an intermission any way, so I can let this go for now. But when we're ready to get back to things, I want you both out and you're not coming back. Understand?"

The twins spoke in unison, "Naturally."

"Fine. Scatter. Go do whatever you all want until I call you back in. I'm going to take a nap…" King dissipated again, leaving the humans and faunas in the theater to go off and do their own things.

John and Jeanne remained longer than any of the others.

John turned to his sister, "What shall be our next course of action?"

"Is that not obvious, brother? We're scientists."

"And so, we shall observe."

"Must we remain objective?"

"Would that not undermine the observation?"

"Then how may we know if the cat is alive or dead?"

"You raise an excellent point, brother. Let's see what we can find."

\/

Weiss, hoping to find something to make sense of those two, decided to spend her intermission in the library. She remembered Neptune had showed her a book documenting the various versions of Arc. Finding it was easy, but it was a multi-volume series due to the infinite number of universes. The versions were divided by the larger similarities but finding those two was difficult thanks to how many there were. She silently roared in frustration, she was in a library after all. "Where are they in this mess!"

A book from the shelf fell off, seemingly without provocation or other means. She walked over to it and picked it off the ground. The pages fell open and she found exactly what she was looking for. She felt those two were somehow involved in this, but for now she had what she was looking for.

The pages before her showed both of the Twins, one per page. The two were apparently quantum physicists, something that meant next to nothing to the heiress. A note in the book said that, while basic concepts can be explained, the scientific field in question was nearly unintelligible without proper understanding and multiple years of study. It certainly made Weiss feel better considering the rest of the notes just confused her even more. The two were from separate dimensions and were somehow able to communicate with each other through atomic Morse Code. They were able to collaborate on their research and create a machine to actually travel between these realities along their timeline.

As she looked at the pages a bit closer, her head started to pound. She brought a hand up to her head and staggered back. A pair of hands rose to keep her from falling. She turned to find John had been the one to help her. He smiled a bit, "Trouble standing?"

She pushed back off him and groaned as she clutched her head. "What are you…"

An image of her father appeared in her head. Only… he wasn't her father? He was a man dressed in a dark suit and was older than her father, not to mention his thick facial hair. She felt as though she hated this man, but she knew she'd never met a man that looked like that. _Come to me child and let us wash away the failures of those below. Once you inherit Columbia, you shall be greater than even I._

Weiss felt a warm feeling flow over her upper lip. She brought a finger up from instinct to find herself bleeding from her nose, "What's… what's going on?"

John didn't exactly seem sympathetic, but he didn't seem to hold her in contempt either. "You're experiencing memories not your own. It would seem our presence is bleeding our own reality into this pocket dimension. A fascinating prospect, indeed."

"Stop! You're not making any sense! Who was that man?! What is Columbia?!" Weiss clutched her head again as her mind recoiled in pain.

"Calm down, Ms. Schnee. You'll only make it worse."

"What do you mean make it worse?!"

Weiss's memories flooded with memories. She was looking at herself in a mirror. Her hair was cut short and she didn't have a scar over her eye. She wore a blue dress with a white corset and tall boots. _I won't go back, Qrow. I refuse to be caged again._

Weiss felt to her knees, "What's… Make it stop!"

John kneeled next to her, "Quiet your mind. Memories are mailable. Separate your own from these new sensations."

Weiss doubled over in pain. It was hard to follow his instruction when her head felt like it was being attacked by an industrial drill.

Another scene played out in her mind. One where she stood among counterparts of herself. Before them was Qrow Branwen. _He's Qrow Branwen_. One of her counterparts grabbed his arm. _He's Jacque Schnee_. Another grabbed his other arm. Qrow shook a bit, before a sense of acceptance washed over him, _I'm both…_ The Weisses pushed him underwater and held him to drown.

Weiss gasped in shock as she returned to herself in the library with John.

John looked down to her, his face unreadable, "You saw his death, didn't you?"

"I… I didn't… Why would I…"

"You didn't. You aren't her. You are experiencing her memories. Calm yourself, and it'll pass in time."

Weiss tried to get her nerves and mind under control. After a while, it did subside and she was at least able to stand again. "Make it stop!"

"I can't. Nothing I do or say can stop it. You must do that on your own. Anchor yourself through your own memories. From there, you can cast hers out from your mind."

Weiss took a breath before rummaging through her mind. Memories she cherished: Forming team RWBY, the dance, Winter, and her early years before her mother fell too far into the bottle. Even memories she despised: her father's temper, the White Fang attacks, her attitude when she first arrived at Beacon, and even that damned guitar. In time, her head stopped hurting again.

"Feeling better?"

"What… what did you do to me?"

"I didn't do anything. You simply experienced memories you shouldn't have. Pushing them out, they'll be no more than a dream."

Weiss rubbed her head with eyes closed. "That still doesn't…" She opened her eyes to find John was gone, "explain… how does he do that?"

\/

Velvet walked through the hall and found the door to the gardens. She decided to have a look inside. The area was positively beautiful, with flowerbeds and marble archways. It was like something out of a fairytale. She walked through and found an odd scene before her.

John and Jeanne were dancing together in the center of a clearing. An old phonograph sat on a nearby table playing their music. Velvet was able to recognize the old waltz they stepped, but one thing caught her off guard. When did she switch places with John? She was suddenly dancing alongside Jeanne, with the dimensional intruder acting as the lead.

Velvet looked around in confusion. _When did…?_

"A question unasked is unanswered."

"Um… okay… When did you drag me into this?"

"I simply skipped a step or two. Why? Do I not dance to your liking?"

"It's not…"

"Is it that you'd prefer your version?"

Velvet's silence, and reddening face, spoke volumes.

"This is why _I_ am the one we decided to speak with you." Jeanne led Velvet along in a simple waltz, but it was becoming more complex as they went. "You're quite good at this."

"Oh! Um… Thank you."

"Hoping you could impress your knight in shining armor?"

"What?! No! I…"

"Don't lie to me. I've no tolerance for such a thing."

Velvet whimpered a bit but sighed in defeat. "Okay, fine. But it's not because of Jaune. When I was a child, I always wanted to know what it was like to be the princess. I grew up in a poor area of my village, and my family didn't have much. So, I always dreamed about what it would be like to live a life where I didn't have to worry about anything."

"Dreamed? What changed?"

"I did, I suppose. I read more stories and looked back on the old ones. I found that princesses had terrible lives. Stuck in arranged marriages, kidnapped for political clout, locked away in towers for their _safety_ … But, I started to remember about the knight or the prince. How they would arrive to save the princess."

"And what? You choose to become the prince?"

Velvet shook her head. "No. I still want to be the princess. I just want to be the princess willing to wear the armor."

"Admirable. But now I simply must ask, why the interest in your Jaune?"

"I guess… it's because he's so sincere and honest. He wants to help people and thins about others ahead of himself."

"Do those on your team not meet these requirements?"

"They do, but I don't see them the same way." Velvet suddenly found herself alone again as John and Jeanne danced before her. "What just…?"

John nodded, "I told you. One simply cannot quantify a feeling."

Jeanne sighed, "I refuse to believe there is something we cannot understand."

John twirled his sister under his arm, "On the contrary, we simply need consider the individual rather than the masses." Their dance ended and John turned to Velvet, "Thank you, miss. You've given us much to think about."

Velvet just blinked and looked between the two. "Um… right. Glad I could help?" She turned and left the gardens, more confused than when she entered.

\/

Knox popped into the main theater with a deep yawn, "What did I miss?"

King sighed, "The Twins from the Columbia timeline decided to drop by."

"Really?"

"Yep." King teleported around the theater and going through some things behind the scenes.

"Everything okay?"

"I'm making sure we don't get a visit like this again."

"Do you think it'll work?"

"I have no idea what I'm doing, so no. But it's better to try than sit back and take it."

"Fair enough. So, what now?"

"Now, we call them back and get ready for the next world."

"Already?" John asked. He and his sister had appeared in the room without either fireballs noticing.

Jeanne smirked up to the floating beings, "So ready to be rid of us?"

King slowly floated down toward them. "You two don't belong here to begin with. I humored you so far, don't test me. Now, you both made me a promise."

"We're aware. You'll not see us again unless it's upon that canvas you have."

John bowed to the fireball, "We do apologize for our sudden appearance. We'll see ourselves out."

John and Jeanne disappeared from sight and from the pocket dimension.

Knox was silent for a while, "Something's bugging me. You're basically a god here. How did they just…" Knox came to a realization soon after, turning toward his purple-hued creator, "You…"

King laughed and floated back up to the top of the screen, "Come on, Knox. What I gain by just _letting_ them show up here? Call everyone back. It's time to get the next world playing."


	95. A Drunk and Glorious Man

**King: Okay! 95! We got this.**

 **Knox: You okay, man?**

 **King: Yeah... yeah, I'm good. Let's get right into it.**

 **Inspiration: Team Fortress 2**

 **/\**

Everyone gathered again in the main room and King floated over the group, "Alright! Snack run!" He moved through and got everyone snacks and drinks as they asked. Once everyone was set, he floated back up to the screen. "Who's ready for the next round?" King popped out of existence again as he continued, "Let's see what we get this time."

 **The scene opened to an old warehouse in the middle of a desert area. After a moment, the building erupted into fire and destruction. They heard someone laughing off screen as it did. The camera panned to the side to show Jaune from the back, dressed in a red uniform with a ballistic vest and bandolier over his shoulder.**

Velvet grumbled a bit, "That's not a good sign."

 **Jaune's laughter died off with a satisfied sigh. He grabbed something next to him and tipped it up over his lips, revealing it to be a squared bottle.**

Qrow laughed seeing this, "Damn! Kid drinks straight from the bottle. I'm kind of impressed."

 **Jaune finished the drink and tossed it off toward the building. "An' good riddance! Ha ha!"**

Yang grinned, "What is that accent?"

Velvet shrugged, "We have people with similar accents back at my old village."

 **Jaune turned from the building and walked off to the desert. "s'almost too easy~" He picked up a long sword and slung it over his back. A pair of grenade launchers, one smaller than the other, set on either side of his hips.**

Yang just turned to her sister, "Ruby?"

Ruby looked over the weapons for a moment before answering, "One of them fires standard grenades, like Nora's launcher. Though the actual apparatus to do so is skewed, so the grenades will probably spin midair…"

Nora gasped, "That sounds so fun~!"

"The other has another button by the trigger, likely for remote detonation instead of timers or impact."

Nora was getting more excited, "Awesome~ We need to figure out how to upgrade my grenades!"

 **Jaune walked off and the camera followed him along. Jaune cracked his neck and the camera moved along to show an eyepatch over one of his eyes. "Gon' ta have to bury what's left of them in a soup can~!" He laughed again and grabbed another bottle, taking a long drink.**

 **The scene faded to a new moment when Jaune kicked in a door to another warehouse. "Job's done!"**

 **A hand reached up and stopped him from going in further. This belonged to Neptune, dressed in the medical officer's coat. "There you are."**

"Ooh!" Nora grinned, "It's the mercenary group again~"

 **Jaune didn't seem bothered, "What?"**

 **"We've been given a directive by Madam Director. We're to be interviewed by a local reporter."**

 **"An' this is important, why?"**

 **"Because it's your turn." Neptune grabbed Jaune's shoulder and shoved him into a side room.**

 **Jaune hopped a bit at the sudden movement but retained some balance. At least enough to stay standing. He looked up to find Lisa Lavender sitting at a table, waiting for him. Jaune sighed and he walked over, taking a seat opposite her. "Now what?"**

 **The scene snapped to a red and tan card with [Meet the Demoman] written over the middle, that same jazzy tune playing. A grenade rested on the side and a sword leaned over the entire set.**

Neptune grinned and shook his head, "Got to get that in somewhere."

Jaune wasn't there for the others, so he was in for a fun time. Not that he knew it.

 **The scene returned to show Jaune and Lisa again.**

 **Lisa cleared her throat before smiling in that way reporters often would. The smile of a professional trying to look somewhat friendly and relatable. "Right then. Let's start with your name for the records."**

 **"Jaune Arc." Jaune didn't seem all that excited about the interview.**

 **"Right… And what about your job among the mercenaries?"**

 **"Demolitions."**

 **"So, you tear down buildings with explosives?"**

Nora laughed excitedly, "That sounds like an awesome job!"

 **Jaune laughed, "Buildings, sentry turrets, any daft laddie that gets in the way! Oh! And me liver~" He laughed again and took a long swig from a near bottle.**

 **Lisa kept up her grin, but it was obvious she was a in the deep end now. "Right. So, what would make you a good demolition officer?"**

 **Jaune's face turned sour as soon as she said that.**

Winter nodded, "She just stepped into a minefield."

Weiss turned to her sister, a bit confused, "How so?"

"The word _would_. It may imply that he doesn't have the trait in question."

"But, why get mad about that? It's a simple question."

Qrow laughed, "Kid. He's drunk. He's not going to care."

Winter scowled toward the caped huntsman, "Of course you would know…"

"I know my kind, Ice Queen."

 **Jaune slowly placed the bottle on the table before glaring toward Lisa, "** ** _What would make me a good demoman_** **? If I were a** ** _bad_** **demoman, I wouldn't be sittin' here discussing it with ya, now would I?!"**

 **Lisa, to her credit, was able to backpedal and reword herself like a champion. "I simply mean what trait do you** ** _have_** **that makes you so skilled at your profession!" She was very scared though. A drunk man in charge of explosives would do that.**

 **Jaune made the motion to say he was watching her before sitting back in his chair again. "If I had ta say anything, it would be ma nerves."**

 **"Nerves?"**

 **"Obviously. Ya have to have balls o' brass to do this job!"**

Ironwood nodded with a sense of understanding. "He's not wrong."

This confused a few, but they'd get an explanation soon.

 **Jaune continued, "One crossed wire, one wayward pinch of potassium chlorate, one errant twitch! And KABLOOIE!"**

Everyone now understood why he would say that. Shaky hands and nervous shakes would make the job nearly impossible, and likely get you killed.

 **Jaune grabbed the bottle again before taking a very long drink from the bottle. He downed most of the liquid within without breaking.**

Qrow shook his head, "Oh boy…"

 **Lisa watched the scene, uncertain of events. "Um… should you really be drinking then?"**

 **Jaune looked toward her before bringing the bottle down again and onto the table. "Ain't done me wrong yet. Might get me sway'n, but I still get the job done." Jaune took another sip from his bottle before looking over the outer shell of his addiction. "Sides, we got plenty of mad bastards like me in this operation."**

Weiss huffed in indignation, "That shouldn't be an excuse."

Qrow shrugged, "Long as he gets the job done with minimal collateral, I don't think it matters."

 **Lisa nodded, "I've met the rest of your team… I'm well aware."**

 **Jaune laughed, "That must'a been a hell of an introduction!" His laughing fell off with another long drink from his bottle. After a moment, he slammed the bottle back onto the table.**

 **Lisa knew someone who used to act in a similar manner, an old friend that drowned himself in alcohol to get passed a traumatic period in his life. She could see these signs a little too well. "Are you alright?"**

Ruby and Yang glanced toward Qrow and their father. After Summer died, the two went through their own demons. Tai just shut down and Qrow dived further into his bottle. They were happy that both men were able to move passed it, but they knew it was still under the surface.

Weiss and Winter, however, let their minds drift to their mother. It was as if she tried to escape from reality at the bottom of a wine bottle.

 **Jaune didn't get defensive or get angry. "I got a manky eye… I'm a French, Scottish cyclops! They got more fecking sea monsters in the old Loch Ness than they got the likes of me…"**

Qrow sighed, "Angry to sad drunk faster than I expected."

 **The scene faded again to show Jaune on the job. He jumped down from a deck and fired pill-shaped grenades off into the battle raging around him. Three such grenades launched through the air before landing in a sentry turret's nest. A second later, the turret was scrap. Jaune ran along and drew his longsword to lop a Blu merc's head clean off. He eventually found himself on an upper ramp with his launcher ready again. Five members of the Blu team marched toward him: the heavy (Yatsuhashi), the medic (Neptune), the soldier (Ruby), the spy (Fox), and the sniper (Pyrrha).**

 **Meanwhile, the interview with Lisa was continuing on, with Jaune's voice playing through the scene. "** ** _SO! Ta' all you fine dandies so proud! So cocksure! Prancing about with your heads full'a eyeballs! Come and get me I say!_** **"**

Yang laughed a little at his outburst, "Wow… he's pretty mad he lost that eye, I guess."

 **Jaune ran back through a building behind him and found himself leaving through a chokepoint doorway. An idea formed and he grinned at the scene before him. He swapped grenade launchers.**

Nora's head tilted a bit, "What's he doing? I know they're remote explosions, but why launch them without the others in sight?"

 **"** ** _I'll be wait'n for ya with a whiff of me old brimstone!_** **"**

 **Jaune fired these grenades at points around the doorway.**

 **"** ** _I'm a grim, bloody fable! With an unhappy, bloody end!_** **"**

 **The Blu team moved through the door in slow motion, realizing what surrounded them. Small grenades with spikes were stuck to the wall around the doors. Jaune was standing there with his bottle tipped up and drinking.**

Ruby brought her fist onto her open palm, "Oh! They're sticky grenades!"

Nora spun around toward Ruby, "Ruby! Make plans for weapon upgrades!"

"Already on it!"

 **Jaune grinned and saluted the five as the grenades exploded, killing all of them. The camera moved as if it was one of the Blu member's heads, landing face up. Jaune walked over into frame, laughing. He leaned down to the camera, "Aw… They're goin' ta have to glue you back together IN HELL!"**

Yang grinned from ear to ear, "Damn, that's a good line!"

 **The scene faded back to Jaune and Lisa.**

 **Jaune finished his bottle, "That all?"**

 **Lisa nodded once before standing. "Yes. That's all. Thank you for your time." With that, she left.**

 **Jaune stayed there for a while before grabbing another bottle. "Hmm… Need to get some more soon." As he walked out, he knocked over a pill that armed as it fell to the ground. "Need to get that good scrumpy~" Jaune laughed but as he tried to stand, he fell to the ground, passing out onto the floor. The jazzy outro followed soon after, as the world closed on Jaune's drunken snoring.**


	96. Huntsmen vs Hunter

**King: Okay! 96. Here we go again. ... Knox? You there? ... Where on...**

 **Knox: FBI! OPEN UP!**

 **King: WHAT THE HELL?!**

 **Inspiration: Rainbow Six: Siege's Kapkan (RWBY)**

 **/\**

Knox popped back in with a laugh. "I love that guy~ Wonder what's next."

King appeared again soon after, "Something that our young students might want to take to heart. This should be good."

They both disappeared together and screen formed the window to the next reality.

 **The screen opened to a small airship flying through the air. The national symbol of Arcadia was painted onto the side, just under the canopy. The ship landed at the courtyard cliff in front of Beacon. But, before they could see who left the vehicle, the camera moved away and back around the school.**

Nora groaned a little, "Aw man. I wanted to see who was on the ship."

"We're probably still going to see who it is." Ren reassured her. "Why bother showing us the ship otherwise?"

 **The new scene was that of Port addressing his students in front of an elevator door. "Now, students! For today's lesson, you'll be working in teams to complete a grueling gauntlet challenge!"**

Nora got excited again, "The obstacle course~!"

Ruby groaned, "I hate that course."

Blake shrugged, "Maybe if you didn't try to run through everything in it…"

Weiss nodded, "The course requires more finesse that simply running fast."

 **Yang raised a hand among the students, "No offense, sir, but we did this test with Ms. Goodwitch pretty recently."**

 **Port just laughed it off. "True, you've tested yourselves against the course, but this is a different test." He paused as the students murmured among themselves for a moment. "Today's test is one not against the clock. You have all the time in the world~ Instead, your opponent is smarter and far more skilled than a stopwatch. You'll all be facing a member of the Arcadian Defense Force."**

Yang leaned back and crossed her arms, "So, like a soldier? That doesn't seem that bad."

Ironwood grinned. He _really_ hoped this soldier was amazing. He wanted a military to get one over on them. Huntsmen and Huntresses in training have this tendency to underestimate the military.

 **Weiss raised an eyebrow, "** ** _A_** **member? Just one?"**

 **Blake shrugged, "Doesn't seem that much harder."**

 **Port grinned from behind his mustache. "And, for an extra challenge, your teams for this exercise will** ** _NOT_** **be the teams to which you are currently assigned. Instead, you've all been placed into teams of three at random."**

Qrow chuckled to himself, "And that test just got harder."

Ozpin nodded, "First years are notorious for their more tribalistic sense of the team. It's rare to find teams that can go beyond their own bubbles at first. It's one of the reasons this particular year has been a little more interesting than others. Particularly with teams RWBY and JNPR."

This got all eight of the teens to smile a bit. Their teams were practically family at this point.

 **Ruby panicked a little, "What?!"**

 **Port just nodded once, ignoring her tone, "Quite! You won't always be in situations with your team now, and you may have to learn to work with others at a moment's notice!"**

Port chuckled, "A fine lesson to learn! Take this to heart students~"

 **"Now, your opponent should be here soon enough~"**

 **"Actually…" A voice from among the students rose up and they parted a bit to show Jaune. His usual hoodie and jeans were swapped out for military survivalist gear. The upper portion of his face was darkened and matched with a hood and mask for better stealth in low light environments. Though, both the mask and hood were out of place for the moment. "I've been here for a bit now."**

Blake blinked in surprise. "Oh… Okay. I see where this is going."

Sienna smiled at the sight, "Young huntsmen versus the military hunter. A battle to be the apex predator."

 **Jaune walked out and turned on his heel to the students. "I am Specialist Jaune Arc of the Arcadian Defense Force."**

Winter thought for a moment, taking in the look of the young man, "At least he looks the part."

 **Yang chuckled a bit, "Really? You can't be any older than us."**

 **"I have trained just as long as you all have, simply in a different field. You all learned to kill mindless monsters. I learned to kill smarter targets. And I'm going to be using those skills on all of you today. We'll be competing with paint-based ordinances and ammunition. On the floor below us, I've set up a decoy explosive made out of paper mache. Your mission is to bypass my defenses and 'defuse' the device. But make no mistake, I** ** _will_** **be there to stop you. You have five minutes upon entry to complete this task. What's more, you'll all be tracked through your aura system. Taking a set amount of damage from the paint will remove you from the match. Don't get careless."**

Yang was just stunned at what she was hearing. "Okay… This is different." _He sounded… cool?_

 **Jaune turned as the doors opened. "Get into your groups and prepare." Jaune walked into the elevator and disappeared to complete his prep work.**

 **Port laughed at the look on his students' faces. "Well said! Now then… shall we get started?"**

 **The scene turned dark and opened like the elevator doors. The first four to enter the training floor were Coco, Nora, and Yang.**

Velvet chuckled to herself, "That's a dangerous combination~"

Ren grinned and nodded. As did the rest of team RWBY.

 ** _Begin!_**

 **The three readied their weapons and started to run into the compound. The new look reminded them of old office buildings down in Vale. Nora shifted her weapon into a hammer and reared her arm back to break through one of the walls. "We'll find that bomb in no time!" After a few hits, she broke the wall apart and found a burst of three paint-bullets in retaliation.**

 **Port's voice rang out over their scrolls, "** ** _Three clean hits to the core! Ms. Valkyrie is out!_** **"**

Nora went into a fit, "AW! WHAT?! WHAT WAS THAT?!"

 **Jaune was behind the door with a bullpup rifle in his hands, his hood up and mask over the lower part of his face. He ran off before Nora's temporary team could capitalize and attack. That said, he made it very obvious which way he was going. Yang and Coco ran off after him, only for Coco's leg to get caught in an old snare trap, hanging her upside-down from the ceiling. Three bullets hit her stomach and painted her attire in bright gold.**

 **"** ** _Ms. Adel is out!_** **"**

Coco took in a sharp breath. "Yikes. He's _seriously_ good."

 **Yang growled but took a defensive stance. She couldn't see him anywhere, and it was pissing her off. "Enough of these stupid games! Show yourself and fight!" Everything was way too quiet. There was no sound, only her breathing getting heavier with her adrenaline rushing. Her eyes turned red as she looked around.**

 **What happened next would only make things worse.**

 **A paint bullet hit the back of her legs, knocking her off balance for a moment. She caught herself and spun around as the third paint bullet slammed into her forehead.**

 **"** ** _Ms. Xiao Long is out! Team wiped! Mission failed._** **"**

Everyone was silent in shock. Jaune had just wiped all three in a matter of minutes. It was going to be one of those, wasn't it?

 **The screen showed as student after student was defeated by Jaune. A few of which were a bit more creative than others.**

 **Ruby was tripped and forced into a paint balloon a wall.**

This got a few snickers out of Ruby's friends. The situation was just funny.

 **Cardin got dropped by a paint grenade that was shoved into the top of his mace.**

Jaune took mental notes about Cardin's fighting style and how he might be able to exploit them.

 **Velvet was captured by a box cage with Jaune sitting on top of it.**

Coco sighed with a slight laugh, "Oh my gods, it's like that old rabbit trap gag with the box…"

Velvet shrunk in her chair in embarrassment.

 **Taking down Weiss was more methodical. The hits to bring her down were all sneak attacks spaced out over the five minutes to keep her from counter attacking effectively.**

Weiss sighed with a sense of defeat.

 **Soon enough, only three remained: Pyrrha, Ren, and Blake.**

Jaune thought for a moment before speaking up, "That's a really good team. But, and no offense to my teammates, I think that's only because Blake is on the team."

This got Blake's attention, causing her to turn to the knight, "Why's that?"

"Pyrrha and Ren don't have stealth training like you do. We're all used to head to head combat, not hit and run."

Ozpin nodded, "Excellent observations, Mr. Arc."

Pyrrha knew he was right, but still wanted to see how this played out before speaking.

 **Pyrrha, Ren, and Blake entered the combat area and stayed in a basic formation, moving slowly through the compound. They were more careful than many of the others, at the insistence of Blake. Blake being a faunas also helped with the low light levels of the zone.**

 **As they went, Ren peaked around a corner and nodded, "Clear." Once he said that, the three moved on again.**

Ironwood nodded with a grin, "A definite improvement over the first group."

Yang, Coco, and Nora all groaned.

 **The three made it to the halfway zone of the area. They got closer than any of the other groups. And so, Jaune got aggressive. As they reached another corner, Jaune popped out around it and grabbed Ren, pulling him around the corner. Pyrrha and Blake ran after him, but Ren was already covered in paint and dropped onto the floor. Jaune had escaped into the darkness and dropped their count to two.**

Blake was a little too impressed. He wasn't a ninja or anything when it came to stealth, but this Jaune was seriously skilled in his trade. Get in, take out a target, and get out. He put most of the White Fang's infiltration groups to shame.

 **Pyrrha and Blake were placed on edge because of this. As they moved, the shadows gave way to show Jaune above them on a tall set of crates. His rifle pointed square toward Blake for a moment. One pull of the trigger would take her out of the equation.** ** _But…_** **The sights moved to the side and fired a three-round burst toward them, hitting Pyrrha with two of the shots. Jaune ducked back behind the crates as they scrambled to get to safety.**

This just confused some in the audience. Blake in particular, "If he could knock me out, why didn't he?"

Sienna's eyes narrowed, "Sick bastard…"

Ilia turned to her leader, "What is it, Lady Kahn?"

"He's toying with them now. He's removing the two that aren't as trained in stealth to isolate Blake."

 **Pyrrha and Blake ducked behind a corner, it was the best they could find short notice. Both were breathing heavily, trying to calm themselves down again. Blake growled a bit, "Damn it. He's too good at this."**

 **Pyrrha had a thoughtful look on her face. "Blake. I may have an idea."**

 **"I'm all ears."**

 **"It's obvious he's planning to deal with me first to get under your skin. I'll lead him off as best as I can and you get to the device."**

Ironwood nodded a bit solemnly, "A good strategy given the circumstances… Though, if this were a real engagement, she'd likely be sacrificing her life to do so."

 **Blake knew this as well but saw it as the only option they had. "Alright. Be careful." Blake disappeared into the darkness, leaving Pyrrha alone.**

 **Pyrrha's eyes narrowed, "You might as well come out now."**

 **Jaune turned the corner with his weapon pointed square toward Pyrrha's torso. "How do you plan to distract me, then?"**

 **Pyrrha put on a grin, "That would ruin the surprise, wouldn't it?"**

Nora chuckled and wrapped an arm over Pyrrha's shoulders, "You're so awesome~!"

Pyrrha smiled, slightly embarrassed. "Thank you, Nora."

 **"Hardly. Your teammate isn't here."**

 **Pyrrha's grin fell away for confused fear, "What are you…"**

 **"It's obvious your friend is skilled, trained. Almost militaristic. You dd everything right up to this point. Checking corners, watching each other's backs, and giving the all clear. Unfortunately, you all fall into the same trap as everyone else. Tell me, Ms. Nikos, do you know the first rule of hunting?"**

Blake tapped her chair in thought. "Wait… Isn't that…?"

 **The camera followed Blake as she ran through the halls. The path opened up to the room with the false bomb, then everything moved in slow motion. The camera tracked down to her foot and panned to the right to show a device bolted to the wall. Her foot passed through of the laser wire as Jaune finished speaking.**

 **"Always watch where you step."**

 **The scene exploded into gold paint.**

 **"** ** _Ms. Belladonna is out! Time is up!_** **"**

Blake slammed her palm into her face in embarrassed annoyance. That was a rookie mistake that she should never have made. "Crap…"

 **The gold paint opened like the elevator doors as Blake and her team walked out. Blake's left side was covered completely in gold paint, and she was** ** _not_** **happy. Port laughed as Jaune approached behind him, "An excellent first attempt students. Let this be a lesson for you all. Go on and get cleaned up." As the students dispersed, Port turned to Jaune, "That was rather harsh, using those traps of yours."**

Tai tried to think through what he saw, "What was that trap anyway?" He expected Ruby to know instantly, but she didn't give him his answer.

Jaune did. "It looks like the Entry Denial Device my cousin Maxim invented."

Ruby spun around toward the knight, "Really?! What's it do?!"

"It's an explosive that spreads shrapnel when someone steps into its range."

Blake felt a shiver go up her spine. She would be killed by small chunks of metal tearing her apart, and that was horrifying. "He doesn't use it, right?"

"He hasn't had to, so no. He's part of the Defense Force so he doesn't need to unless someone attacks us first."

 **Jaune huffed, "Life's harsh, professor. Especially now that the White Fang are becoming bolder. That's why I'm here. To hammer these lessons into their heads so they're ready for the worst."**

 **Port sighed. "Of course." As he moved forward, he almost tripped on a glob of paint left behind by his students.**

 **Jaune just walked off, his foot never touching any of the paint without trying, "Watch your step."**

The last words of the reality got a laugh out of them.


	97. Before All Else, Do No Harm

**Knox: ...**

 **King: What?**

 **Knox: The hell?**

 **King:** ** _What?_**

 **Knox: He just... and he...**

 **King: Don't spoil it.**

 **Knox: Is this a thing in your version of their timeline?**

 **King: Yep.**

 **Knox: That's... kind of scary, dude.**

 **Inspiration: n/a (Haven't seen that in a while)**

 **/\**

And so, the next world began its run.

 **The scene opened to a black screen.**

Coco smirked a bit as the screen opened, "We seem to get those a lot."

 **They heard Jaune speaking through the void, "** ** _I always wanted to be a hero. I wanted to make a difference._** **"**

 **A green line ran across the middle of the screen.**

 **"** ** _To most, this meant going to a Huntsmen Academy like Beacon._** **"**

Ruby crossed her arms in a moment of thought, "So, this Jaune didn't go to Beacon?"

There was a sense of sadness among his friends in the room. If he hadn't attended Beacon, they'd have never met.

 **"** ** _To others, they join the military._** **"**

 **The line moved across the center again.**

Nora got a little antsy, "Okay, seriously, what's with the line?!"

Ren thought it over for a second, "It… kind of looks like a heart monitor."

 **"** ** _But for me…_** **"**

 **They heard a quick charging sound before the screen seemed to light up with an electrical overcharge. After a moment, the line returned taking a different path, indicating a heartbeat.**

Pyrrha smiled and clasped her hands together, "Oh! I get it! Jaune is a doctor in this reality."

 **"** ** _It meant taking a different path._** **"**

 **The line started to flow across again. This time the line split apart and created an outline of a symbol few of them had ever seen. Then, the line flowed away and the symbol formed within it. It resembled a straight sword with two snakes coiling up the blade before resting their heads on the cross guard. The center of the guard had a crow skull set into its form.**

Jaune felt a chill run up his spine. "Oh! Oh…"

Velvet turned to the young knight, a bit concerned by his reaction, "Is that bad?"

"No. Maybe? It's a special group back home called the Plague Walkers."

"That sounds pretty bad."

"They're travelling doctors that go around healing the sick and wounded."

"Oh. Um… never mind?"

Coco leaned forward to look around Velvet to see the knight, "Okay… then what's the catch?"

Jaune sighed, "The catch is that they're notorious for being a gambit. People that like to fight become warriors. People that want to help others become doctors. Plague Walkers could be any one, literally any one. All you need is medical knowledge and practical understanding. How they use it is up to them."

"Are there any back in Arcadia?"

"Not really. You don't see them too often in the kingdoms or large settlements with dedicated hospitals."

 **The Jaune on screen continued, "** ** _And it turns out, I have a knack for this kind of stuff._** **"**

 **The void faded off to show a patch with the symbol in question on an armband. The camera pulled back and showed a man in a dark tunic and pants. Every inch of the man's body was covered head to toe. Hands covered by gloves and his head obscured by a tight, dark hood that hugged his head. He also wore a wide hat and a mask with a beak over the lower half of his face.**

Yang took in a sharp inhale, "That's a weird looking mask."

 **The camera pulled back again to show the man wrapping bandages around a man's arm, "Try to take it easy for the next few weeks." The voice revealed the man in the mask was Jaune. "Luckily, harvest ended recently."**

 **The man Jaune was helping smiled to the masked doctor, "Yeah. Lucky enough~ Thanks again, Doc."**

 **"You can thank me by not being so reckless. Charging a Grimm like that will probably only get you killed." Jaune stood straight again and placed the remaining bandaging away.**

Ruby smiled, "Looks like we got lucky and this Jaune is a good guy after all."

 **The man smiled toward his healer, "You sure you can't stick around? You'd be a real help around here."**

 **"I don't doubt it. But if I stay, who will help the man lying on the path covered in blood? Who will help the child, lost and alone in the woods? You don't need my help anymore, but they do."**

 **"That why you're always traveling around?"**

 **"That's the idea."**

 **The man laughed, "One of those noble types. I get it. Go on. We understand."**

 **Jaune bowed lightly and silently turned away, walking off into the forest.**

Yang grinned and leaned back in her chair with her arms behind her head, "Not bad. Sweet look and acts cool."

Tai nodded, "Now, we just have to wait for how this goes wrong."

 **Jaune walked through the woods without fear. Then…**

 ** _Caw!_**

 **Jaune looked up into the branches to find a raven looking down toward him in the branches. Its eyes were red as blood and its gaze cold as ice.**

Qrow's eyes narrowed. Was this Raven in her bird form, or a simple bird that followed him?

 **Jaune stared at the bird for a minute before turning away and walking down the path. Within moments, he was surrounded by bandits.**

 **One of the bandits grinned at his 'mark' and laughed, "Long way from the kingdoms, aren't you?"**

 **Jaune was silent.**

 **"What? You mute or something?" After a moment, the bandit rolled his eyes. "Whatever. You found yourself in Branwen territory. Hand over your valuables and we'll let you leave in one piece."**

Qrow sighed, "Of course they'd be Raven's stooges."

 **Jaune didn't answer.**

 **This just made the lead mad. "Well?! You think we're joking?" He pulled heavy pistol and pointed it toward Jaune, "Hand it over or we'll take it from your corpse!"**

 **Jaune let out a breath and reached into his bag.**

 **"That's better."**

 **As the lead approached with gun forward toward his target, Jaune suddenly spun the bandit around and lightly pushed a needle toward the man's neck. "Do you know what would happen if I push a syringe's worth of air into one of your arteries all at once? If you're lucky, you might survive. But I doubt you will." Gone was any sense of care. Jaune was cold, a hellish man that could kill a man in countless ways without effort.**

Everyone went stiff in shock hearing him like that. A _doctor_ of all things speaking like that was scary.

 **The bandit lead started to panic, "You… You can't just…"**

 **"I can, actually." Jaune lightly dragged the needle along the man's neck. "It would be so easy. Might get it to burst if I'm fast enough. Can you imagine it? One little needle causing you to bleed out from the inside."**

The mental images this created made many of the viewers sick. It was a horrifying scene of the man dying in the forest without more than a small puncture in his neck.

 **Jaune held the man there in silence for a moment before continuing. "Now, I'll make it simple. You drop your weapon, and I'll drop mine."**

 **The bandit glowered but couldn't really fight this. He dropped his gun to the ground, defeated. Jaune moved the needle away from the man's neck and pushed him away.**

 **Jaune crouched and grabbed the gun from the ground, "It takes a special kind to attack and try to mug a doctor."**

Qrow sighed a bit after his prerequisite drink from his flask, "To be fair, he doesn't exactly look like a doctor."

 **The bandit growled before swapping it for a grin, "A doctor, huh? Well,** ** _doc_** **, if you think we're done here, you're wrong." The rest of the bandits pointed their weaponry toward Jaune, and the lead drew a smaller pistol he had hidden away in his boot. "Always pays to be prepared."**

 **Jaune glanced among the bandits. The tension seemed to build up to Jaune's reply, "I agree." The camera pulled away and they heard the sound of gunfire. When it returned to the ground level, Jaune was standing where he had been before but the bandits around him were all grounded, bloodied and broken. Black feathers were scattered about their bodies.**

Ruby shivered a bit in fear, "What happened?"

"If I had to guess," Ren replied, "whatever just happened is going to be important and shown to us later."

 **Jaune looked around at the bodies before starting to walk passed them. He didn't say a word, just stepped over the body of the lead bandit and continued down the path. As he walked down the path, he soon found a large bandit camp set nearby. "That must be the Branwen Tribe then…" He walked off toward the structure and the camera pulled back to show the raven from before resting on a branch above him. The bird spun its head to the side, looking to the camera, before flying off again. A black feather fell, acting as a transition to the interior of the camp.**

 **Within the barrier, Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury stood at the center as they met with Raven. Emerald and Mercury looked the same as the versions in the seats, however Cinder was not. Her dress was adjusted and now sported a long, left sleeve. A patch was placed over the left side of her face, but a scar was clearly formed beyond it.**

Mercury dropped back out of a relaxed stance, "What the hell happened to her?"

Emerald's eyes went wide and glanced to Cinder. Seeing her that scarred… It seemed impossible to her. Cinder was too powerful to be so beaten up. Right?

This scene did not sit well with Cinder, either.

 **Cinder spoke to Raven, who stood on an elevated platform by her tent, "I think you'll find my proposal is mutually beneficial."**

 **"And what benefits would** ** _we_** **receive? All I'm hearing is a veiled threat if we choose not to help you."**

 **"As I said, mutual benefit." Cinder made her threat clearer by creating a ball of flames in her hand.**

 **The scene was tense. The camera showed everyone inching toward their weapons or drawing them in the case of blades. One wrong move would result in a brawl. Everything seemed to build to a fight, until a cry cut through the air. Everyone turned to the source and found a raven with blood red eyes perched atop the bandit leader's tent.**

 **With the camp's attention on the bird, they didn't notice Jaune standing in the center of the crowd. "Take me to your sick and wounded."**

Yang growled a little in her chair, "Okay, seriously, what's with that bird?"

"That's a good question…" Qrow's previous theories were out. The bird wasn't Raven, though it was a raven, and it clearly wasn't a random bird. "There's more going on here."

 **Raven jumped a bit at the sudden appearance of this young man, "And… you are?"**

 **Jaune looked up toward the bandit leader, "I am Jaune Arc of the Plague Walker Corp. Take me to your sick and wounded."**

 **"Is that name supposed to mean something to me?"**

 **Cinder growled at this intruder, "Listen. I think it would be best for you to go. We're in the middle of something." Jaune ignored her, which just pissed her off. She swung her hand and the fireball flew toward the man that insulted her. The camera followed as the fire was sliced in half by a red katana blade. Raven had intercepted the attack.**

Yang, Tai, and Qrow were left surprised. Raven was never the type to save people, having a sink or swim mentality. Why save someone she didn't know and who was clearly annoying her?

 **It was clear by her face that Raven was thinking the same thing. "What… what just…?"**

 **Jaune turned bac toward her. "Odd…** ** _You_** **weren't supposed to intercept that attack."**

 **The raven on the tent cried out again.**

 **Jaune looked up to the bird in though. "Really now?"**

Ruby looked up to the screen in confusion, "Is he… talking to the bird?"

 **Jaune laughed from behind his mask. "How fortunate for me." Jaune turned toward the blade wielding bandit. "Raven, where are your sick and wounded?"**

 **Raven's breath hitched. She pointed him toward the back of the camp, "Grey tent in the back center."**

 **"Thank you." Jaune walked off and left the group in their confusion.**

 **Cinder looked between the two, confused, "What the hell is going on?"**

 **Jaune looked toward Cinder and his head tilted like that of a bird looking over something, "Are you angry?"**

Nora chuckled a bit, "He's taking this a bit far."

 **Cinder's eye twitched but she took a breath to calm herself down again, "No. But I want my answer from Raven."**

 **Jaune's head returned to a normal position. "Which one?"**

 **Cinder was confused before another cry broke the air. She heard the bandits starting to panic and looked around to a scene of horrifying implications.**

 **Ravens and crows had flocked to the camp, perching over the scene to watch their actions.**

Everyone nearly jumped at the mass of feathers, beaks, and talons. They'd never seen so many birds in one place. Yang recoiled a bit at the moment on screen, "What on Remnant is going on?"

Qrow tapped his chair, surprised but calmed thanks to his training and consistent drunken state, "They're all carrion eaters…"

"They're what?"

"Carrion is the dead carcasses you find on the ground, usually decaying. Every one of those birds is a scavenging carnivore, waiting for a kill to pick apart for their next meal."

Ruby nearly threw up at the thought. She knew how nature worked and how it was just that harsh, but this was on a new level. "That's so wrong…"

Qrow sighed and slumped into his chair. In his crow form (and the irony was not lost on him) a part of his brain would react to roadside corpses. Thankfully, it never got farther than a twitch to make him look toward it. _And people wonder why I drink…_

 **Cinder looked around at the birds, uncertain what she was seeing, "What on…" Her eyes returned to Jaune, "Who… what are you?"**

 **"I am what many would call a living contradiction, the altruistic sadist. I also happen to have a lot of feathered friends. Every one of which isn't happy that you just tried to kill me."**

 **"You expect me to be afraid of a bunch of birds?"**

 **"Not likely. But what about a magically super charged human that just happens to be able to become one of them?"**

Qrow felt a shiver run up his spine. It was likely his secret bird-based ability was out. But… "What did he mean by magically super charged?"

 **Cinder looked at Jaune, confused, but had to snap out of it as a blood red katana nearly lopped her head off. She retaliated with a fireball, but a gust of storm winds broke the attack, revealing Raven's eyes glowing an electric blue with an electric effect flowing out from her eyes.**

Qrow, Ozpin, Glynda, and Ozpin were all frozen with a look of shock on their faces. But they got over it after a moment. There was no way Raven was one of the Maidens. But… it did seem like something she might do, killing a previous Maiden and attaining the power by being the last thing she thought of… They would have questions for her when they got back.

 **Cinder jumped back in surprise. "So,** ** _you_** **were the Spring Maiden."**

Pyrrha blinked in surprise, a question lingering, "Wait… like the fairytale?"

 **Jaune's head tilted again, "So** ** _that's_** **what it's called. Then you're one of these Maidens as well?" He shook his head after a moment, "Doesn't matter. Go away and pick this up later. I have patients to attend to and you causing a fight will only make things worse."**

 **Cinder growled, "I will not be ordered around by you." She jumped a bit as the hoard of birds screamed out at her hostility. She knew there was too many, and Raven, the** ** _Spring Maiden_** **, falling under the same influence did** ** _not_** **help matters. "We're not done here." She spun on her heel and her cronies followed after her in fear of the mass of birds. Cinder's anger was boiling over and threatened to explode. When one of the bandits, a woman with a dark brown vest and asymmetrical pants with one side rolled up her thigh, accidently tripped her, she set out to explode on her.**

 **As Cinder raised her hand, Raven slashed forward and cut into her skin with a deep wound. Raven glared toward the camp's** ** _visitor_** **, "Big mistake." Bigger than she knew. The camera tracked as the birds glared toward her, wings spread wide. The screen cut away as a few of them jumped from their perch.**

Everyone went stiff. Was… was it implying what they think it was?

 **When it returned, one of the birds was hopping around the ground up to Jaune as he patched up a bandit sitting on a makeshift operating table. The bird hopped onto the table, before fluttering up to rest on his shoulder. "That should do it. Rest up for the next few days and avoid reopening the wound. Avoid strenuous work for the next mouth. Take over cooking duty or something."**

 **The bandit chuckled nervously, "Right… Will do."**

 **"That's the last of them," As Jaune walked out, the bandits watched in a mix of horror, gratitude, and confusion. Jaune walked on passed the bandits and out the door of the camp. The camera moved along to show a mass of birds picking at something on the ground, a stream of red flowing from the center.**

This made many in the audience feel sick to their stomachs. One went into a silent rage (Cough, Cinder, cough). Ruby wasn't as fortunate as before and ended up gagging at the scene.

 **One of the birds looked up to the camera before it cut out again with a single red flatline traversing the screen.**

 **Jaune's voice carried over the screen one last time with a light chuckle. "** ** _Dead on arrival. What a shame._** **"**


	98. Misc Stereotypes: Jaune

**King: This is so stupid.**

 **Knox: I think it's kind of fun. You wrote it. Did you not want to?**

 **King: Well... I liked it, I guess.**

 **Knox: See? No problem.**

 **King: Fair... Anyway, this is based on a series by SoundSmith on YouTube, the Team Fortress 2 Stereotype series. I enjoy the series despite not playing the game that often. I actually have ideas for all the others and some weapons and stereotypes. If you want to see those, I'll make a side story and write them out there.**

 **Knox: Did you want to make it?**

 **King: A little, bit... As always, I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

 **Inspiration: TF2 Stereotype Series by SoundSmith**

 **/\**

The screen ran into a bit of a weird one this time.

King popped in just before it played, "What the…? Wait… Can we actually do that?"

Knox appeared and created two wisps of fire to temporarily shrug, "I guess."

Jaune looked between the two, "Um… Is something wrong?"

"It's… not bad. Just a bit… odd."

King sighed, "Okay! Context is needed here. In this reality, you're all nothing more than video game characters. In the game in question, there are a multitude of cosmetic items and some are more… frequent than others for certain people. And enough built up stereotypes and someone decided to categorize some of them."

Yang grinned, "Oh~? That actually sounds pretty fun."

"It can be. Let's go, I guess."

 **The screen opened to show a stylized video game version of Jaune. He was dressed in a long sleeve version of his hoodie and with a gold scarf around his neck. He was dancing down along a train track on the map.**

Weiss sighed, "Why on Remnant is he dancing?"

Yang shrugged, "Probably a taunt in the game or something."

 **"** ** _Okay!_** **" The voice that spoke off screen was Knox's. "** ** _We've covered the cosmetics of Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang. So, now it's time to go over every one's favorite tank class, Jaune Arc._** **"**

Yang groaned, "Aw… I kind of want to know what mine would have been."

King shrugged using fire like Knox had before, "I'll look into it if everyone is interested. For now, just Jaune's."

 **"** ** _And, I've come to notice that the stereotypes for Jaune are… a mixed bag? Let's go with a mixed bag. Anyway, since Jaune is technically a support class, you'd think that means everyone that mains him are all team players that just love to help out the group right? … Well… yeah, usually. With one_** **very** ** _glaring exception._** **"**

 **The scene changed to a black void with a version of Jaune wearing attire like the bandits in the previous world. There was a label set underneath it, [Marauder's Mail].**

 **"** ** _This guy… This guy always runs the Righteous Revenge._** **"**

 **An image of a sword with notched teeth appeared from the side.**

Ruby explained it without anyone needing to ask, "A sword breaker. You catch the opponent's blade in the teeth and snap the metal or wrench it out of their hands."

 **"** ** _He thinks the sword's healing effect added to his massive aura pool makes him invincible! But in reality, he's probably just going to get picked off because he runs straight at the enemy team without a plan._** **"**

Yang sunk back into her chair with a groan. "I hate guys like that. Might as well be playing with one less player."

 **"** ** _Thankfully, you don't see this one too often. But when you do… for some reason, he always ends up on your team and you lose because he can't seem to STAY ON THE POINT AND CAP YOU-_** **" The screen changed to something resembling one of those technical difficulties screens. Knox groaned in the background. "** ** _Goddamn it._** **"**

This got snickers out of Nora, Yang, and Ruby, who were all the gamers of the groups in question after Yang and Ruby introduced the pastime to the hammer wielder.

 **"** ** _Okay… let's just get to the next one before I have an aneurism._** **"**

 **The new cosmetic showed two sets of long capes over his back. One had a hood over his head while the other was slightly tattered along the bottom of the cloth. They were labeled [The Capes] above them with specific names under each: [Hooded Cowl] and [Hero's Banner].**

This got Qrow and Ruby to pay a bit more attention, a fact that got Tai and Yang to chuckle a little.

 **"** ** _Right… The capes. Okay, I'm putting these together because the stereotypes are the same. Yeah, stereotypes, as in more than one. They tend to change depending on what color they're painted._** **"**

 **The images changed to show versions of Jaune with one cape being blue while the other was grey.**

 **"** ** _If the cape is grey or blue, they're probably running a Defender set. You know, probably wearing the Paladin's Plate Mail and the Knight Sights? They're usually the types that take their jobs as tanks seriously. I'm always happy to find these guys on a server._** **"**

Pyrrha smiled a bit, "That's certainly sounds like Jaune."

Jaune grinned, feeling a bit better. Maybe considering updating his armor.

 **The capes swapped to white.**

 **"** ** _If it's white, stay close to this guy, because he'll definitely have the Crusader's Crossguard for team healing. Seriously, I love these guys._** **"**

 **The capes swapped to a red hood and the tattered being bright yellow.**

 **"** ** _If the cape is red or yellow, they're probably in duo ques with a Ruby or Yang. If you're working with Ruby, you use the red hood, you kind of have to commit to the bit._** **"**

Yang laughed at the scene and pulled her sister into a one-armed hug, "That's adorable~!"

Ruby tried to free herself, to no avail, "Yang!"

 **"** ** _As for the Banner… Eh. I think it's supposed to match how long Yang's hair is? I don't know. Let's move on._** **"**

 **The next cosmetic was a regal coat complete with golden accenting and button work. It was labelled as [Prince Charming].**

This got snickers out of Ruby and Yang, who remembered Jaune's failed attempts at asking Weiss out and how creative he tried to get. Really, it was the just the name that got them laughing.

 **"** ** _Okay. This one's kind of like the capes in that the color changes the stereotypes. They also usually have a different set for hats._** **"**

 **The picture showed Jaune dressed in the coat in solid white. His hair was styled and slicked down.**

 **"** ** _If it comes in white, he'll usually have the Corporate Cut hair and will be paired up with a Weiss._** **"**

 **Another Jaune in the coat moved onto screen in a black version of the coat. Unlike the other, he had a full beard.**

 **"** ** _If it's in black, he'll have the Rugged Rex and be paired with a Blake. Like a Beauty and the Beast thing._** **"**

Yang's burst out into laughter. "That's funnier than it should be."

Jaune sighed and hung his head in a sense of defeat.

 **"** ** _And if it's purple… it's probably King. Or someone trying to pretend to be King._** **"**

 **The coats moved aside and were replaced by a Roman armor set, [Centurion of Attention].**

Yang snickered a bit at the name.

 **"** ** _This one's usually paired up alongside… a Pyrrha… huh… I never noticed it before, but Jaune has a lot of outfits that match really well with the other characters._** **"**

 **As he listed them off, each cosmetic appeared on the screen from left to right.**

 **"** ** _There's the one's we already talked about for team RWBY, this one for Pyrrha, Norman Knight with Nora…_** **"**

 **The Jaune added to the line up was dressed in Viking style fur armor.**

Nora nodded, "That's kind of neat."

 **"** ** _… Young Sage pairs nicely with Sun or Ren…_** **"**

 **The Jaune was dressed in garb reminiscent of a warrior monk.**

Ren had to agree the esthetic paired well with his own.

Sun laughed a bit, "Dude, that looks awesome~"

 **"** ** _… Resistance fits well with Coco's style and Majestic Mage fits with Velvet's._** **"**

 **The attires were a golden coat, similar to a uniform, but in an inconspicuous style, and a tail coat that made him look like a magician.**

Yang laughed to herself at a joke she didn't dare tell. _Bet he pulled a rabbit out of her hat. Or maybe her pants~_

 **"** ** _I think the only exception is Neptune. But, you really just have to die any of his coats red and blue and it works._** **"**

 **The versions fell away and were replaced with a set of close ups showing various small dolls of the others in RWBY, JNPR, Coco, Velvet, Sun, and Neptune. [The Pocket Series].**

Kali gushed a little at the dolls, "Oh my goodness, those are adorable~!"

 **"** ** _I've lumped these together as the Pocket Series because the stereotype is pretty much the same. It's likely that his significant other plays the class in the pocket, since Jaune is the only character that can equip all of the pocket versions of the others. That or he's passive aggressively telling his team to group up. Not a lot to it, really._** **"**

 **The next one showed a full set of plate armor, [Paladin's Plate Armor].**

 **"** ** _This guy! Total bro. Any one wearing Paladin's Plate Armor is sure to be the ultimate team player. Doesn't make him perfect or all that amazing at the game, but you can usually count on him to help you out in a pinch._** **"**

This got Jaune thinking, "I wonder if I could actually get a full set of armor…"

 **The next cosmetic showed Jaune with a small Beowolf head hanging from his belt. [Grimm Trophy].**

 **"** ** _This is a Grimm cosmetic so, you're going to get the usual edgy middle schooler. But! There's also one major subset with this particular item. If the head has no effect, they're probably edgy. If the head has an unusual effect, like spinning hearts or burning flames, then this guy is either a master trader or rich as hell. Seriously, the_** **cheapest** ** _one is…_** **"**

 **The screen swapped the scene to show a screenshot of the in-game store as it zoomed in on the number [10,000 – Crystals].**

Weiss's mind went to Dust crystals and felt a chill go up her spine, "That's… I get the feeling that's a lot."

 **"** ** _… too much. But that's because it looks pretty cool and strange effects are just icing on the cake._** **"**

 **The next cosmetic was a long robe that reached down to his knees, having long sleeves and a collar that wrapped over his neck, [Unexpected Inquisitor].**

It reminded Ozpin of the pre-Great-War torturers. The kind that would specialize in obtaining confessions, no matter how guilty someone was.

 **This one started with a skit. It showed a Blake, dressed in similar garb to a ninja but with a gold scarf, running along an urban road. They heard Knox speaking, indicating he was the one controlling the character, "** ** _Okay! Hold the point, I need a health pack, then I'm going to flank._** **" The Blake ran around a building and through an alley.**

 **Only to find a Jaune dressed in the Inquisitor in the streets. The screen froze and zoomed in on the Jaune.** ** _Surprise mother fucker_** **. The Jaune slashed at the Blake and killed her, causing the character to rag doll into a wall.**

Yang burst into laughter and almost fell off her chair. "Oh my gods~! That was… I can't…!"

Blake was stunned into a semi-pained expression. "That… That doesn't…"

 **Knox sighed. "** ** _Okay. Inquisitor Jaunes are the types that play the flanks and always – ALWAYS! – find a way to sneak up on you. He's not a flanker, but he's always better at it than a Blake or Ren. I might be a bit salty._** **"**

 **The screen swapped to the interior of a salt mine with [Accurate depiction of Knox's level of salt] written across the picture.**

Yang just laughed a bit harder.

 **The cosmetics swapped again to Jaune wearing a pair of sunglasses with silver frames, [Enforcer's Shades].**

 **"** ** _Enforcer Jaunes are usually the types that focus on playing the objective. They'll usually get killed more often than others, but you can never deny that they were why you won the match. So, keep that in mind._** **"**

Coco laughed a bit at the style. She certainly appreciated this one.

 **The next set was a pair of contacts that changed Jaune's eyes to pink and brown paired with a three colored, sophisticate's coat, [Neo Arcadian].**

Yang tried to be skeptical or quiet but ended up laughing it off.

Neo raised an eyebrow in intrigue.

 **"** ** _The Neo Arcadian came out in the Cold Steel update._** **"**

This just got Yang to laugh again. " _Cold Steel_?! He looks like walking ice cream and it's from a Cold Steel set?!"

 **"** ** _This cosmetic is mostly used by…_** **" Knox sighed. "** ** _I can't do this. I fucking love this coat, but NO ONE wears it!_** **"**

Yang laughed at Neo's insulted reaction.

 **"** ** _I get it, it doesn't mesh as well with most of his cosmetics, but… it matches into itself no less! He looks like a walking ice cream treat! I just wanted to get it out there how much I love this coat._** **"**

 **The cosmetics swapped again to a long white trench coat that resembled Roman Torchwick's, [Smooth Criminal].**

Roman smirked, "This ought to be good. Love the name, by the way~"

Neo smirked and rolled her eyes.

 **"** ** _Smooth Criminal Jaunes are common enough since Jaune doesn't have any other trench coat cosmetics. That said, you don't see this too much. They're either going for a detective look or think it looks cool._** **"**

Coco waved her hand in a 'so-so' motion, "I guess… But it probably wouldn't work with his weapons."

 **"** ** _That's about it, really… It's no Neo Arcadian, but I like it. Okay. Script says we have one more. There's usually a skit for the last one._** **"**

 **The last cosmetic was a chest piece of steel armor with long cloth sleeves, a shallow feather collar, and a pair of long coat tails that reached just behind his knees, [Glorious Champion]. There was a song ramping up in the background as the camera zoomed in on the coat.**

Some in the audience were leaning forward in anticipation of where this was going.

 ** _GLORIOUS! NO, I WON'T GIVE IN! I WON'T GIVE IN! 'TILL I'M VICTORIOUS! I WILL DEFEND! I WILL DEFEND!_**

 **** **The screen showed gameplay of this Jaune running through opponents with his sword and defending teammates. He made the game look easy and his opponents look like untrained ninnies.**

 ** _AND I'LL DO WHAT I MUST! NO, I WON'T GIVE IN! I WON'T GIVE IN! OH, SO GLORIOUS! UNTIL THE END! UNTIL THE END!_**

 **The music cut and screen went black with white text, [I like this one].**

This got a chuckle or two out of some of them. It was timed well and appropriately over the top.

 **Everything went back to normal and Knox's voice returned, "** ** _The Glorious Champion~! This one's is like the Paladin's Plate Mail with one big difference. This guy is almost guaranteed to be a god at his job. Grenade flying toward your face? He's right there to block it. Blake sneaking up on you with a backstab in sight? He's got your back covered. This guy is your best friend in a match. But, don't expect much in the way of communication. He'll join a server, stomp it, and leave, never to be seen again._** **"**

Coco sighed, "It looks alright, but I'd suggest against it. It's just… too much going on. Then again, games have different rules than the real world."

 **The dancing Jaune returned to the screen as Knox continued, "** ** _Alright. That's the last one for now. Anyway, like last time, Nora is up next. So, look forward to that, I guess. Until then._** **" The world ended with the sounds of relaxing cello playing.**

Yang laughed, "I _have_ to see this game. At least some of the other stereotypes."

King popped back for a moment, "I _can_ set something up on the side, but we'll have to see how things go."


	99. One Bizzare Adventure

**King: 99 chapters!**

 **Knox: Holy shit!**

 **King: Really, Knox?**

 **Knox: Can you blame me? I could try to fight it, but we all know how it would go.**

 **...**

 _ **Sparks and fires flew between the two like a flurry of a punches.**_

 **King: ORA! ORA! ORA! ORA! ORA! ORA! ORA!**

 **Knox: MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA!**

 **Inspiration: Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders**

 **Note: It's the end of the season, so spoilers for those that care.**

 **/\**

Yang came down from her laughing high, "That was fun."

The screen started to form the next world over time as they spoke.

Ruby nodded, "Yeah. Especially with the one before it."

Coco chuckled with a nod, "True. And I've got a few new ideas for some new outfits."

Velvet rolled her eyes and grinned. She looked up to the screen again, "Oh! It looks like the next one is ready."

 **The screen opened to show Jaune standing in an empty street in the middle of the night. He was dressed in a long black coat with a chain connected to the left side of the collar. His pants were held up using a pair of thin belts with two sets of colors each, formed by alternating triangles. His hat also seemed to blend into his hair.**

Yang started to laugh, "What is that? Where does the hat end and the hair begin? I wonder how he does that."

Coco felt a shiver go up her spine. This version of Jaune was a god damn hunk! On one hand, it wasn't fair. On the other, there's enough competition for the guy as there is.

 **Jaune was glaring toward someone off screen.**

 **The camera moved around to show a figure standing on the opposite side of the street. He was a man slightly shorter than Jaune and dressed in a sin tight black shirt, yellow pants, a yellow jacket, and with several light green hearts on his knees, belt buckle, and headband. He had dark hair that was slicked back, but still wild.**

Cinder raised an eyebrow. _He looks a bit like Tyrian, but… less insane?_ If anything, he almost seemed like a combination of Tyrian and Watts.

 **Tyrian laughed. "I've been waiting for this for too long. I've already dealt with Nikos and the old man."**

 **The camera moved over Jaune's shoulder to show Ozpin lying on the ground behind him. A knife was embedded in his throat and blood ran down over his chest.**

Ozpin sighed. It wasn't the first time he'd seen himself die on this screen. And he's lived far too long to really let it get to him. But it was still hard to see sometimes.

 **Jaune's glare intensified, but he remained silent for the moment.**

 **"I'm sure Schnee is hiding around here somewhere. But that doesn't matter." Tyrian pointed toward Jaune, "You're next, Jaune Arc."**

 **Jaune tightened his fist and started to walk toward him, "You bastard."**

 **Tyrian grinned, "Oh? Coming closer despite the fact that your grandfather, Ozpin, told you about the power of my Stand? Are you so quick to throw out is last words to you?"**

Qrow covered his mouth with his fist to hold back a snicker, "Really? The kid is Oz's grandson?"

Ozpin blinked in surprise. His past lives _had_ children, but he never considered it in the current world. At least… not yet.

Ruby's head tilted slightly, "But what's the part about standing?"

No one had an answer for the moment. But they would soon.

 **Jaune continued to glare daggers toward his opponent, "I can't beat the shit out of you without getting closer."**

Yang laughed and clapped her hands before pumping her fist toward the screen, "Love that! I like this version already~!"

 **Tyrian's grin never faded, "Oh? Well, come on then~" Tyrian started to move toward Jaune as well.**

 **The camera moved upward to spin around the scene as the two approached toward one another in the street. Once they were only a few feet from each other, the camera snapped to Jaune. The air around her seemed to sparkle with rainbow stars, then a silver blue skinned humanoid with dark hair dressed in battle gear, that seemed to look a bit similar to Jaune, seemed to shoot out from the shimmering air and charged toward Tyrian.** ** _ORA!_**

Yang jumped in surprise, "What the heck is that?!"

No one could even begin to understand.

 **Another being appeared, one with a golden body, armor, and being rather muscular. He was opposite the one created by Jaune, likely formed Tyrian. The golden warrior blocked the silver's punch with a kick. The force of the blows created a small crater next to Jaune and ripping his pants and turned the skin beneath it red.**

 **Tyrian laughed, "Too slow. Too slow! The World is the ultimate Stand."**

"Okay. So, the people that just appeared are called Stands," Gira surmised.

Kali nodded, a finger resting on her chin in though, "But _what_ are they?"

 **Tyrian's grin spread, turning sadistic, "Even without the power to stop time, its power is far beyond your miserable Star Platinum."**

Jaune got a bit defensive now, "Woah, what?! Stop time? How is that fair?!"

 **The Jaune on screen was significantly calmer, "So, it's the same type of Stand as Star Platinum… Not much range but immense power and precision."**

 **Tyrian crossed his arms and chuckled, "I wanted to test you and your Stand to see just how much more powerful The World is, but it seems that won't be necessary after all."**

 **Jaune raised an eyebrow before looking toward his leg, "What? Because of this? Doesn't even hurt. Though, I guess you did ruin my 2,000 Lien pants."**

Nearly everyone with a drink choked on it in that moment.

Velvet looked up to the screen, eyes like dinner plates, "Who would spend that much on pants?!"

Coco shook her head. "No kidding. I will readily admit that fashion is expensive, but 2,000 Lien should be, _at least_ , a full outfit of some of the best clothing."

 **Tyrian's grin fell and he looked to Jaune with a sense of annoyance, "Why must everyone in your damned family be so stubborn to admitting defeat?" His grin returned and he held his arms up in a** ** _what can you do_** **motion, "Fine. I'll rise to your provocation and test you a bit more."**

 **The World materialized again and charged forward, punching at a blocking Star Platinum. Platinum pushed The World back and unleashed a flurry of kicks, none of which hit home as The World blocked with a street sign. The two collided again with The World's hand slamming a chop down onto Platinum's raised elbow. Platinum pushed The World back and punched toward its head. With each punch, he shouted** ** _ORA!_** **with a voice similar to Jaune's. The World moved its head to the side to dodge the first punch. As the second flew toward him, The World hadn't moved fast enough and a small cut formed on his cheek from Platinum's attack.**

 **A similar injury appeared on Tyrian's cheek.**

Everyone jumped a little at the sudden injury.

Weiss shook her head and rubbed her eyes to try to figure out what she'd seen, "What? But… He didn't get hurt, the golden Stand thing did."

Ozpin tapped his mug in thought. "I wonder…"

Glynda looked to the headmaster, "What is it, Ozpin?"

"I may have a theory as why this happened. There's not much to work with through it, but I think those Stands are like our auras; extensions of ourselves. If that were the case, it would explain the similar, seemingly spontaneous injury."

Port thought it over for a moment, "If one is injured, so too is the other… That would be the most likely reason."

 **Platinum continued to punch toward The World before being blocked the golden Stand's fists.**

 **Tyrian smirked, "Shall we compare the punching speeds of our attack rushes now?" He brought his hand to his cheek, showing it to heal as it moved away.**

 **Platinum began his flurry of punches, coupled with an unending stream of ORA! The World did the same, uttering Tyrian's battle cry of 'useless' as spoken in Jaune's native tongue, MUDA! MUDAs and ORAs flew with every punch. Their arms were blurs and the air shook with each impact.**

Yang was amazed to see the scene and grinning from ear to ear. "Woah~! This is awesome!" She swung her fist upward with a hardy "Ora!" of her own.

 **As the two beings continued their onslaught, Jaune and Tyrian started to float up into the air from the forces they were creating. The two, themselves, hadn't moved from their spots, the Stands fighting between them as manifestations of their fighting spirits.**

Oobleck nodded, "It seems Ozpin was correct."

Tai chuckled a bit, "Wish I had one of those."

 **To the world around them, they saw nothing between the men as the force of each impact rushed through the wind. The World slipped a feint passed Platinum and landed a heavy hit to the cheek, causing blood to gush from new wounds on Jaune's cheek.**

Roman burst into laughter at the sight, "Kid didn't even flinch!"

 **Tyrian placed his hands on his waist and laughed, "It seems my Stand truly** ** _is_** **more powerful and precise. I'm satisfied now. So, let's be rid of you! I've learned from my past. I will not show mercy, simply kill you quickly! Now, the true power of my Stand! The World! Stop Time!"**

 **The world around him turned to negative through a ripple effect before returning to a muted normal world. Everything was still, save for Tyrian and The World. Tyrian smiled and moved toward Jaune. "Today, your damned bloodline ends. I'll finally be rid of my age old enemies who would dare make an appearance in my destiny." Tyrian raised his hand to strike at a Jaune that couldn't fight back. "Farewell!"**

This just pissed Yang off, "Asshole can't even earn it…"

 **The camera zoomed to Jaune's hand as it twitched.**

 **Tyrian saw the motion and jumped back. That shouldn't be possible. "Did he just…"**

 **Jaune was still. Muted and unmoving. Then, his hand flinched again.**

 **Tyrian was in shock, unable to believe what he was seeing. "They… they** ** _are_** **the same?"**

Ruby brought her fist onto her open palm. "Oh right! Jaune said their Stands were similar. They must have similar powers, too."

 **The camera zoomed to Jaune's eyes, still filled with color.**

 **"Can he see me, or did his hand move subconsciously?" Tyrian growled, "Tsh… Time's up."**

 **The world returned to normal as The World's powers hit their limits. When time moved forward again, Tyrian was behind Jaune. Jaune turned to face the man with a glare.**

 **Tyrian returned the glare in kind, "Could you see me?"**

 **Jaune was silent.**

 **"I said could you see me, Jaune Arc?!"**

 **"Who knows? I have no idea what you're talking about, Tyrian."**

Yang was loving this version. Good looking, strong, witty… It was awesome! She liked to think it reminded her of herself, if puns can be considered wit. But that's subjective at this point.

 **Jaune's aura flared, his fighting spirit allowing him to fly back down toward the ground. As he approached a building, Platinum appeared again and righted his course to fly along the streets.**

 **Tyrian followed after him. "It doesn't matter! If you** ** _can_** **move in my realm of stopped time, then let's see you move!"**

 **Tyrian thought back to the first time he'd entered his space of stopped time. He had one of his underlings shoot him with a shotgun to test the speed and precision of The World. At first he thought it was simply his heightened reaction speed, like a boxer or people in accidents that experiences seconds as though they were minutes.**

 **Tyrian went off into a manic laugh, "Now! Jaune Arc! I shall see just how powerful you are and strong I have become! Five seconds in a world beyond time! Let's see you just try to move! The World! Stop Time!"**

 **The world shifted to a muted form again. Tyrian had five seconds and was gaining time with each use. Tyrian closed the distance between the two and looked to Jaune's hand. It twitched again as he approached. Then, he moved his hand closer to Jaune, causing another twitch. Tyrian started to laugh. "Clever, Jaune." He raised his hand up to find a small magnet on his wrist. "When we were exchanging blows, you snuck this onto my arm." He removed the magnet and had it fly to its counterpart on Jaune's sleeve.**

Ruby grinned, "I get it. That way, when he got close, it would look like he could move, but was actually a reaction between the magnets. Since this Tyrian guy is still unaffected by the time stopping, it would probably move Jaune's magnet enough to freak him out."

Jaune, however, disagreed, "No way. The magnets look too weak for that to work given how far they are. And that's assuming it would work at all with frozen time."

"So, what do you think? A deliberate misdirection?"

"Most likely."

Ozpin smiled as he took a sip from his mug. There was a reason he put those two in charge of their teams. True, Ruby needed that extra push to get her act together and Jaune would often struggle to keep up with his classmates in combat, but it was difficult to deny the two were more than qualified as leaders.

 **Tyrian few back and around for momentum. "You had me fooled, but if you're using a trick like this, it means you truly can't move in stopped time. You only added a few seconds to your life! Now! Die, Jaune Arc!"**

 **As The World raised its hand for a strike, the camera moved to Jaune's hand, which regained color and moved slightly. Platinum was free to move just long enough to counterattack. Platinum's fist embedded into The World's stomach and ripped Tyrian's own apart.**

 **"What?!" Tyrian shouted out in pain. "Damn it! He** ** _can_** **move. Only for a moment, but he can move! The magnet wasn't to make me think he could move, it was to think he couldn't to lure me in!"**

Jaune smirked with a satisfaction of being right. He'd been working on becoming more observant and honing his quick-thinking skills.

 **As time moved forward again, Tyrian flew through the air and into a store window. The glass shattered apart and shards dug into his leg, causing it to sever on impact with the ground. All this commotion, and the fact that a man flew through the window and lost his leg, scared the shop keeper into screaming in terror. This was only compounded when Tyrian sat up and turned to her, "Woman, fetch my leg and give it here." This, naturally, just made her scream again. "Damn it! Hurry up and bring me my leg!"**

"What was he expecting?" Blake shook her head, "Better question, though. What is he? No human or faunas could survive something like that, much less stay conscious."

 **Jaune landed on the ground again, glaring toward the shop. "I got in a hit, but that's all I could manage." Jaune looked up to a now standing Tyrian. His leg was healing and reattaching as though nothing had happened, his thumb buried in the shop keeper's throat. "Guess I'll have to bash your skull in if I want to do any lasting damage." Tyrian was draining her of her energy and used it to heal himself, a century old vampire with a stolen body.**

Everyone was in shock. Vampires, as a concept, seemed ridiculous to them as a concept. Nothing more than fiction. But it was hard to deny what they were seeing on the screen. And, to be fair, they'd seen pretty weird stuff already.

 **Tyrian tossed his meal aside and the world snapped to a new position. Tyrian now stood atop a street sign and Jaune was looking over his shoulder toward him. Tyrian laughed, "Your eyes followed me in the world of stopped time. You truly can see me in there."**

 **"Seems so…" Jaune turned his body back toward Tyrian.**

 **Tyrian chuckled, "I suppose you have Nikos to thank for that. She told you the secrets of my Stand. And with it, you were able to invade my world of stopped time." The world skipped again with Tyrian on top a building's balcony railing. "So, that gets me thinking. How long can you move in my world? Two seconds? Three? Perhaps five seconds like me and you're pretending that you can't like you had before."**

 **Jaune's fist tightened. Tyrian was getting cautious, which made his job that much harder.**

 **"If I had to guess, I'd say your limit is only a moment's time." Tyrian had no way to tell that he was right, but it didn't matter in his eyes. "But I've learned that I can no longer underestimate you by getting close. So! I've decided how you'll die!" Tyrian drew a massive number of knives with more held in on his belt in front of him.**

Tai took in a sharp breath, "Oh… that's not good."

 **As Jaune tried to jump away, Tyrian froze time again. As he flew up to meet Jaune, he threw knives into a pattern surrounding Jaune. "Five seconds." The knives froze in the air as they took their place in the standard time flow. "Four seconds." Then, he threw more and more.**

Ruby placed a hand on her head, confused by the situation, "This seems a little longer than two seconds passing."

Penny nodded, "It's likely something similar to what Tyrian mentioned before. A trained fighter or a person in a disaster will perceive time at a faster rate. Time will seem to slow as a result."

 **"Being able to see this must be terrifying for you, Jaune. Three seconds." He threw another wave. This time, Platinum knocked them out of the way, but he froze up soon after. Tyrian laughed at the scene before him. "Two seconds left. This proves you can only manage a moment." He flew back and sat on a chimney nearby. "One second." Tyrian's grin spread as Jaune couldn't answer. "Zero."**

 **Time moved forward again and so did the knives. Platinum was able to knock a lot of them away, but blades still buried into Jaune's body and one to his forehead. The young fighter fell to the earth below.**

The Beacon students all recoiled in shock. The suddenness of the scene was shocking, but what made it worse was that it wasn't. They saw the cause and effect. It wasn't a sudden attack from nowhere, they saw how it happened and new that this Jaune had seen it all happen with them.

 **As the dust rose up from Jaune's crater, the people on the streets ran in terror. As it cleared, they saw his body lying on the ground.**

Coco raised an eyebrow, "Hold on. Shouldn't there be more blood? If the wounds were that deep, there'd be more blood. Shouldn't there?"

 **They saw Jaune's head move slightly, his hat moving just enough to show them a book beneath the fabric.** ** _Good thing I placed these books in my clothes before the fight._**

Velvet clasped her hands together, "He kept the wounds shallow by doing that. A good idea, but it would only really work in situations like that one."

 **Jaune growled and quickly adjusted his hat again to keep the book hidden.** ** _For now, I'll just have to play dead._** ** _I've already got Tyrian on edge, so he'll come to me to make sure I'm dead._**

 **Tyrian landed nearby, silent. He glared toward Jaune's body, uncertain of whether this was a trick or not. He watched as Jaune's body lied there. "Is he truly dead, or is this another trick? Best to play it safe." He grabbed a nearby sign and sliced it off its support to create a makeshift ax. "I'll just chop off his head with this!" As Tyrian leapt forward, he yelled, "This is the end! Die, Jaune Arc!"**

 **Before Tyrian could kill Jaune, Weiss jumped up behind him. A Stand of an armored knight with a rapier appear behind her and impaled Tyrian's head from behind. "Die!"**

Ruby cheered, "Weiss to the rescue!"

 **The world muted again. Tyrian growled, "Time has stopped." He moved forward to pulled the blade out from his head, leaving a hole. "So, you're Weiss Schnee…" He hit the frozen Weiss hard in the side. "Time shall move again."**

 **When time moved again, Weiss flew off to the side and into a building from the impact.**

 **Tyrian laughed, his attention on her now, "Too bad, Schnee. With a bit more force, your rapier may just have torn my brain apart." The hole in his head sealed shut again.**

"Oh! Come on!" Nora shouted up toward the screen. "How are they supposed to beat this guy?!"

 **Weiss struggled to try to stand again, blood rushing down her face, "That's… impossible…" She lost consciousness among the building's rubble.**

 **Tyrian licked his lips and started to walk toward Weiss with his street ax. "Seems I get to kill you sooner than I expected. But that's fine by me!"**

 **Jaune clenched his teeth.** ** _Damn it. If I don't do something, he'll kill Weiss. But if I move, he'll just remain outside of Star Platinum's attack range like last time. I need to keep him from being sure. I need to keep his focus on me._**

 **Tyrian raised his sign, "Farewell, Weiss Schnee!"**

 **Jaune scratched his fingers on the ground, barely a movement.**

 **But enough to pull Tyrian's focus away. Tyrian jumped onto a nearby stone pedestal and glared toward Jaune's unmoving body. "Did I imagine it?"**

Yang placed a hand over her heart, "Oh man! This is intense."

Her team all nodded in unison. This was risking raised blood pressures all around.

 **Tyrian sat on his stone as a pair of policemen rounded a corner behind him. One of them shouted up to him, "Stop!" They had no idea what they were seeing. Nothing was making sense, and their voices showed their fear. "We're the police! We have guns pointed toward you! Raise your hands!"**

 **Tyrian moved between the two and punched one away, burying his fingers in the other's neck. "Perfect timing. There's actually someone I'd like you to shoot for me." He forced the officer to point his gun toward Jaune. "Shoot him in the leg or torso. Wherever you like." The offer was forced to fire a shot into Jaune's leg.**

Everyone moved forward, fear taking their words before they formed.

 **But Jaune didn't move. Platinum had caught the bullet right as it entered his clothing. It appeared as though Jaune was shot, but was able to just avoid the attack.**

Ironwood swallowed a lump in his throat, "The control he'd have to have is astonishing…"

 **Tyrian drained the officer of his blood and tossed him aside. "Is he even breathing?"**

 **Jaune had held his breath.**

 **"Hmm… Perhaps his heartbeat…"**

 **That would be a little more difficult. Jaune didn't have much of a choice though. He used his stand to reach through his body and stop his heart from beating.**

Pyrrha's fear for Jaune was getting the better of her, "Won't that kill him?!"

Ozpin's gaze turned dire, "If he can remain conscious, and if Tyrian doesn't stall more than a minute or two, he _can_ survive. Though this also assumes his Stand can restart his heart after."

 **Tyrian placed his ear on the ground. No heartbeat echoed through. "Hmm… Seems he truly is dead…" He moved to grab the sign again. "But, I can't be too careful anymore. I'll just lop of his head so I rest easy." Tyrian reared back his sign.**

 **Platinum shook Jaune's heart and kickstarted its beating again. As the sign fell, Platinum knocked it aside and was within Tyrian's guard. "ORA!"**

 **Tyrian tried to stop time, but to no avail. "What?!"**

 **Jaune sat up again, "I had to go through hell for this. Even if you stop time, I'll still bust your head open. You hear me, Tyrian?!"**

 **Tyrian's skull collapsed as Platinum's fist ripped through the bone and liquified part of his brain.**

The Beacon students all jumped up in a cheer that Jaune had finally shown that prick who was boss.

 **Tyrian flew off into a group of stairs. His body shook in pain. "What… what is this? I can't stand! My legs won't move. A headache… and nausea… How could I feel sick?!"**

 **Jaune walked over and drenched Tyrian in gasoline. "Now I can even track your smell. I feel bad about kicking a guy while he's down. On second thought, I don't feel bad about this. My friends and a lot of innocent bystanders are dead because of you." Jaune pulled out a lighter and flicked it open as the flames danced from the metal holder.**

 **Tyrian laughed before getting up, just barely with his strength. As he did, a car passed by on the street next to them. "Now! The World!" Time froze again, leaving Jaune unable to pursue. "I just have to get there…" He crawled as fast as he was able to reach the car's bumper. "Time moves again." As it did, he flew off with the vehicle, laughing as Jaune was left behind.**

Roman groaned, "What the hell can stop this guy?!"

 **Jaune let out an angered breath.** ** _He put his ear to the ground to listen for incoming cars. But I can't just let him get away._** **Jaune pulled a knife from his shoulder and used Platinum to toss it toward the car and blow out the tire.**

 **Tyrian lost his grip next to a manhole cover. He tried to crawl to it and open the lid. "Have to get there…" His eyes widened with shock.**

 **Jaune had beaten him there and was already in the hole. "Sorry. This spot's taken." Jaune floated up out of the manhole, glaring down toward Tyrian. "Give up, Tyrian. There's no escape." When Tyrian tried to attack again with stopped time, Platinum beat him to the punch. A lot of punches, actually. The final punch sent him flying through the air.**

Yang pumped her fist in excitement, "Nice! Big win!"

Jaune felt sweat down his forehead. "Something's off…"

"What do you mean? You totally kicked that guy's ass."

Jaune's brain moved in overdrive. Why did he feel like that? What wasn't he seeing? His eyes went wide. "Wait! He's…!"

 **Tyrian laughed. "You fell for it, Jaune! This was my plan and you were my escape route! Doesn't this street look familiar?!"**

 **Jaune looked around.** ** _Wait. Isn't this…?!_**

 **Tyrian hit the ground and the dust obscured their vision of events. When they could see again, Tyrian had his fingers buried into Ozpin's throat, draining him of what blood remained. "That's right. My escape plan to Ozpin's blood." His wounds were healed, and he stood again, stronger than before. "His blood suits me well. I've never felt more alive!" Tyrian laughed as he dug at his head wound, which healed as he ripped into his skin. "This body once belonged to Ozma one hundred years ago!"**

Ozpin went stiff hearing that name. No one else was aware of his first self. No one needed to know. But hearing his name again put the headmaster on edge.

 **"And this blood belonged to his grandson Ozpin! And it's all thanks to you, Jaune. Your family line was nothing but a tool for my rise to power!"**

 **Jaune seethed with rage and approached Tyrian again. He stopped as he noticed an ethereal form leaving his grandfather's body. The wisps of smoke rose up and created a humanoid form. Ozpin's spirit manifested itself before him with one last message. "** ** _Listen to me, Jaune. No matter what he says, no matter what he does to my body, you need to keep your cool. That's how you're going to beat him. Don't worry about me anymore. This happened because it had to happen… You've learned to move within his stopped time, you likely have two or three seconds now… But don't lower your guard._** **" Ozpin's spirit began to fade. "** ** _I must admit… these passed fifty days have been fun… Goodbye._** **" His spirit was gone.**

 **But Tyrian still remained, "Hey! Where are you looking, Jaune?!" Tyrian dug his hand back into Ozpin's chest to drain the rest of the blood, leaving the body nothing more than a shriveled husk.**

Glynda lurched forward, a sickening feeling washing over her. That was a horrifying sight on the best of days.

Most of the audience had a similar reaction. Those that didn't flew into an angry rage. One didn't care (Cinder. No shit, right?).

 **Jaune's eye twitched in rage. He began to charge toward Tyrian again.** ** _He said not to get angry, but that's not happening. Who could stay calm after seeing_** **that?!**

 **Jaune flew off to pummel Tyrian, but the bastard used The World to stop time again. Tyrian approached, counting down the seconds. "One second has passed. Two seconds have passed. Three seconds." Jaune used his time to begin to pummel The World, causing a nasty wound on Tyrian's hand. The fourth second passed as Tyrian flew back. "Five seconds have passed." Tyrian's smile widened, "Six seconds have passed~"**

Yang flew off the handle, "What?! I thought he only had five seconds!"

 **Tyrian burst into laughter, "Seven seconds have passed! I can still feel the power! I'm stronger than ever before! And, Jaune, you've used up your time. You bet your attack on your two seconds, but you miscalculated. What an amazing feeling! I feel like I could burst into song~ Eight seconds! One hundred years ago, I attained immortality, but it never felt as euphoric as this!"**

 **Jaune tried to move but found it impossible.**

 **"Nine seconds! I've stopped time for nine seconds! But that also appears to be my limit for now." As time flowed again, Tyrian attacked Jaune with a rush of blows that sent him flying, cratering on a nearby bridge. "Now! For one final attack! One last use of The World's power! Within nine seconds of stopped time, I will end this!" Time froze again, leaving Jaune lying on the bridge. Tyrian smirked down toward Jaune and jumped away, counting down his seconds.**

Yang clutched her seat in angered anticipation, "What's he up to?"

 **It was silent, until… "Seven seconds have passed." A shadow appeared over Jaune. Tyrian flew down toward him with a steam roller in his hands like a battering ram, "ROAD ROLLER!" He slammed the vehicle down onto Jaune.**

 **Jaune didn't have much choice at this point and had to fight back. Platinum appeared and started to punch the roller back upward and away from him.**

 **Tyrian laughed, "Fool! It's useless! Useless! Useless!" Tyrian pounded down on top of the roller to push it back downward. "Eight seconds have passed! I'll squash you flat!" He punched the roller hard enough to force it downward and slamming onto the street. Tyrian arched his back and laughed to the heavens in victory.**

Nora slammed her foot onto the back of the chair in front of her and stood in defiance with a finger pointed to the screen, "No! I refuse to believe he lost that that creep!"

Jaune thought for a moment. Was there a way out of it? In theory, but how would he pull it off?

 **"Ten seconds! My power has reached ten seconds of stopped time! Bow puny humans! Bow to my knowledge and might! Guess I should find Jaune's lifeless body and drink his blood, if there's any blood left to take~!" Tyrian stepped forward.**

 **Or at least, he tried to. His body was seizing up, losing their connection to the world of stopped time.**

Jaune smacked his chair in excitement, "I knew it!"

Nora turned to her fearless leader, "What's going on?"

 **Tyrian was losing the color and becoming as muted as the rest of the world. "What's going on?! Why am I slowing down?! Why? Why can't I move?!"**

 **"Tyrian." The camera snapped to the side to show Jaune standing behind the psychopath with his aura enflamed. "It's been eleven seconds. That seems to be your limit. I stopped time at the nine second mark, allowing me to escape."**

Nora gasped in excitement, "Oh my gods! That's so awesome!"

 **Tyrian was barely able to speak. "You… stopped time? Right at the end of my nine seconds of movement?!"**

 **Jaune took a step closer. "How does it feel, Tyrian? To have someone approach you from behind while you can't move a muscle. If I had to describe it, it's like a man that can hold his breath under water for a minute, and as he reaches the surface for air, someone pulls him back down again."**

 **Tyrian, who had spent a century at the bottom of the ocean, tried to turn toward him.** ** _Is he mocking me?!_**

 **"But for you, I feel no pity at all." Jaune used the power of Star Platinum to crush Tyrian's legs and nearly snap them off. As time moved again, Tyrian spun through the air, his legs bleeding at the knee as they had twisted further than they should.**

Mercury knew how much it hurt to lose your legs, so he recoiled a bit at the sight. At least when he lost his, it was a clean enough cut with both. He didn't want to imagine how much that hurt.

 **Jaune glared daggers down toward Tyrian. "But killing you by pummeling you to death now will leave a bad taste in my mouth. So, get up. Heal your legs so I can beat you down again."**

Mercury sighed, "That's a mistake."

 **"The moment your legs heal, I'll send Star Platinum at you." Jaune walked closer toward Tyrian, "If I were a gunslinger in an old Western I'd say, 'Draw. Let's see which of us is the fastest gun in the West.'"**

 **Tyrian propped up his torso with his fists.** ** _Damn it. He's mocking me! But, Jaune, in the end you're still just human. Prone to the same mistakes as any other. You talk about leaving bad tastes and living lives without regrets. But I don't have the same weakness._** **Tyrian stood and twisted his leg to shoot his blood up into Jaune's eyes, blinding him.**

"Augh!" Sun nearly puked, "That's so wrong!"

 **"How does it feel to be blinded by blood?!" Tyrian summoned the World again, "I've won! Die!"**

 **Jaune reared back his fist and Platinum appeared again. Platinum's punch met The World's kick in a clash. Platinum's hand cracked, causing Tyrian to grin. Then, The World's shin guard began to crack. The force from the attack traveled up The World's leg and body, cracking his head in half.**

 **Tyrian writhed in pain. If a Stand is killed, so too is its wielder. He experienced the pain of his body splitting apart. "Impossible! I am immortal! I am Tyrian!" His head broke apart before his left side flew off and his head shattered to nothingness.**

Yang and Nora jumped up with a united cheer, "BOOYAH!"

It was a feel-good moment all around. Even Cinder felt a certain satisfaction in watching Tyrian fail so spectacularly.

 **Jaune just lowered his hat over his eyes. The screen cut to black with one last word, "What a pain."**

Yang chuckled at the last line. "I _really_ like that version."


	100. Final Transmission

**Knox: Boom! 100 baby~! We've gone above and beyond at this point~**

 **King: Yeah... We have.**

 **Knox: Hmm? Something wrong, King?**

 **King: Not really. But, now that we've hit this milestone, I want to say something to the audience. This has been seriously fun. But I also have other projects I want to work on. The Stereotypes series is going to come out due to fan requests. I also have other ideas and stories I want to work on. We're not going away, but we're not going to be meeting as often as we have. This isn't goodbye. It's just goodbye until next time. And for this round, we're going back to the beginning. This was going to be either the last chapter or the hundredth. Lucky us as which came first. It felt like an appropriate way to cap things off.**

 **Inspiration: Red vs Blue**

 **/\**

King looked on to the theater in silence. _This is it. Number 100._ King took a breath and sighed. _Here we go._

As everyone celebrated among themselves about the last world, the next began to form.

 **The screen formed on black static. Then, they saw a number take shape in the static.**

 **2.**

Glynda raised an eyebrow. "Okay… where's this going?"

 **Then the static morphed the number.**

 **4.**

 **Then again.**

 **1.**

 **10.**

 **2**

 **4**

 **1**

 **10**

Yang tapped her chair, "What the heck is going on?"

Winter thought over the pattern for a moment. "It… reminds me of a radio check."

Ironwood nodded. "An all frequency check. Someone calling for help."

 **[Am I transmitting?]**

 **[Is anyone listening?]**

 **[Contact.]**

 **The static gave way to show a minimalist office. The only furniture was a desk in the center and a set of trophy stands to the side. The door on the far side of the room opened and a man in aqua armor ran in with a rifle in hand. Without his helmet, they could see it was Neptune behind the armor. He looked around and calmed. "No one's here?" Neptune lowered his rifle and placed it on the side of the desk. "Jaune? Anything?"**

Jaune's foot tapped on the floor in anticipation. What would this version be like?

 **"Jaune?!"**

 **"Yeah! Yeah." Jaune flickered into form over Neptune's shoulder. "I'm here."**

Nora gasped, "Oh! I remember this one! It was the first one we got to see!"

Yang crossed her arms and grinned, "Oh yeah. The one with that Director…" Her grin faded as she remembered the events that world showed them.

 **Jaune was looking over to the trophies. He floated over and images flickered in and out of his mind with each item. That floating laser orb… thing he was trapped in for a while. The Brute Shot used by the Meta. Caroline's magnum handgun. The last item made him freeze up. A black helmet, its faceplate shattered with a hole in the center. It was a sight that would haunt him.**

 **Jaune… No. Let's stop this. Epsilon had too many memories of her. When the Alpha AI was created by the Director, the man he was based on, a shadow came with him. A shadow of the woman he loved so much, who died at the hands of the alien forces in the war. She was his pet project to bring her back from the dead. But all he remembered was that she was gone. As a result, no matter what she tried to accomplish, it would blow up in her face and fall apart right before she could accomplish it. This was the result of one such an event. Agent Nikos… Pyrrha Arc, died again that day.**

Jaune stole a side glance to Pyrrha. The two aren't married or anything, but he couldn't begin to imagine what would happen if she died. He turned back to the screen and let out a silent breath.

 **Jaune tightened his digital fist in anger. "Where is Watts?"**

 **A holographic screen formed on the far wall with Watts appearing in the camera feed, "Safely aboard the bridge. Until you and the rest of your annoying group are dealt with." Sounds of a battle started to seep in through the door.**

 **Jaune shook his head and spoke to the computer system, "F.I.L.S.S. The controls." A holographic terminal formed. "I won't be more than a minute." Jaune disappeared within the terminal system.**

 **Watts shook his head, a certain level of disappointment on his face as he addressed Neptune, "Do you really think you can escape this? You had to have realized it by now. You may save the Colonists. You might** ** _even_** **save the Freelancers. But you cannot save yourselves. You are your pathetic little friends will not leave this ship alive."**

 **Neptune smirked and shrugged. "Eh. We'll wing it. It's done wonders for us so far."**

Yang chuckled, "Nice comeback."

Weiss turned to her blonde teammate, " _Is_ that a comeback?"

Yang shrugged with a grin, "Don't really care if it's the textbook definition or anything."

 **Jaune reappeared over Neptune's shoulder. "And, done."**

 **Neptune pressed a button, ending the feed.**

 **The system in question controlled multiple walker mechs on the ground below. The camera tracked one as a man in black and gold armor jumped onto the mech's back. He fired several piercing rounds and destroyed the internal system. As he tumbled off, another mech moved in for a strike, but this was the moment the order took hold and the mech shut down. The man in black and gold sighed and let his head fall to the ground, able to relax again.**

Yang grinned and pumped her fist in excitement again, "That was awesome!"

"Question is," Blake asked, "who is he?"

 **A hand reached down toward him. The man looked up to see a woman in cyan armor with her red hair tied back into a ponytail. Her blue eyes helped to differentiate her from her mother. "Nice work, Argus."**

 **Argus took Caroline's hand and stood up again, brushing himself off. "Let's never do that again."**

 **"Sounds good to me." Caroline looked up to the ship that still held their new friends, "But we can't rest just yet."**

 **Argus looked up to the ship, "Better get moving then."**

 **The two ran off to find a transport.**

 **The camera returned to the inside of the ship to see Neptune's satisfied stance. This broke away as the door behind him opened and gunfire poured into the room. More soldiers in a rainbow's worth of colored armors ran into the room and took cover behind the steel walls. But, they all had familiar faces.**

Ironwood nearly burst into a rage, "What in the world is wrong with those uniforms? They're ridiculous! Not to mention the fact that they're all different colors!"

 **As the doors closed, Yang, dressed in orange armor, spoke through anxious breaths, "Okay! That way isn't looking so good for escaping."**

 **Jaune used the radio system, "Caroline! We need an extraction."**

 **The Freelancer replied over the radio, "** ** _We're on our way! Just wait for a few minutes._** **"**

 **A series of sparks shot out from the lower section of the door as Watt's soldiers tried to breach the door. Weiss, in maroon, moved her foot away from the sparks, "We may not have that kind of time…"**

 **They all backed away from the door as the sparks began to rise along the door frame.**

Kali got a little worried. There was only one way into the room. "How are they going to get away?"

 **The camera spun around to show Blake, dressed in red armor, as she smirked. She dropped a strange rifle an pulled a shotgun off her back. "Well, you know what they say. Today… is a good day to die." Blake was the commanding officer of the Red team, now a Colonel. She was also very… enthusiastic about her job.**

Yang snickered while hiding her face from Blake.

Blake just rolled her eyes. But those words told her enough about the moment. All of them wouldn't make it out. But… that was always the case in stories. If there was one thing she learned about her friends, it was to have faith in them. That they would find a way passed whatever stood in their way.

 **"Permission to speak freely ma'am?" The camera panned back to show Yang behind the group, Brute Shot in hand, "Fuck that."**

Yang grinned at the scene. They were going to fight back, and she had faith they'd find a way out.

 **Blake chuckled and grinned as she cocked her shotgun.**

 **Penny, dressed in brown armor, flipped over the desk and pushed it over as a barrier in front of the door.**

 **Weiss took the magnum pistol from the stand. It was an old model, designed for the early years of the war. It had the stopping power beyond any other like it, killing any armored target in three clean shots. She tossed the gun to Ruby, who wore pink armor, who coupled it with her own model.**

Ruby groaned a little, "How come I couldn't have the red armor?"

Yang chuckled, "I mean, it's _like_ a red color. Pink is just a… a light-ish red."

"That's just called pink!"

 **Nora, dressed in dark blue armor, grinned and held up her computer assisted assault rifle. "Ready!"**

 **Weiss grabbed another item, the orb, and walked back toward the door, "Do you think the laser on this thing still works?"**

 **Neptune nodded, "We got this." He turned to the holo-Jaune to make sure, "I mean, we do have this, right?"**

 **Jaune shook his head. "I've been running the numbers, and no. Not yet. We're still missing one piece." Jaune looked up to the ceiling, "F.L.I.S.S. The suit."**

 **A section of the floor behind them opened up and a pod rose up from the floor. The camera tracked from the pod's point of view, looking out over the group. As it stopped, Weiss dropped the orb, "Holy…"**

 **Neptune couldn't believe what he was seeing, "Is… is that what I think it is?!"**

Ruby got a little excited that it might be some kind of new weapon, "Ooh! Ooh! What is it?!"

 **The camera snapped to the other side to show a stark white suit of armor with a golden, rounded face plate.**

Velvet's ears perked up for a moment, "Oh! I remember that style. It was from when I was that 'Meta' person."

Coco looked over the suit. "Oh, yeah! It's a little different, but its obviously the same suit."

 **Jaune nodded, "I saw it when I connected to the terminal. It has everything we need to turn this in our favor. Neptune… take off your armor."**

 **Neptune looked at Jaune like he was crazy for a moment. But, the camera moved behind the pod as it descended, revealing Neptune in the old armor of the Meta, complete with the face obscuring helmet. Neptune snapped his hand to the side and a pair of energy blades shot out from a device in his hand, forming a katar made of energy.**

Ruby was geeking out over the weapon, obviously.

Neptune let a small smile appear on his face. "Not too bad. Might have to modify my weapon when we get back."

 **Jaune appeared next to him again, "How's it feel?"**

 **Neptune stretched from side to side, "A bit tight, but…" The white armor faded into his preferred aqua coloration, "I could get used to this."**

 **"** ** _Prepare to breach!_** **" The men on the other side of the door were almost through.**

 **Blake cracked her neck and pointed her gun toward the door, "Looks like this is it."**

 **Weiss looked over toward her commanding officer, "Ma'am, it's been an honor."**

 **Penny pointed a pair of heavy energy weapons toward the door, "If I die, make sure my parts are properly recycled."**

 **Ruby pointed both of her pistols, "Won't matter. We're totally going to kick butt!"**

 **Ren, in purple armor, was kneeling down with a rocket launcher on his shoulder, "Aw. That's so sweet." His expression shifted to be more menacing and psychotic, his voice morphing to match, "Now! Let us strike fear into the hearts of our enemies! Hahaha!"**

Nora burst out into laughter hearing Ren talk like that.

 **Yang nodded, "Show no mercy!"**

 **Nora cheered and pointed the gun to the door, computer system activating, "Yeah~! Let's get 'em!"**

 **Jaune looked among the group and nodded, "I just… I wanted to let you all know that, out of everyone I've ever met… you're probably the only people I could call friends."**

 **Neptune adopted a combat stance, "See you on the other side, Jaune."**

 **The world slowed down to a frozen standstill.**

Nora jumped up and shouted out to the heavens, "ZA WARUDOOO!"

Everyone around her jumped a bit at the sudden outburst. More than anything, they were just confused. Most were able to pass it off as Nora being Nora.

 **Jaune, being a military grade AI, was able to process the world at a speed that humans couldn't comprehend. He took a deep breath and let out a sigh. "Not this time, buddy…" Jaune moved forward, walking on the air.**

Ruby got more than a little concerned by what she was seeing, "What's he doing?"

 **As he did, a green variation of Jaune appeared from behind him. This was a memory of the AI Delta, another fragment of the Alpha. "Are you sure about this?"**

 **Jaune nodded, "Yeah. I'm sure. Start a recording for me, D."**

 **"Recording."**

 **Jaune turned back to his friends, "Hey guys. If you're hearing this, it means you did it. You won. You kicked the crap out of Watts's forces. I knew you could. But this is my last stop."**

Ozpin sighed, "A death message. He doesn't believe he'll make it though."

Penny gripped her chair. "I… don't think he intends to anymore."

Ruby turned to her friend, "Penny?"

"AI are… often obsolete rather quickly. Technology advances, but they are unable to do so. In many cases, they aren't even capable of operating for more than seven years without their programming falling apart. I… I believe friend Jaune will have to take drastic measures to get them out of this situation."

 **"When I came into this world, I was just a collection of** ** _someone else's_** **memories. But, with your help, these memories… they took form. They became** ** _my_** **voice.** ** _My_** **personality. And, after a while, I began to make brand new memories of my own. All of these things are what make me who I am."**

 **Jaune sighed lightly and shook his head, "But they're also holding me back. I can't run this suit… as Epsilon. But, if I… erase my memories. If I deconstruct myself, the fragments I leave behind will be enough to get you through this. I believe that."**

No one dared speak. This was hard enough to hear as it is.

 **The scene swapped to show Argus and Caroline on route to the ship with a group of soldiers from the planet.**

 **Jaune continued his speech, "I wish there was another way. But, I'm leaving this message, as well as others, in the hopes you'll understand why I have to go this time.**

 **The camera panned along a group of soldiers in tan uniforms, looked over by a medical specialist in white. Looking over the group was Sienna Kahn, leader of the rebel forces and de facto leader of the combined militaries of Chorus.**

 **Jaune let a slight chuckle escape him, "It was actually Ironwood that made me realize something I'd never really thought about before. There are so many stories where some brave hero sacrifices their life to save the day. And, because of their sacrifice, the good guys win, the survivors all cheer, and everybody lives happily ever after."**

 **The scene returned to the colorful group with Jaune. He turned away from them and toward the door, "But the hero, never gets to see that ending."**

So many in the audience felt their hearts weigh heavier in their souls. They'd read so many stories that were just like that, never truly considering the endings. The hero's sacrifice was one they were aware of, but not one they'd considered very often. This was a sobering realization for them all.

 **Jaune continued, "They'll never know if their sacrifice ever actually meant anything." Jaune's holographic body flickered as he was losing control of his body. He was falling apart. "In the end," he flickered again, seemingly splitting into multiple versions before returning to his normal form, "they just have to have faith."**

 **Jaune turned back to them. Tears fell down his cheeks and a sad smile covered his face. "Ain't that a bitch?"**

 **Jaune shattered apart and screen went black. The Epsilon AI has died.**

Yang tried to stifle any tears from falling, "That's it? That's how it ends?"

Weiss nodded, "Looks like it…"

Blake looked away from the screen, "Pretty sad ending."

Jaune shook his head. "No, it wasn't."

This got his friends to turn to him in surprise. "Jaune?"

"It's not a sad ending… You just have to faith. Right?"


	101. Wake the White Wolf

**King: Guess who's back!**

 **Knox: Back again?**

 **King: Yep! Stereotypes are coming, but it's taking longer than I anticipated what with coming up with everything and a stereotype to go with them. So, here's something to tide you over a bit.**

 **Knox: I kind of want to play Gwent now.**

 **King: You and me both.**

 **Inspiration: The Witcher series**

 **/\**

Coming back around eh~

 **The scene opened to a set of crumbling ruins. Within, a man ran through in a panic, as if to escape something.**

Tai sighed and shook his head, "This is going to be a crazy one again, isn't it?"

Yang mimicked her father's actions, "Looks like it."

 **The camera stalled to show the ruins as the section was covered by a massive shadow.**

Ruby was at attention pretty quickly, "A Grimm?"

 **The camera returned to the man as he scrambled to escape, only to be caught by a massive beast. Its beak snapped the man from the ground and tossed him into the air, blood from the man's now snapped legs splattered onto the stone brick walls. The camera now showed it wasn't a Grimm, but an actual monster. Its body was like a cross between a lion and a falcon. In place of arms, it had a pair of massive wings and its legs were adorned with giant talons. Its head was surrounded by feathers before the body faded into a fur coat. The beast swung its prey around before tossing its head up and swallowing the man whole.**

Everyone was stunned. They weren't used to seeing monsters other than the Grimm. The fact that this being resembled a griffon Grimm didn't help matters since they had reference for what the creature could do. But, it also scared them since it wasn't actually a Grimm, but more of an animal.

 **The griffon, perched atop the wall of the ruins, roared out over the area. It was like a mixture of a lion's roar and an eagle's screech.**

The sounds weren't foreign to them, some Grimm having similar cries. But this still chilled them to the bone. Now that they could really see the scale, it dwarfed any griffon they'd ever seen. The closest reference they had were the giant Nevermores.

 **The camera pulled back to show the ruins from a slight distance. On a dirt road nearby, a horse trotted passed with its rider pulling it to a stop. The man was dressed in black leather armor, with a pair of longswords (one with a parallel cross guard and the other's guard being angled toward the blade) and a crossbow on his back. His pale blonde hair was loose and hung down to his shoulders. The camera conspired to keep the man's face hidden from the viewers. The man watched the scene as he heard the roar. "Griffon's nest. Could be a problem."**

Coco felt a little flush hearing his voice. _Okay, this is not fair. First that one with the Stand powers and now this? It's obviously Arc, but… damn._

 **"I'll have to deal with that on the way back," Jaune reared the horse back to its path, passing the monster's nest. After a while, he entered a small town along the dirt road. It was a small rural town, small enough that it didn't have a dedicated guard post nearby. Instead it was defended by a local militia made up of the residents. Jaune saw plenty of towns like these. He hitched his horse to a post and started to walk to the local inn.**

 **We walked into the inn to a rowdy scene. Men were laughing, drunk on the local liquor, and others were reminiscing on their lives. But, as Jaune walked passed them, they fell silent.**

Sienna's face fell in a sense of anger. She recognized the looks he was getting in this reality. They were the same she would receive before she was willing to fight back. It was anger born of prejudice, hate for what someone was rather than who. She _really_ wanted to punch every single one of them, but she's been recognizing that wouldn't help the big picture.

 **Jaune knew the looks they were giving him, but he didn't care. He had a job to do. He approached the innkeeper, a muscular old man that likely doubled as a bouncer. Jaune tapped the table to get his attention, "Looking for a man by the name of Gallar Meyl. Tall man, shaved head, dark beard."**

 **The innkeeper was apprehensive, but cooperative. He thought it over for a moment, "Can't say he sounds familiar… Sorry."**

 **Jaune shook his head, "It's fine." He reached into his pocket and placed a few coins on the counter. "Can I get a meal for the road? Bread, cheese, and water if you have it."**

 **A voice shouted from behind him, "Ain't you forgett'n something, mutant?"**

Ilia groaned at the man's tone, "Asshole…"

 **Jaune turned and the camera finally showed his face. He was aged, a face that's seen so many wonders and horrors, but it was his eyes that drew the attention. They were like those of a cat rather than the rounded pupils of humans.**

Yang shook a little with her arms crossed, "Yikes… Are there faunas where their trait is just the eyes?"

Blake thought for a moment, but didn't really have an answer, "I'm… not sure. I haven't seen one, but that doesn't mean that much."

Sienna shook her head, "It's usually ears, tails, claws, maybe stripes…"

 **Jaune's eyes narrowed toward the men gathering around him, "Something wrong?"**

 **All of the men were dressed in crude uniforms. "I'd think there is."**

 **Jaune sighed lightly to himself.** ** _Likely the militia._** **"And that is?"**

 **"Ya didn' pay the toll."**

 **"Toll? Wasn't aware there was one."**

Roman scoffed at the scene, "An extortion game. And a poor one. But I guess it's to be expected. I doubt they have much need to get creative without any guards to stop them."

 **One of them pushed toward Jaune, "You callin' us liars, mutant?"**

 **"Nah!" Another moved around to Jaune's side, "I'm sure 'e's just misinformed. Bet he'll pay now that he knows better. Right?"**

 **Jaune looked between the men, "This is obviously extortion. There's no toll, is there?"**

 **The group's leader had a malicious grin on his face, "Makin' me pretty mad, you know. What's ya name, mutant?"**

 **"Jaune… Jaune of Arcadia."**

 **One of the lesser militiamen paled, "Jaune of… Uh, boss, it might be best to…"**

 **The boss wasn't listening to his subordinate, getting into Jaune's personal space, "Well then, Jaune, I can overlook your insult this time, but you need to pay us what we're owed."**

 **The moment hung on Jaune's unimpressed face.** ** _Too easy…_**

 **The camera was suddenly outside as the boss flew through the door and into the street.**

Yang jumped up and pumped her fist, "Yeah! Show 'em who's boss!"

 **As the boss tried to get back up, an armored boot slammed onto his hand, making him cry in pain. "Fuck! What the hell?!"**

Qrow recoiled at the scene, "Damn, that's got to hurt without aura."

 **He looked up to find Jaune was the one grinding his boot into the boss's hand. Jaune crouched down to address the man under his foot, "Gallar Meyl. Know anything?"**

 **"Gah! Get the fuck off me you…"**

 **Jaune lifted his foot slightly before slamming it back down on his hand, "Answer the question."**

Mercury chuckled to himself, "I like this version so far."

Emerald shook her head but had to admit to herself that she agreed. A proactive realist that gets the job done was a rare sight to her at times. There was the jaded adult or the bright-eyed child. No in between, it seemed.

 **The boss cried in pain, "Ah! I! I've never 'eard of 'im! Okay?! Never been round 'ere!"**

 **Jaune nodded and removed his foot from the boss's hand. "Thanks for cooperating."**

 **The boss growled in anger. He slowly stood again, his body shaking in rage. He drew his sword from his side and tried to charge Jaune as he walked away. Jaune spun back around, drawing one of his own swords, and parried the attempted sneak attack. With a fluid movement, he chopped off the boss's hand and sent it flying up into the air. As the boss cried out in pain, Jaune just returned his sword to his back and continued walking.**

Yang chuckled nervously, "I can't tell if that was awesome or disturbing…"

Ruby distracted from the bloody action on screen by focusing on the weapons, "But why does he need two swords? The one he used seems perfectly balanced and sturdy."

Weiss shrugged, "In case the first one breaks?" That made sense, best to be prepared.

Ruby shook her head, "That's just it. It's obvious he uses one sword for fighting, they're too large for duel wielding, but keeping both on you doesn't make sense. It would just get in his way unless he needed it, then the sheath of the broken one would."

 **A woman who saw the fight rom nearby ran up to Jaune, "Pardon me! You… You're a Witcher, right?"**

Glynda raised a brow, "Witcher? Is that their version of a witch?"

Oobleck adjusted his glasses a moment, "It could mean a male variation of a witch. Though that would question the need for a sword."

Ironwood turned to the historian, "Why? Wouldn't they need to defend themselves, magic or not?"

Glynda shook her head, "According to Justinian…"

"Who?"

"The Dust Applications Professor at Beacon. He also teaches Myths and Legends. Apparently, witches wouldn't use swords, focusing more on magic."

Ironwood deadpanned toward Glynda, "You don't say."

"The irony is not lost on me, James…" Back in her years as a student of Beacon, she attempted to use more traditional weaponry, but found she didn't have the aptitude for it. In the end, she focused solely on her semblance instead. Likely for the best.

 **Jaune turned back to the woman, "I am. Did you need something?"**

 **"Please, Master Witcher… Our village has been plagued by the griffon perched in the ruins of the old castle. We have the coin to pay for your service! Please!"**

 **Jaune sighed and looked up to the ruins in the distance. He could see the griffon in the distance with his enhanced eyesight. The beast was small by griffon standards.**

Winter stuttered to herself for a moment in shock, "That's small?"

Yang smiled very nervously, "I'd hate to see a big one."

 **Jaune nodded, "I'll take care of it, but I need to prepare. Is there a smithy here?"**

 **"Down the road to the left, yes."**

 **Jaune walked to the small-town smithy and purchased a few items: small glass bottles, silver powder, and blast fuses. He had everything else in hand already, and now he could finish his work. He felt town on his horse and rode up to the area at the base of the hill. After a bit of work on something, he started up the hill and to the ruins proper.**

 **No griffon would just sit back and let an intruder walk into its nest. But, when no monster took the sky, Jaune looked up at the sky in thought. "Strange… They're usually in the air by now." Jaune reached the stone, looked around, and remained silent to listen to the area. He heard the sounds of cracking stone and soft movements.**

Yang let out an impressed whistle, "Damn. He's got some pretty good ears."

Blake huffed, slightly jealous of his hearing. She had better than average hearing, but the minute details he could experience would have come in handy in her stealthier days. Might actually help now, as well, with information gathering and scouting in the field. _Definitely would have been useful back in Mountain Glenn…_

 **Jaune stood still and listened, speaking softly to himself, "Stone and motions but no wing beats. Wing must be damaged."**

Port let out a good-natured laugh, "Impressive. Truly a skilled huntsman to tell something so important with so little."

 **This was a double-edged sword. In an open field, an injured griffon would be an easy kill. But, if it's moving around above him in an enclosed area, that will be more difficult. But that also means one other important fact. "This isn't a nest. It's a crash site. Question is, why is it here?"**

 **The camera pulled back to show the tattered wing of the griffon slamming onto the stone. Jaune looked up to the griffon above him and drew the sword he'd yet to. The metal shone in the light of the day, reflecting not a bloodied steel but a shimmering blade of precious metal. For it is not the Witcher's steel that monsters fear, but his silver.**

Ruby was stunned at the craftsmanship of the sword but started to slowly nod. "That explains why he has two swords now…"

Jaune thought for a moment, "Would silver help in our reality? Like, when fighting Grimm?"

Pyrrha shrugged, "I'm not sure. I don't remember anyone trying."

Tai had a similar state of mind, but remembered something in a previous world, "I remember in one of the worlds like ours Ruby used Type-S, a silver alloy, in her weapon. But I also remember that had to do with her also having silver eyes."

Ruby perked up and spun around toward the group, "Oh yeah! What's that about anyway? Are my eyes really super powers or something?"

Oobleck thought back to his readings, "I recall silver eyes being a common trait in skilled warriors against the Grimm, but I've never read anything about any powers pertaining to the metal."

 **Jaune rolled to the side as the griffon tried to dive down at him for an attack. Jaune ran around the now open-roofed hall of the ruins and his open hand moved in a set pattern. He slammed his hand on the side of the wall as the griffon turned and started to chase him from above. As it reached the wall, and tried to attack the Witcher beneath it, a purple symbol appeared on the wall and a matching energy shot out around from it. The griffon didn't recoil, instead it seemed to move slower than it had before.**

Nora's eyes filled with stars, "He can use magic, too!"

 **Jaune's blade was a flurry of shimmering death. The griffon recoiled slowly, but the effect fell away and it fell between the stone walls. As it wriggled in place, Jaune ran over, unleashing a wave of smoldering sparks into the beast's face, and jumped into the air as he slammed the point of his blade into the griffon's eye.**

This got everyone to recoil in empathetic pain. They didn't feel sorry for the creature, but the action at hand was always hard to watch. They used similar actions against Grimm, but Grimm didn't bleed.

 **This made the griffon more desperate and pushed it enough to rip the wall apart on one side. As it rolled to safety from the Witcher, it sealed its demise. Its wing was torn, it was blind on one side, and Jaune was uninjured. Jaune formed another sign with his hand and swung his arm to the side, his body being surrounded by a golden aura. The griffon stormed toward him to try to bite him in half, only to find its beak breaking on the aura shield around his body. Jaune swung another swipe across the other side of the griffon before lunging forward and impaling his sword through its head.**

Yang jumped up in a cheer, "Booyah! This version is a total badass!"

 **Jaune pulled his weapon out and wiped the blood off the silver. After this, he drew a knife and started to cut the head off the creature as his trophy/proof the beast was dead. Once he was done, he looked over the body. Something still didn't add up. He looked over the ragged wing. "This is a recent injury. Still pretty bloody. Hasn't even started to really heal. This thing couldn't plague a village if it tried. Something's wrong here." Jaune turned back to the ruins and walked back inside the walls. He placed his hand on the left wall and followed it for a while. Along the way, he found a section that didn't feel like the rest. With a wave of a small talisman from his pouch, the wall faded away to reveal a cellar entryway.**

 **As he walked down below, he found a small laboratory with various items around the scene. Various instruments to measure and etch magical items, some gemstones, a few books on a small desk, and a pair of long dresses on the back wall. Jaune recognized the style and sighed with a nod, "That explains a lot."**

 **The camera pulled back to show Jaune and room from the entrance. A hand came into frame with a small fireball hovering in front of it. "And just what do you think you're doing here?"**

The voice was familiar and eyes turned Velvet.

 **Jaune turned to see Velvet Scarlatina behind him. "How did I know it was you?"**

 **"Jaune?" Velvet lowered her hand, crossing her arms instead in disappointment, "Since when did you skulk around like a common thief?"**

 **"Had a job to kill the griffon in the ruins. Had to investigate when things didn't add up."**

 **"Guess that means I need to move my work. Think you can hold off on going in for your reward for an hour or so? Give me time to pack up?"**

 **"Be glad to. But our visitors won't be so kind." Jaune walked up next to Velvet and drew her attention to the sound of armored footsteps.**

Yang nodded, "Guess it would be hard to miss seeing something as big as that griffon getting killed."

"But why would they be after Velvet?" Coco questioned. The Velvet on screen wasn't a faunas and didn't seem to be anything other than human. She wasn't a criminal or something, right?

 **Men in the militia uniforms approached with a new man among them. It was obviously Cardin, though his beard obscured him slightly. He dressed in a long grey coat of a witch hunter. It was his duty to punish all those that would practice the quote-unquote 'unholy' powers of sorcery and magic. Cardin grinned at the duo before him. "Well, well. What have we here? A witch and a mutant. Must be my lucky day. We'll be having double the pyres tonight."**

 **Jaune shook his hand and stepped forward, body tense for the fight. "I suggest you leave. The griffon is dead. The ruins are secure again."**

 **"They'll be secure when you're both ashes." Cardin drew a spiked mace from his side.**

 **Jaune sighed, "Can't say I didn't try." He stepped aside, "Velvet?"**

 **Velvet's hand was raised forward and toward Cardin. She unleashed a bolt of electricity that hit the hunter square in the chest, super charging his body. After a moment, lightning crashed on top of him and reduced the area to smoldering ash.**

Cinder could certainly appreciate the brutality of the scene.

Coco recoiled a bit, "Damn, Vel. That's brutal, maybe a bit overboard. Though he was threatening to kill you by burning you alive…"

 **The militiamen shook in fear.**

 **Jaune addressed them rather calmly, "Velvet uses these ruins. Let her stay and I'm sure she'll help you with anything magic remedies you may need. Or, you can leave her alone and never see her directly. Threaten her, and…" He gestured toward the smoldering body that was Cardin.**

 **The men all scrambled away in a panic.**

 **Velvet walked up next to him, a skeptical look on her face, "You really think they'll give me any space?"**

 **Jaune shrugged, "If nothing else, I doubt they want to get on your bad side." Jaune walked back out from the ruins and called for his horse. "See you around." With that, he moved off to collect his reward.**

 **All in the day for a Witcher, Jaune of Arcadia.**


	102. The Wild Shaman

**Knox: ...**

 **King: Knox?**

 **Knox: She scares me.**

 **King: She scares us all, buddy.**

 **Knox: Seriously, though... Yikes.**

 **King: Take it to heart, my friend.**

 **Knox: ... I hate you.**

 **Inspiration: For Honor's Shaman (RWBY)**

 **/\**

The screen chose to open on the next world. And this one… it'll be fun to see how they take it.

 **The screen opened to an old bar out in the badlands away from the kingdoms. It was an old tavern inn near an old settlement, long since destroyed by bandits and Grimm. The bar, itself, was decrepit and empty, save for the sound of light footsteps. The camera moved along as the door to the back area opened to reveal a woman in a suit of form-fitting leather and fur armor. Her arms and legs weren't covered by the armor, but instead had leather bracers and shin guards. Various items hung from her belt including various horns, pouches, some claws, a kukri, and a hatchet. Her blonde hair, which was tied back in a sleek ponytail, and blue eyes betrayed her identity to the audience as Jeanne.**

Jaune exhaled with a sigh, "It's kind of weird to see me as a girl."

Yang shrugged, "At least you got lucky in the genetic lottery, if you catch my drift." She motioned to reference Jeanne's figure.

Weiss felt her eye twitch but chose to ignore it for now.

 **Jeanne moved through the bar and shook various alcohol bottles. Any that didn't have too much left inside, she shattered against the walls and bar. Those that still had at least half of the booze inside, she placed aside for later.**

Ruby looked around to the group, "What's she doing?"

Qrow shrugged, "Wasting booze for one. But also raiding any that's left? Not sure."

 **Jeanne grabbed the handful of bottles deemed worthy and took them back outside. When she was done she turned, lit a match, and tossed the spark into the alcohol soaked wooden building, causing it to erupt into flames faster than it would otherwise.**

"Oh…" Qrow's head tilted back in realization as it spoke. He'd seen similar actions when he was still affiliated with the old tribe. "Okay, explains that at least. Question is, why keep some of the booze? She going to try to sell it off?"

 **Jeanne nodded and turned back away from the fire, squatting down over her spoils. She picked up a bottle from the bunch, a high-class brandy bottle with a gold colored label.**

Roman whistled at the sight of the bottle, "Damn! That's high-end stuff. The price tag is ludicrous, but it is definitely worth it."

Qrow raised a brow with a grin on his face, "Oh yeah? Might have to track some of that down."

"Good luck…" Roman's mood fell almost instantly, "Stuff's damn near impossible to get for anyone outside of Atlassian elitists. They get first picks and only so much is made each year. We're lucky to get an empty bottle at this point."

Qrow sighed, his head tilting back in frustration, "That's bullshit."

 **Jeanne pulled the cork from the top with her kukri and took a whiff. After a moment, she tossed it over her shoulder, "Trash." The bottle shattered and the drink spilled onto the ground.**

Roman and Qrow were stock still with a look of utter heartbreak on their faces. That was a disgusting waste of such good drink.

 **Jeanne continued to go through each of the bottles, only to toss them. "Trash. No. Terrible. Blah. Waste. Boring."**

With each shattered bottle, Qrow and Roman just looked more pained. Every bottle that shattered was good alcohol thrown to the grass and dirt.

 **Jeanne took a whiff from another bottle and paused. "Ooh~! Looks like the bar tender expected trouble." Inside the bottle was a mix of petroleum and powdered Dust.**

Emerald, who had no experience with such items, could only ask, "Why would anyone do that? What's the point?"

Most didn't know. Those with a taste for alcohol were more confused since it seemed like a dumb idea. But, one person did actually know what it was.

Sun sighed, "It's a nasty weapon from Vacuo. It's an improvised fire bomb designed to ignite fires wherever they hit."

Blake turned to the monkey faunas to ask, "Why would they need that?"

"Because Vacuo is a desert with next to nothing around us. We tend to have to improvise with our weapons to protect ourselves."

 **Jeanne shook her head, "But it doesn't help me." She tossed this one into the fire to rid herself of it. The last bottle flew over her shoulder but didn't hit the ground. She turned around, confused by the lack of shattering glass, and found she wasn't alone anymore.**

 **Three faunas were standing nearby, all with white Grimm-like masks on their faces. Two were dressed in the standard garb of the White Fang while the lead was in a black stealth suit. The lead had a long ponytail that reach down her back before curling back into a spiral. Said lead was the one that caught the bottle.**

Ilia nodded taking in the situation, "Okay. So, I'm there for some reason…"

 **Jeanne jumped back up and spun around to address the three. "What do you want?"**

 **Ilia took a step closer, "We've heard that you have the ability to find anyone no matter where they are on all of Remnant. We just so happen to need someone found."**

 **Jeanne nodded a bit before motioning for them to approach, "You got a name and a face? Can't work from nothing."**

 **Ilia nodded and walked over, handing her a picture. "Her name is Blake Belladonna."**

 **Jeanne took the photo and tilted her head. "Oh yeah?" Jeanne looked back up toward Ilia. She looked over the chameleon-faunas's face, or what she could see with the mask on, and determined expression. "How badly do you want her found?"**

Blake's eyes narrowed, "I feel like I'd feel better if I knew why."

Ilia turned slightly, unable to bring herself to look toward Blake. She took a breath to calm herself before looking back up to the screen.

 **Ilia didn't move from her spot or waver, "Whatever it takes."**

 **Jeanne chuckled a little, "So, what? What'd she do to piss you off that badly? Old feud? Power struggle? Steal a boyfriend? Was she the girlfriend that ran out on you? What?"**

 **Ilia felt her body tense up, but she let out a breath to calm herself down, with little results, "Doesn't matter, right?"**

 **Jeanne nodded, "Right. All that matters is what you're willing to give. You want something, you give something. That's the law of life."**

Roman nodded with a puff of his cigar, "He's not wrong."

"Says the thief." Cinder snarked.

"I give time and work, get loot. It's no different than working in a cubical for a small wage. You give and take. That's just life."

 **One of the Fang turned indignant, "You think you can just demand something from the White F-"**

 **Ilia placed a hand up in front of him to keep him back. "What do you want?"**

 **Jeanne grinned and held her hand out toward her. "Your hand."**

 **This confused Ilia so much she dropped her determined demeanor, "Wait. What?"**

 **"Your hand." Jeanne gestured with her outstretched hand to pull Ilia in, "Come on. Hand over mine. Come on."**

Yang took in a sharp breath, seeing something behind the words, "She's going to cut off her hand, isn't she?"

Ilia went stiff. "She… wanted my hand… Oh no…"

 **The Ilia on screen didn't catch yet and walked forward, taking Jeanne's hand with her own. Jeanne flipped the hand around to ensure it was palm up. Jeanne nodded with a grin, "Now, don't move." Jeanne drew her kukri in her other hand.**

 **The other two White Fang moved forward in defense of Ilia, only for Jeanne to point the blade at them, "And you two! Don't interrupt! Got it?!"**

 **Ilia looked to the two and nodded, "It's fine." She looked back to Jeanne, not quite sure if she could believe herself. "Just get it over with."**

 **Jeanne slowly motioned bac toward Ilia, her kukri digging into Ilia's cheek, slightly, causing her to bleed. But she didn't move. Jeanne nodded happily, "Good. Just stay like that."**

Everyone braced themselves for what was to come, the likelihood being that Ilia was about to lose a hand.

 **Jeanne lightly pressed the blade against Ilia's palm, just enough to draw blood. As the blood pooled, Jeanne placed her blade away and tipped Ilia's hand, pouring the blood into a small vial. When it filled, she tilted Ilia's hand back up and corked the vial, holding it up to look at the contents within, "That's a good girl."**

 **One of the faunas took this as an indirect insult, as if Jeanne was treating Ilia like a pet or something. "Hey!" She pushed passed and stormed toward Jeanne. "Just what the hell do you think you're…" She placed a threatening hand onto Jeanne's shoulders. Before she could finish speaking, she recoiled in pain, clutching her hand as blood seeped through her fingers.**

 **The camera returned to Jeanne, showing that she had one of the faunas's fingers in her mouth, having bit it off.**

Everyone jumped at the scene.

Yang lurched forward before catching herself on the chair in front of her, "What the hell?!"

Ilia felt a shiver run up her spine. This woman was a monster. Not only because she bit someone's finger off, but because she did so without so much as flinching. Oh! And there was also the fact that SHE JUST BIT SOMEONE'S FINGER OFF!

 **Jeanne spat the finger onto the ground and looked back to Ilia, who was now frozen out of fear instead of some level of determination. Jeanne just grinned at her expression, "That's quite the look." When Ilia tried to step back out of a sense of fear, Jeanne gripped her hand around the faunas's wrist. "I said…** ** _don't move_** **. You want her found you hold still." Jeanne looked down to Ilia's hand and placed her other hand on top of hers. After that, she placed the bloody hand onto her captive's forearm. After pressing the hand onto the skin, she removed her hand and revealed the blood around her palm had formed into an X.**

Blake blinked in shock at the scene, "What? But… how did… What?!"

 **Jeanne looked at the blood before shaking her head and letting go of Ilia.**

 **Ilia took in a frightened breath, "What does that mean?"**

 **"Means she's dead."**

Blake blinked again, "I'm what?"

Ilia had a similar reaction, "She's what?"

 **The Ilia on screen was having a hard time processing that. "What?"**

 **"She's dead. No longer of the living. Her soul has left her body. Take your pick."**

 **"That doesn't make any sense! How could she just up and die?!"**

 **"How should I know?" Jeanne walked back over toward the building, watching its roof collapse in the fires. "That's a bit out of my range. More importantly, it's time for your payment."**

 **Ilia was too in shock to reply, so the non-bleeding associate yelled toward her, "I thought her blood was that payment!"**

 **"It would have been if you knew how to follow instructions. Now, I need something else."**

Roman shrugged, "She's not wrong, if you think about it. Definitely off her rocker, but not wrong."

Ironwood nodded, "You break a rule," he turned his gaze toward Roman, "you get punished accordingly."

Roman caught his underlying intention and waved it off, "If you get caught, sure."

 **The White Fang grunt pulled his weapon, a handgun, from his side and pointed it toward Jeanne. "You think you can just…" before he could finish he was tackled by Jeanne.**

 **Jeanne pinned him to the ground, holding his arms down against the ground and with her feet planted on either side of his waist. Jeanne's stance seemed more bestial than human. After a moment, she lunged down toward him as the camera pulled away. The White Fang grunt was screaming as the other two went from shock, to near vomiting, to an indignant rage. The other grunt drew a sword only to find a kukri tossed into her gut. Jeanne spun off the grounded grunt and onto her new prey. Jeanne grabbed the knife, pushing it further up into the grunt's body. After she got far enough, Jeanne actually reached into the grunt and ripped her heart clean from the body.**

This scene put everyone through the ringer. From shock, to sick, to fear. A few of them even ended up vomiting at the sight before them. Thank goodness for extra dimensional clean up.

 **As the grunt died, Jeanne tossed the heart up and down in her hand. She turned to Ilia, clutching the organ tightly as it returned to her hand again. "You going to try to fight me now, too?"**

 **Ilia's hand shook in fear.** ** _This woman is insane!_** **She stepped back, away from her, as her self-preservation instincts took over.**

 **"Good. I need to get to Menagerie and you're going to take me there."**

Kali groaned a bit to herself, "I'm a little concerned why she'd need to go there…"

 **Ilia's shock shifted enough to allow her to speak, "What? Why would you want to go there?"**

 **"I have business with someone there. Someone who wronged me and needs to be dealt with. Now," Jeanne held the heart up to her mouth and ripped into it with her teeth.**

Those that didn't vomit before kind of had to now. Those who already had heaved with nothing left to give.

 **The camera panned along Jeanne's body as various marks appeared on her. Her arms and legs covered in blood red stripes and red seemed to flow down from and around her eyes. When the organ was drained of what she needed, she tossed the husk away and smiled toward Ilia, blood still running from her mouth, "Shall we get going?"**

King popped back and cut the feed. "I think it might be best to end it there…"

Knox appeared with a nervous chuckle, "That's for the best. Trust me, you don't want to see that…"


	103. Intermission 8: Sparring Match

**Knox: What took this?**

 **King: Life. Liberty. The pursuit of loot!**

 **Knox: Getting back into Borderlands after the reveal of 3?**

 **King: Fuck yeah! I am the Siren King!**

 **Knox: Right... So, yeah. That's happening so I guess I'll take over the intro. Hope you all enjoy the chapter and we're not** ** _that_** **sorry it took so long because this has always been a passion project anyway. It's taken a while to get this far. Anyway, let's get into it.**

 **Inspiration: N/A**

 **/\**

The screen chose to give them an intermission after that horror show. Everyone went off to do their own thing, hoping to cool their heads and forget that horrifying scene. And that brings us to the arena, where many chose to blow off some steam. In time, this led to the moment at hand. Standing in the arena's central zone were Taiyang and Sienna, both in their combat gear and with weapons in hand. Well… weapon. Tai was unarmed, as was his usual fighting style. Sienna's weapon was a chain with a bladed arrow at the end. Several similar arrows hung from her belt as well, some glowing slightly at their center in orange, blue, green, or white.

Knox appeared above the two and looked between them. "Okay! I want this to be a fair and clean fight. That said, rules are as follows. When your opponent's aura level reaches the level designated as 'red,' the match ends and a winner is declared. Other than that, you may use any weapon or advantage you can get. You don't _have_ to fight clean, but we'll all judge you if you don't. Do the fighters understand?"

Tai smiled and nodded, "Yep~!"

Sienna's face was more serious, but she nodded as well, "Understood."

Knox flew a bit higher and flickered out of sight, "FIGHT!"

Sienna was the first to make her move thanks to her weapon's range. She tossed the end of her chain toward Tai, the chain itself flowing behind it. Tai had to duck to the side, but this worked to Sienna's favor. She snapped the chain from her end and the end kicked up as the arrow detached and flew at Tai, causing him to fly back as the glowing arrow exploded in a Dust effect. Tai had to skid across the ground slightly to keep his balance but keep it he did. He was still standing after the dust settled.

Qrow chuckled to himself, "Welp. There goes her best chance to beat him."

This got the attention of the faunas couple next to him, given they knew Sienna in the past. Kali leaned around her husband to address the drunken huntsman, "What do you mean?"

"The best chance she had to beat Tai is at the beginning of the match. His semblance makes it so that the longer the fight, the better he gets."

Yang leaned forward over a railing above the ring, "Woah! So, dad's semblance is like mine?"

Blake turned to her partner, confused, "You don't know your own father's semblance?"

"It's not like I've ever actually fought him. Besides, what's _your_ dad's semblance?"

Blake was about to answer but froze before she could. She wasn't actually sure… "Fair point."

Tai cracked his neck and his grin widened. He bounced from one foot to the other for a moment as Sienna replaced the arrow on the end of her weapon. Once she was ready again, he charged forward. This time, when she went to hit him with the chain or arrow, he dodged to the side and kept his momentum. As he reached her, he landed a heavy hit to her gut and knocked her up slightly.

Sienna was able to right herself before landing on her feet and snapping her chain across Tai's face, the arrow on the end cracking across the back of his head as well. With this new position, she pulled to tighten the chain around him and weaken his aura and his ability to fight back. This was a mistake.

Tai brought his hands to the chains and pulled back against her, causing a tug-of-war. "If you're going to wrap a chain like this, you better be sure you're stronger than your opponent." Tai pulled and caused Sienna to drag forward across the ground but doing so tightened the chain around him a bit more, causing his aura to drop to the mid-yellow region. Safe to say, he wasn't the most graceful or trained with chains.

"Duly noted." Sienna growled and choose to end the clash and swiped the chain to the side, releasing the arrow and pulling the chai through Tai's hands. "Giving me advice despite being your opponent," she fixed a new arrow to the end of the weapon, "Ever consider being a teacher?"

Tai grinned. "As a matter of fact, I have," he joked. He hopped from side to side again, a spring in his step despite his now lacking aura level. As he went, he seemed to think something over. "I wonder…"

Sienna chose to capitalize on this and use another explosive arrow to send him back and knock him down toward the red. She pulled the chain along her side and five more arrows snapped onto the form near the end. She made them fly off toward Tai, each a different element of Dust at their cores.

Tai grinned as the elements erupted around him, only for him to have moved to the side without being seen doing so.

Everyone in the stands, besides the teachers who remember their school years alongside him, was dumbfounded. Yang chuckled in amazement, "That was awesome! How did he…?"

Qrow laughed, "Let me put to you this way, the longer the fight goes on and the more damage he takes, the faster and more energized he becomes."

Port nodded with a chuckle, "I believe we called it the Waking Dragon."

Oobleck removed his glasses to clean them off, "Now that he's a hair away from the red, he's at top speed for tournaments."

As they spoke, Sienna tried to strike him, only for him to blink away to a new spot nearby. He was fast enough that it was impossible to track him between points. Tai smirked and widened his stance.

Qrow was about to take another drink before stopping, frozen at the sight of the stance. "He wouldn't…"

Tai brought one arm up, his hand open with palm facing Sienna and pointed to the side. His other arm was coiled back with fist clenched.

Port seemed to panic a bit, "He would."

Oobleck shouted, "HIT THE DIRT!" The teachers all braced against the raised surroundings of the ring, confusing those not in the loop.

Sienna tried to stop him, but too late. Tai slammed his fist with enough force and speed to create a shockwave through the air. A sonic boom powerful enough to send the unprepared flying backward. This proved enough for Tai to capitalize and reach Sienna before she could get back to her feet. His arm was reared back in preparation for another attack. Sienna let her head fall back in defeat.

Knox flickered back into form, "The winner is Taiyang Xiao Long."

Qrow got back up and sighed, "Dragon's Roar… Damn it Tai! Why would you use that inside?!"

Sienna braced herself to stand, but found a hand reaching down to her. Tai had offered his hand to her to help her up. There was no condescension in his eyes or stance. No pity or anger. Instead, there was only respect. Sienna let out a breath and took his hand.

As the two left the arena, Knox turned to the others, "Alright~ Anyone else want a match?"

Jaune shrugged before raising a hand. "I'll go in. I need to train to keep up anyway…"

Weiss huffed and volunteered as well, "Then I'll be his opponent."

Jaune turned to her, a concerned look on his face, but Knox cut him off before he could speak. "OKAY! Jaune Arc and Weiss Schnee! The Prince versus the Heiress! Assemble your weapons and meet in the arena!"

As the two gathered their gear, Tai and Sienna walked into the stands and separated to their respective groups.

Yang grinned as her father approached, "Why didn't you tell us you could be that awesome?!"

Tai chuckled and took his seat, "I have to keep some kind of secrets. Even from my kids."

After a while of preparation, Weiss and Jaune walked into the arena and took positions facing each other in the central area. Jaune slowly drew his blade. He could tell Weiss volunteered to fight him for a reason, but he thought it was best to keep quiet about it for now. Weiss took a breath and adopted her fighting stance. Her visage was cold, giving a chilling effect to her opponent's nerves.

Glynda sighed, "Her face is a little too telling. She's still rather upset that Mr. Arc falsified his transcripts. I'm certainly against the decision, but she seems to be misplacing this ire on Mr. Arc…" She glanced toward Ozpin, since he was the one to make the decision in question.

Winter sighed. "This isn't too surprising. All her life, Weiss has had to prove herself to others. Prove she is smart enough to be a worthy heiress. Prove she is strong enough to be a huntress. Prove she is capable enough to earn father's blessing to attend Beacon Academy rather than the Atlas campus. She takes a certain pride in that. To learn someone found a way to cheat the system and attend through falsified means will feel like an insult to her."

Weiss dug her foot forward before lunging toward Jaune. The wannabe knight was able to block the attack, barely mind you but all that matters is he did. Jaune moved his shield to an angle and cause Weiss's momentum to slide to the side in an attempt to trip her up, but to no avail. Weiss dragged her blade against the metal and to the ground, creating a glyph and tossed Jaune aside.

Yang took in a sympathetic breath at Jaune's ragdoll-ing at Weiss's hands. "Seriously? She's still mad about that? Jaune's already proven to be good enough to stay. Heck, he's already out fighting a few of the other students. Not us, obviously, but that's still pretty impressive."

Glynda nodded, "He has proven to be a very quick learner. As well as having a staggering level of endurance."

Jaune stood up without seemingly being damaged from the tossing. His aura took a small hit, but his larger-than-average pool of aura made it seem nonexistent on the board. He stood with his shield held forward and his sword set to his side. His feet were set wide to prevent being tossed as easily again. He took a breath but didn't move to attack.

Weiss's glare heated for a moment as confusion took hold over his lack of action, but it cooled soon after, simply remaining patient.

Winter shook her head with a sense of pain for her sister, "A part of her won't let go of an insult like that. And now, she's pushing that onto Mr. Arc. Making _him prove_ that he truly belongs."

Weiss slid her forward foot against the ground, but retracted it soon after. Jaune's lack of a counter attack wasn't sitting right with her. She remembered Jaune's fights against Cardin and some of the others in their class. He would always go on to fight terribly and would always attack without thinking. Now, however, he wasn't moving. He was just hiding behind his shield, and this just made her all the angrier. This was proving he didn't belong. He's just flipped to the opposite extreme of a fighting style.

Weiss created small glyphs and fired a series of sharp icicles. Each impacted against Jaune's shield or flew off beside him. Weiss used this to flank around behind him, weapon back and ready to lunge into his back. However, Jaune leapt forward, into the flying ice and away from Weiss's attack, catching Weiss off guard.

Yang sprung up and grabbed the railing in front of her, "What the hell?! How did he know she was there?"

Blake blinked for a moment before thinking to herself, "How did he…?"

Ruby turned to her teammate, confused, "What's going on?"

Blake turned in surprise, not realizing she spoke out loud. Might as well explain it then. "It's difficult to hear, but each of Weiss's glyphs emits a high-pitched sound. It's hard to tell at first, but if you can hear them, you can find certain distinctions between them."

Ruby gasped as something finally made sense, " _That's_ why you're able to move through Weiss's glyphs without needing to look."

"You didn't know that?" The eyes of team RWBY turned to meet Ren's, "Jaune knew that a while ago and told all of us a little while ago. We just assumed you already knew."

"But how did _he_ know?!" Yang grabbed Ren by the shoulders, shaking him lightly. She realized what she was doing and let go, apologizing. "Blake makes sense since she's like a ninja _and_ she's a cat-faunas, but how did he know?"

Pyrrha offered the information, "Jaune says he had to have good hearing growing up since one of his sisters liked to play pranks on him."

"Yeah!" Nora joined the conversation, leaning around Ren, "It's so cool! He can tell who's outside our door just by how they walk!"

This just gave Blake more questions, "Then why didn't he know about that Deathstalker from initiation?"

"I was there, too. And I didn't notice it." Pyrrha defended Jaune but continued as well, "The creature wasn't moving. We found it while it was asleep."

Jaune rolled to the side and back up to his feet; shield forward, blade back, and silent.

Weiss huffed and swung her blade, creating more glyphs. This time, however, they surrounded him from all sides and angles. He couldn't block or dodge this one. She swung her blade upward as ice began to pool into the center of the glyphs and form the sharpened fragments once more. As she swung her blade downward again, the ice shot out toward Jaune at the same time.

Jaune swung his sword and shield together, breaking most of the ice flying toward him, but a few were able to get through and shatter against his aura. These put a significant dent in his aura levels and pushed him around, only for Weiss to unleash another volley with similar results.

Tai recoiled as one volley hit Jaune hard, knocking his aura down again, "This is brutal." But, his face turned to a grin, "Though, I'm interested to see how he gets out of this one."

Yang had a nervous smile on her face, "I'm not sure he can…" She wanted to root for her teammate, but a part of her couldn't help but cheer for Jaune to get through whatever funk Weiss was in and make her get over it. Even if that meant beating her in a match.

Jaune was fairing well enough against the ice, his massive aura pool keeping him in the fight longer than anyone would reasonably be expected to. So long, in fact, that Weiss was starting to almost respect him for it. Her glare faded, her subconscious anger fading out with it. She considered removing the field, only for the choice to be made for her. A small, polished blade had flown through the air and straight for her face. She ducked aside just quickly enough to avoid it, but this broke her concentration, causing her field of glyphs to fall apart. Jaune swung his shield back in front of him, but the damage was done. Weiss now knew the secret he'd been keeping behind it.

Nora gasped and jumped up in excitement, "He had knives behind his shield!"

Blake blinked in surprise but, after a moment, she nodded with a smirk, "He probably used it as a mirror to see her attack earlier. Smart move."

Jaune could see the jig was up, so he loosened his stance again. Now, they could see two more knives hidden behind his shield, as well as a leather pouch hanging close to his arm.

Weiss's eyes narrowed, "So, you picked up more than just your own weapon."

"Yep. It's pretty obvious that I can't beat you with just my sword."

"An astute observation." Weiss held her blade out toward him, pointing the tip of the blade at his chest, "Then let's see if you have enough to actually beat me." _You're obviously not good enough to do that, but I will admit you're better than I gave you credit for._ Weiss swung her blade around with a level of grace others among her just didn't have or show. She was ready for another lunge forward toward Jaune.

As she charged him again, her blade impacted his shield and the angle kept her momentum moving forward and up slightly. It was here that Weiss noticed something wrong. A few things, actually. First, there was no counter attack. Which made sense because of point two: his sword was sheathed in his shield right now! This gave Weiss a moment of pause in her mind. Why was his sword sheathed? What was he planning? Then, she found out with a loud bang and a heavy slug to her gut.

Within the pouch behind his shield he'd picked up was a high-power Dust hand cannon. It was a sleek design with a central chamber reminiscent to a revolver, which resembled the similar apparatus on Weiss's own weapon. At the end of the barrel, the steel was remodeled or painted in gold with his symbol etched into the side. The shot that fired used impact Dust to knock Weiss backward and away from him.

Nora's arms shot up in a cheer, "GO FEARLESS LEADER!"

Ruby jumped up as well, but more in surprise that Jaune had brandished a gun. "What the heck? Where did he get that? Wait… Did it just fire pure Dust? WHERE DID HE GET IT?!"

Yang had a different question, though. " _Why_ does he have it? It's not like he's used anything like it before."

Port chuckled hearing that. "Oh, but Ms. Xiao Long, that's the point!"

This left many of them confused, but Yang most of all. "What do you mean?"

"Why, I think it would be obvious."

Glynda sat back with her arms crossed, "Mr. Arc has excellent endurance, but he lacks the versatility that you all possess. He has no ranged weapon or any similar effect. Even Mr. Winchester has _some_ range with his semblance to direct his impact force through the ground."

Port nodded, "Quite right! What's more, as huntsmen, it is our duty to constantly strive to better ourselves and our fighting abilities, even if it means learning a completely different weapon. If we never adapt, we will fall in time."

This left the students to think as the match continued.

Weiss landed less than gracefully, but at least on her feet. She looked back over to Jaune in shock before her eyes narrowed, "And where did that come from?"

Jaune looked at the gun before shrugging. "I found it in the locker with the rest of my stuff. Has my symbol and everything, so I figured I'd bring it with me."

Weiss was thinking this over in her mind but didn't really let it remain as her primary thought. Instead, he had something else to deal with first. She stood tall again, her eyes locked on Jaune. "Jaune… I have something to say."

Jaune's body relaxed. He knew Weiss well enough to know that she wouldn't stoop to a sneak attack like that. "What is it?"

The silence was tense, lingering for a moment before Weiss took a breath. "I admit that I have underestimated you. At first, I believed you were simply weaker than the rest of us but had some form of redeeming quality. Then we learned about your transcripts…" Weiss's hand tightened around her weapon.

Jaune wasn't sure where this was going, but also felt his guilt welling about that. The transcripts were his greatest crime, but he doesn't regret it because of everything that's happened since. He _did_ regret not getting more training ahead of time, but that's not entirely his fault either.

Weiss continued, "It angered me to think you cheated your way into Beacon. I believed this was because you took the spot away from someone more deserving."

Jaune _really_ hoped there was a 'but' coming up after that.

"However…"

 _Close enough._

"… this match has proven what I already learned since met. You are resourceful and learn very quickly. You accomplish in a semester what most of us took years to reach. Your team clearly respects you and you've proven to at least be competent as a leader if the Deathstalker was anything to go by. Learning you cheated to get into Beacon… it seemed wrong. I refused to believe you would do so and I exploded at you over it. I apologize for that…"

Jaune let out a breath and nodded for a moment, "Thank you, Weiss… That means a lot." Jaune took a breath before widening his stance again, his body behind his shield and gun placed in the pouch on his arm again, drawing his sword. "I plan to live up to that."

Weiss grinned, actually grinned, toward Jaune. "Good." She swung back into her fighting stance again.

The students of Beacon and friends of the two felt this was a long time coming. The two weren't hostile by any means, or even annoying anymore. Jaune had long since apologized for his unwillingness to take a hint. But now, they may actually consider each other friends.

A loud buzz cut off their fight and Knox appeared above them again. "TIME! Sorry, but we only have so much time in intermissions, you see. Time's up and Weiss wins by aura, barely."

Weiss looked up to the board to find that she _was_ just barely ahead of him. His advantage of a massive aura pool certainly helped him. But right now, she was just thankful the board tracked percentages rather than numbers.

Knox floated up to the board and it disappeared into a flame, similar to holographic displays back at Beacon, "Five-minute warning means all spars are off. Head back at your leisure, but remember, five minutes!" Knox disappeared into himself again and left them to return to the main halls.

As Jaune and Weiss returned from the center ring, they found their teams and friends waiting by the lockers, Ruby holding a paper in her hands. Jaune looked to the side to find they were in front of his locker, where he found everything, "Um… Is something wrong?"

Ruby turned as they both approached, "My dad showed us this trick. There's a manifest in each of the lockers that explain stuff about the weapons and where they came from. Some even from the future." She chose not to mention the reality with Pyrrha's death.

"That sounds pretty cool." Jaune placed everything back, the pouch with the gun being the last item to return, "What does it say about this thing?"

"Let's see…" Ruby looked over the paper again to find the point in question.

[Durendal: a hand cannon created between the first and second years of Jaune Arc's time in Beacon. Created using materials gathered in Arcadia, the weapon utilizes a six-Dust chamber mechanism that fires direct Dust rounds in place of infused rounds. A shot, when utilizing the correct Dust type, is capable of piercing solid stone.]

Nora let out an excited gasp, "Oh my gosh! That's so cool!"

The intercom rang again. " _The intermission is ending! Get your buts back to the main theater!_ "

" _Knox! What did I tell you about using the intercom?!_ "


	104. Golden Meat Bicycle

**King: I can relate to this.**

 **Knox: A man with two voices in his head wherein the second, new voice doesn't listen or react to a calmer original? You relate to that?**

 **King: ...**

 **Knox: What?**

 **King: Nothing... Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the chapter, as per usual.**

 **Inspiration: Borderlands 2**

 **/\**

As everyone filed into their seats again, they found something odd in the air around them. King was flying around like a mad man, but they noticed his usual purple flame was also now adorned with a symbol that resembled an arch integrated into a circle.

Ruby looked over to Knox, who was nearby, "Um… is he okay?"

Knox had no face, but they could tell he was smiling, "Yeah. He's fine. Just having a bit of fun. Let' get started, shall we?"

The two flickered out as the next reality appeared on the canvas.

 **The world opened to show an arid world, one of madness and blood. A large metal 'rib' stuck out from the ground with a man hanged from the top section. Beneath him was another man in red and white armor over his chest, legs, and face, coupled with a rifle in his hands and a sword as his hip.**

Yang raised an eyebrow, "Is that supposed to be Jaune?"

Coco looked between Jaune and the man on screen, "If I'm honest, red _would_ be a good color for him."

 **They heard Jaune's thoughts from the screen.** ** _I don't know the dead man. Probably didn't deserve what he got. Doesn't make him special though…_**

 ****Yang grinned once she heard him talk. "He kind of sounds like the hero in an old western."

"Looks like one too, if you think about it." Tai pointed to the scene before them.

 **He walked toward the hanging man, looking up toward him for a moment before continuing to walk.**

 ** _Plenty of people die out here and plenty of kinds. The innocent…_**

 **As he continued walking, they saw a man sitting on top of a rock nearby. He wasn't wearing a shirt, but he had orange pants, metal bracers, and a white and orange mask with the same symbol the King had earlier. One of the eyes of the mask was covered and a breathing apparatus was added over his mouth like a gas mask.**

Nora gasped, recognizing the form. "It's Pandora!"

Jaune turned to her, confused, "What's that?"

Nora was too excited at the prospect of 'space magic,' so Ren had to explain it for her, "It's another planet in this reality. We saw a similar version earlier on."

Coco chuckled, "Yeah. And memory serves, we saw a funny little coupling in that one."

Yang thought back, trying to remember the reality. Then, when it hit her, she burst out laughing, "Oh yeah! I forgot about that!"

 **The man on the rock was hitting a strange weapon, resembling a buzz saw on a stick, against the rock.**

Blake thought back and sighed, "One of those psychos that attacked them, if memory serves."

 **He noticed the man on the rock and walked off.**

 ** _If I'm lucky, he hasn't noticed me yet._**

 **The man on the rock's head turned to him and he jumped down from the stone surface, walking around behind him.**

Pyrrha was growing concerned, "This can't be good."

Ren was thinking the scene over. This wasn't quite adding up for him, for some reason.

 ** _I want to warn him. To tell him to run. To hide. To get out of sight so I won't have to kill him._**

 **He turned toward the man, who tossed his weapon up only to drop it.**

Yang grinned, "Jaune must be a total badass in this if he wants to warn that guy."

Blake crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, "He says he _wants_ to warn him. Why doesn't he?"

Jaune started to go back through everything he'd said in this reality and realized something important. What he said could apply to _two_ people on that screen.

 **The screen focuses on the psycho's face, showing his eye twitch.**

 ** _That's what I want to say. But what actually comes out of my mouth…_**

 **The psycho charged forward, leaping into the air with weapon raised, "I HAVE THE SHINIEST MEAT BICYCLE!"**

Everyone went through a slew of emotions once they heard the psycho speak. First was that what he said was so out of nowhere that it was pretty funny. Second was how well it fit into what was going on. Finally, was the fact that he sounded like a more deranged version of the Jaune they heard on screen.

 **As Jaune buried his weapon into the armored man, the screen went black and they heard his inner voice sigh.** ** _Close enough…_**

 **The scene changed to show Jaune walking down a rail line in the desert.**

 ** _This… is me._**

 **** **The on screen Jaune's body convulsed a bit as he shouted, "I'm ready for a spine tingler!"**

 ** _Or… what's left of me…_** **The inner voice was silent a moment before continuing,** ** _Hey… Do you remember back when we were sane?_**

 **"She can taste the bloody hatred!"**

 ** _Guess not._**

Yang just had to voice how she felt about this, "I… this is kind of weird. I mean, it's kind of funny with both sides as like a dual act, but I also feel bad for him. Anyone else?"

Most of the group agreed, with one exception. Yeah, you know the one.

 ** _Still can't hear me can you? Little voice in your head trying to remind you when we could hours… days… our entire life without screaming about our desire to ride bicycles made of meat._**

 **Jaune tossed the weapon into the air, actually catching it this time.**

 ** _I don't even remember…_** **Jaune had long since lost himself. When he first arrived on Pandora, he was jumped and sold to the Hyperion super corporation to test that damned slag, a purple liquid they injected into his body that turned him into what he's become. It drove him mad; mad enough to kill the people keeping him caged and escape.**

Yang took in a sharp breath, "Okay… that's seriously messed up."

Ilia groaned, "I'm at least glad the SDC or others can't get away with _that_ …"

 **Jaune turned at the sound of large machinery behind him. He jumped off just in time to not get hit by the massive train running along the magnetized rails. Jaune shook himself back to reality, ironically, and looked up to find someone standing on the train platform in front of him.**

 **She dressed in a pair of tight jeans and boots, coupled with a set of armor for her upper body that covered her right arm. Her left arm was covered in blue tattoos, and a small amount of her left hip they saw showed it flowed down the rest of her body.**

Roman chuckled, "Kind of reminds me of your outfit." He nudged Neo's arm.

The ice cream themed criminal had to admit the similarities between the attire.

 **She carried a strange, rounded submachine gun with an orange, black, and white color scheme.**

Ruby didn't see that much interesting, but also couldn't shake that something else was there. There was a part of that gun she couldn't quite place. Something in the internals…

 **Her hair was white as freshly fallen snow and cut short to shoulder length. She turned slightly to the side to show her ice blue eyes and a scar over said eye on that side.**

Nora erupted in a frustrated and disappointed outburst, "Aw man! I wanted the space magic again!"

Weiss rolled her eyes, but admitted she was looking forward to seeing said magic powers.

 **Jaune's inner voice didn't remember too much about his old life, but he did remember something this important.** ** _She's carrying a Maliwan SMG. She's a Vault Hunter. A siren warrior that could kill me with her brain._**

 **Weiss turned enough to see him in her peripheral vision, causing her to turn fully to face him, "What the hell? Is that a Psycho?"**

Weiss nodded, "That's putting it lightly."

Ruby was still trying to figure out the weapon, "But what's a Maliwan?"

No one knew, yet.

Knox appeared to explain it since King is… indisposed. "It's a weapons manufacturer. They're known for elementally infused weaponry: fire, electricity, corrosive, ice, slag… The works."

Jaune jumped up toward the fireball, "Hold on! There's that stuff again. What is slag?"

"Twisted. It's an industrial runoff from the production of Eridium. Getting covered in this stuff causes the target to weaken. Point is, get drenched in it, you get hurt more."

"And they injected that stuff… into my body?"

"As twisted as it is, yes. They did, and it broke you. Turning you into a literal Psycho-Jaune."

 **Jaune's visible eye widened seeing her.**

 ** _She's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen._**

Weiss groaned and hung her head hearing that. _Why am I not surprised?_

Pyrrha and Velvet had long gotten used to these reality differences. If anything, it made them realize that they have to step up when they get back.

 **Jaune stood up again, his inner voice trying to get his body to listen to him again,** ** _Tell her she's as beautiful as a thousand sunsets! Tell her you need her help! Tell her to rescue you, and care for you, and whatever you do! Do NOT yell the word poop at the top of your lungs!_**

 **Unfortunately, Jaune's body shouted, at the top of his lungs no less, "I'M THE CONDUCTOR OF THE POOP TRAIN!"**

Nora burst out into laughter.

Jaune just buried his head in his hands. That was just… there were no words for the embarrassment by proxy. First was his embarrassment at his words. Second was the embarrassment of who he was saying it to.

 **There was a moment of silence to really let that embarrassment set in.**

Jaune groaned. _Please… just move on._

 **Weiss, unaware of the man's inner thoughts, only saw one of the psychos of Pandora. They always shouted weird shit at the top of their lungs when they planned to attack, and he seemed no different. She jumped down from the platform and took cover behind a set of barriers designed to keep vehicles from crashing onto the platform.**

 **Jaune's shoulders slumped.** ** _It's over idiot._**

 **Weiss fired a series of blue bolts toward Jaune, who was able to dodge them in a scramble, and the fact that it was an SMG and not something more accurate.**

 ** _You're going to die here and the last words that came out of your mouth will have been 'poop train.'_**

 ****Yang took a breath before sighing, "I mean… I _do_ feel for back for the guy…"

 **As Weiss went to reload, Jaune took cover from behind a small pile of rocks. As he looked up from his sanctuary, he saw a group of masked men crawling over the top of the train station.**

 ** _Oh great… Now the Rats are arriving._**

 **A disgusting group that could barely be considered human anymore. They ran on all fours, spoke in high pitched grunts, and were the obsessive types that grabbed anything and everything not nailed down. Making things worse were the fact that they were pack hunters that could swarm and tear a vault hunter apart if caught unprepared.**

Tai took in a sharp breath, "Well, that's not good."

 **Jaune's inner voice tried to reach out to her, to warn her,** ** _Turn around siren. Damn it! Turn around or your dead!_** **All to no avail. His voice was not his own, unable to speak to anyone but himself.**

It was times like this that Ozpin and Oscar were more than happy for the set up they had. They could simply swap roles for a while, but both were still aware of each other and can still interact with the world at large. To be without any control over a body that won't even listen to you, however, was a scary thought.

 ** _Say something! Tell her to look back! Now!_**

 **But Jaune's body was too far gone. When he turned to warn her, all that came out was, "Strip the flesh!"**

 **You can imagine how well this went. Weiss continued to fire toward Jaune, causing the psycho to duck down again.**

 ** _No! Tell her to TURN AROUND!_**

 **And of course, "Salt the wound!"**

 ** _Yes! Fine! We'll salt all the wounds later. But right now! If you don't listen to me, she's going to die! And its going to be YOUR fault!_**

 **For the first time since they broke apart, Jaune's body had to concede to his mind. Had to hear him. Jaune had to jump up, arm reared back, and finally screaming at the top his lungs, "TURN AROUND PRETTY LADY!" He tossed his weapon into the air, passing by the camera in slow motion to show that the buzz ax was not a fixed weapon, but the bladed head could actually spin.**

Now that Ruby could see the weapon up close, she wretched at the scene, "Oh gods, why?! That should _not_ work! At all!"

 **The ax flew along, over Weiss's shoulder, and embedded in the skull of the Rat behind her. As the weapon crawled to an upright position, Jaune jumped onto the Rat's shoulders and pulled it clean as blood spurted from the opened skull. Jaune went on a tear through the other Rats, ripping them apart one by one in a flow of blood and anger.**

The moment was brutal, but he also saved Weiss, so the viewers were able to hold back any gagging from the blood and death.

 **Jaune leaned over another of the Rats his eye showing his hate and anger, "I'm going to put my pain into your soul!"**

 **The Rat responded by collapsing.**

This, if nothing else here, got Yang to laugh. "I guess it worked."

 **Weiss watched the events, more confused than anything. Pandora's psychos weren't exactly known for saving people. They didn't even save those in their own bandit groups. The fact that one had just saved her from an attack was ludicrous as it was. But then she really thought back. He took cover. Psychos didn't do that. They just charged you in a fervent rush.**

 **She looked back to him in time to see another Rat ready to pounce on him, blade in hand. No good deed goes unrewarded, so she held out her left hand, her tattoos glowing. The Rat hung in the air, held by a well of gravity pulling him around its center.**

 **Jaune looked up to the well before turning back to Weiss. The two shared a glance before Jaune turned back to the Rat, jumping up to bury his weapon into the well-held Rat.**

 **As he pulled his blade from the body, Jaune inner voice spoke to himself again,** ** _Tell her thank you. Tell her that, thanks to her, we may have a chance to finally act like a normal person._**

Nora chuckled to herself, "I get the feeling he won't actually say that."

 **Jaune's body… you get the idea. "I polished my cockatiel for the ribcage slaughter!"**

A few of them snickered, for both the innocent laughing at his failing and the dirty minded that had no shame.

 **Weiss was starting to piece together that there was more to this man than meets the eye. She smiled, understanding he wasn't a threat to her.**

 **Jaune's inner voice was a little surprised, but more than happy about the outcome.** ** _Huh… Close enough._**

Qrow finished a sip from his flask and grinned, "Nice call back to the beginning."

 **As Weiss boarded her train, joining three others (familiar faces all of them) to hunt the vault Hyperion corporation was after. Jaune watched the train as it started to gain speed.**

 ** _You thinking what I'm thinking?_**

 **Evidently, his body was on the same page for once. The psychotic masked man leapt up from the platform and onto the moving train. It was clear these vault hunters may just be the missing piece to become normal again. What did he have left to lose?**


	105. The Droid General

**King: This is coming out a little later in the day than usual, but I think you won't necessarily mind.**

 **Knox: So... why are we putting this one out so late rather than waiting?**

 **King: What's today?**

 **Knox: May four... OH~! Got it.**

 **Inspiration: Star Wars**

 **Note: May the Force be with you. Always.**

 **/\**

And so, the next world began.

 **This world opened to a black background with bright blue lettering [A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…]**

 **The next scene opened to show a Weiss and Ruby in the middle of frozen wasteland, both dressed in dark robes similar to those of a monk. It was a slow moment for the two during the war, and they were more than willing to enjoy it while they could. Weiss was looking out over the field through a set of binoculars while Ruby, who seemed more than a bit older than the Weiss on screen, was sitting by a fire, meditating.**

Coco looked over the outfits before nodding, "I thought they looked familiar."

Velvet turned to her partner, "What do you mean?"

"It's the same robes we saw the first time we saw those lightsaber things. They're both Jedi."

Ruby was grinning from ear to ear, "Awesome! I get to use a lightsaber again~!"

 **Ruby's communicator caught both their attentions as it beeped loudly. Ruby stood and flicked the device to life. A blue hologram of the familiar form of the Jedi Master Lionheart, dressed in similar though more tattered robes. "** ** _This is Master Lionheart! We need reinforcements on Sathi!_** **" He ran to the side, blocking laser fire with his lightsaber as he did.**

 **Ruby watched the scene, growing more concerned as she did, "Master Lionheart?! What's going on?!"**

 **"** ** _Some new droid general…! He's outflanked us at every turn! There's only a few of us left! Please! Send…_** **" He was cut off as he cried out in pain.**

Everyone was stunned by the suddenness of the scene. Whatever was going on, it must have been bad.

Cinder, obviously, found it intriguing. Maybe she'd find some new ideas.

 **The scene moved to show a hand fall against arid dirt. The sleeve made it clear this was the body of Lionheart. A round communicator fell from his hand and rolled on its side a moment before landing face up again. Ruby's hologram appeared, pleading for him to answer her. But she'd never have an answer. Instead, a mechanical foot slammed onto the device, shattering it.**

Everyone jumped at the sudden stomp, but also at the shape of the foot in question. Rather than the usual human foot, it had four talons around the cylindrical form. When it was said and done, everything was summed up by Nora's next words, "I have a bad feeling about this."

Ironwood thought for a moment, "That wouldn't be very efficient as a design. At least, not for anything we have…"

 **The scene moved to show a sea of blue droids firing upon a downed capital starship. The mechanical force had surrounded the ship and destroyed the Republic's ground forces in near their entirety. From the angle, they saw a robotic hand raise up to stop the forces. Each came to halt, moving to standby with their blasters pointed away. The camera moved to show the general's back. More specifically, a long white and gold cape. The bits of the body they could see, the raised arm and his head, were designed to appear to be wearing armor.**

Velvet sunk a bit, seeing where this was going, "So… that's going to be Jaune…"

 **Jaune lowered his hand, allowing the Jedi within to regroup. He was not some petty thug or a power-hungry mad man. He was a general, a soldier. But before it all, he had a point to prove. The Jedi are not warriors, yet they are considered the greatest fighters in the galaxy. Those** ** _monks_** **had the handicap of their Force! He would prove this falsity to all!** ** _He_** **was the mightiest warrior among the galaxy! He would fight all of the Jedi himself!**

Ozpin had met many men and women like that. Willing to do whatever they had to prove they were truly the strongest or best of whatever they do. More often than not, they were blowhards that just needed a good kick in the butt to be grounded in reality again. However, now and then, there would be one that could back up their claims. Someone who was truly skilled in their field, simply seeking to prove themselves and become stronger.

 **Jaune clicked a device to amplify his voice through his 'helmet,' "Jedi! You are surrounded! Your armies decimated! Make peace with the Force now! For this is your final hour! But know that I, General Jaune Arc, am not without mercy! I shall grant you a warrior's death! Prepare!"**

Yang couldn't make sense of what he said, "What? How is that _any_ amount of mercy? That doesn't make any sense."

Kali, however, was versed in the principle, "It depends on how you look at things. It's clear that this version is was a warrior all of his life. He likely has a moral code that there is no greater insult than to run from a fight or to disregard your opponent. If he didn't give them at least the chance to fight back, he would be going against his ideals."

Blake turned to her mother, more than a little surprised she had just said that.

 **Jaune allowed them a moment before starting to walk toward the ship. His footsteps echoed through the ship and scrap. As he did, the camera pulled inside to show six people standing among the ship's interior, all in Jedi robes. In the center was Gira Belladonna, his sleeve torn and his blade unignited. Around her, they only recognized two others: Raven and Glynda.**

They could place the others as students, but they didn't know their names or even what school they were from.

 **Jaune's footsteps echoed all around them. They couldn't even tell what direction he was coming from. One of the students was sweating nervously, not as disciplined as the older masters. The student's breathing was picking up in speed and becoming heavier. Jaune moved slowly into the doorway of broken scrap. He turned toward them, his cape remaining close to his body despite the light wind. The student, now face to face with the leader of the droids, flew off his handle. He charged forward with his lightsaber raised for a fight. Gira tried to stop him, but he was too late.**

Winter sighed, "This is will not end well."

 **Jaune waited for the young Jedi to approach. He was no warrior, and his action proved that too well. As he approached, Jaune back handed the Jedi and pulled the blade from his hand, only to plunge the blue beam of light into its owner's spine.**

Everyone jumped at how quickly he'd dealt with the young Jedi. They remembered back to the version where Ruby was the Padawan, and she was able to hold off a force of droid soldiers like they were nothing! Yet, this man was torn down with a single move.

Safe to say, Cinder was having fun.

 **Jaune pulled the blade back out from the flesh beneath him, swinging his arm to the side with enough force to push his cape over his shoulder. His body was finally revealed to be completely robotic, similarly designed to that of a knight's armor. Even his head resembled an armored helmet with a faceplate. Along his waist, however, was the greatest horror to the Jedi. Trophies, lightsabers taken from fallen Jedi.**

A chill ran through most of the audience. The idea of taking 'trophies' from people he killed was a terrifying thought. It was better that they were just weapons and not something worse.

That said, Cinder just became more and more impressed. Not with the trophy taking, tat was just disgusting and unnecessary. Rather, she appreciated what they represented. This man was a monster that cut through anyone in his way. She had a somber moment of disappointment that _this_ version wasn't in her reality.

 **One of the other students reared her saber back and flung it toward the general.**

Ruby shook her head, "That's actually a really bad idea, unless you have a way to quickly get it back…" She glanced toward Pyrrha for a moment.

 **The blade spun in the air toward him, guided by the Force.**

Ruby now had to eat her words, "Never mind…"

 **Jaune glanced toward the blade a moment before his eyes locked toward hers. He leapt, spinning in the air, over the flying weapon and caught it in his free hand. As he started to descend, he threw the blade at said student, running her through with her own blade.**

Cinder was over the moon at this point. _Damn it! Why can't we have THIS version?!_

Everyone else was just getting into a state of mind… They could see there going to be a lot of that.

 **This left Gira, Raven, Glynda, and the remaining student. Raven and Glynda were like a well-oiled machine, their connection to the Force giving them a sixth sense to both predict danger and each other. Glynda moved along the side, deliberately catching Jaune's attention. As she swung her own green lightsaber, Raven leapt in from the other side with her blue blade.**

Ruby perked up, "Wait! There are green lightsabers, too?!"

King appeared again, "Yep~ Each color has a different meaning. Blue are for combat focused Jedi, green are Force focused Jedi, one guy has purple… And red all Sith. There are more, but they're rare to actually see."

 **Jaune kept his eyes locked on Glynda, simply drawing a second saber from his belt and blocking Raven's attack. His augmented body gave him a mind and reflexes to match the Jedi and their Force powers. Jaune pushed the two back and jumped forward toward the last of the students. This one, however, had been trained for far longer. Jaune swung in a barrage of attacks to force the student to back away from the onslaught. As the three masters tried to rush to the student's aid, Jaune leapt over the student, grabbing his head in his talons, and throwing the young man with his foot straight into the ceiling.**

 **Glynda reached her hand out to a massive chunk of metal, causing it to lift from the ground. While Raven and Gira kept the general busy, she moved the chunk of her ship over him. As she dropped the metal, her fellow Jedi held Jaune in place long enough to ensure he couldn't react once they moved.**

 **As the metal fell, Jaune used his cybernetic speed to shred the metal apart into small shards of scrap.**

Ruby had a mini freak out. She wondered if she could ever be fast enough to do something like that.

 **Jaune caught a large shard with his foot's talons and threw it straight into Glynda's shoulder. This left her open long enough for him to rush toward her slam her to the ground, ending with him standing on top of her stomach. The human body was not meant to hold back hundreds of pounds of gravitational force combined with the force from said individual's kick.**

Glynda recoiled a bit. She knew how much that would hurt thanks to her work as a huntress. It was _not_ a fun experience.

 **Gira tried to take a swipe Jaune, only for him to jump off Glynda (pushing her into the ground again) and onto Raven's shoulders, latching onto her with his talons.**

This made everyone cringe at the painful display.

 **Jaune leaned around her, releasing her from his grasp and slashing at her legs. After this, he jumped away from the last still-standing Jedi. Jaune stood before as a final challenge. This was the state of the warrior. Either they would die, or he would.**

 **Gira growled and brought his blade up again, ready to be done with the general. The two were silent. Gira was preparing his assault in his mind, but soon caught himself and took a breath. Over thinking things will only get him killed. His face was blank despite himself.**

 **Jaune nodded, "You might actually be a worthy challenger." He lowered his blades for a moment to either side. "Then I shall treat you as such."**

Glynda felt a little insulted, "He's been holding back? I find this hard to believe."

 **Jaune 'cracked' his neck and raised his arms to either side. After a moment, his arms snapped apart down their lengths at the elbows before following with his hands. These two new arms drew another set of blades before he adopted a fighting stance.**

Glynda was quiet. This was ridiculous enough to break her for the moment. She'll be back later…

Her face did get a laugh out of her coworkers, though.

 **Gira slid his foot forward a moment, the tense atmosphere of the room not helping his situation. He would have to move fast, but Jaune's reflexes made truly fighting him here difficult. If he could've isolated the general in a hallway or something, some way to control his movements he could've taken him. But as it was, the general had the advantage.**

 **Jaune's talons sunk into the ground, ready to leap toward the Jedi master. An explosion to the side ripped his attention away. A Republic gunship had torn through the ship's hull and was pointing its weapons straight at him. Jaune may be a warrior, but he was also a general. He understood that the situation was no longer salvageable. It was time to leave.**

Kali thought back over the situation and nodded to herself, "I suppose that could still fit the moral code argument. He fights on their terms, but the moment the armies appear, it's no longer a duel so he can retreat."

 **As the ship's guns started to unload blaster charges toward him, Jaune ran along the perimeter of the ship before slicing his way back outside. Jaune looked back to the see the gunship taking off into the sky, no doubt taking the survivors off to fight another day. Jaune growled, not because they escaped, that was just the nature of war, but rather because he never got to fight Gira. He would have to rectify this in time. For now, the war continues.**

Yang sighed, "I mean… it's good they got away, but I kind of wanted to see that fight…"


	106. Rules of Nature

**Knox: What's... I don't...**

 **King: Something wrong, Knox?**

 **Knox: How can... But how... He...**

 **King: You okay?**

 **Knox: I... WHAT?! HOW?!**

 **King: I think he's broken... Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter and your day~**

 **Inspiration: Metal Gear Rising: Revengance.**

 **/\**

 **The next reality was quick to come into form because it started so slowly.**

 **The scene opened to the interior of a limousine. A man in a suit, very clearly a politician rather than a businessman, looked out over the area. "We've come a long way these past years. More than I could have hoped for."**

 **A man next to him nodded, "The mark of a strong leader, sir."**

Ironwood sighed, "Kiss ass… damn politicians."

 **The politician shook his head, "No. The mark of a strong people. And a good advisor."**

 **"Thank you, sir."**

 **"Though…" The politician turned to the seats in front of him, "I suppose we owe that to you as well."**

 **Sitting opposite him was Jaune Arc, dressed in a dark suit as well. Jaune chuckled and waved it off, "I'm happy we were so effective, but we can't take that much credit."**

Coco smirked, "Who knew Arc could look good in a suit. I heard he was more the dress type~"

Jaune groaned. He didn't regret wearing it, he gave his word after all and an Arc never goes back on his word. What he did regret, though, was that _everyone_ decided to film the event.

 **The politician looked out over the city to see an armored transport driving down the street in the distance, "You were able to train our new military far faster than we could have hoped. Now, we might actually have some level of peace." The politician laughed to himself. "And to think, I had my doubts about you and your group. Though, perhaps there might be hope for these… what was it? Private military corporations?"**

Ironwood felt his eye twitch. The idea of a privately owned and operated MILITARY group was so foreign to him that it physically hurt him to think about. He imaged what Jacque would do with one and nearly had a heart attack.

 **Jaune shook his head, "We prefer the term, Private Security Services."**

 **"Well, whatever you call it, you are easily the best we could have…" He was interrupted as the limo skidded to a loud halt with the sound of heavy gunfire. "What's going on?"**

 **Jaune brought his hand to his earpiece, "Report!"**

 **A voice came in over the communication device, "** ** _Enemy cyborgs!_** **"**

Yang perked up, "Woah! Cyborgs?!"

 **Jaune cursed under his breath, "What affiliation?!"**

 **"** ** _Unaffiliated! Definitely hostile!_** **"**

 **Jaune nodded and smiled to the politician, "Excuse me, sir. I'll take care of this." Jaune calmly opened the door of the limo as the driver burned rubber to escape the area. He took his suit jacket in hand and tossed it aside, revealing his own cybernetic body.**

Ironwood's eyes nodded for a moment. If he was honest, he was a little jealous of the sleeker, less steel-shell-like design. Atlassian prosthetics had two types: armor and near-skeletal. But this version looked far more advanced than he'd ever seen.

 **Jaune also had a long case in hand. As he held it up, the bottom of the case opened up and revealed a sword being held in a magnetic field. As he took his sheathed sword, he slowly removed it from its casing as electricity coursed through the blade.**

Nora bounced in her chair excitedly, "So cool! Lightning swords! Can we do something like that with my hammer?!"

Ruby started to think of ways it might, but none of them were safe. But there was something about this blade that wasn't quite right to her. Something she couldn't place.

 **Jaune tossed the case to the side and placed the scabbard at his side. He lowered his stance, ready for whatever came his way.**

Blake, Ilia, and Sienna all blinked once. Twice. Thrice. His stance was rather familiar. It was strikingly similar to Adam's.

 **A set of three cyborg soldiers approached from in front of him. Each was wearing body armor and tactical vests, wielding shorter blades for the fight at hand. After all, who needs guns when your body is mostly metal. One of them thought it was a good idea to rush attack their cybernetic foe.**

 **Jaune smirked and swung his blade back before swinging the electrified blade through the enemy, who continued to run for a moment as the moment had yet to register for him. After a moment, blood flew out from his back and he fell to the ground in two pieces. Jaune swung his blade toward the ground beside him to toss off the blood that had splattered onto the blade. He started to return his blade to its sheath as the other two began to rush him. When his blade clicked back into its home, his attackers fell passed him in two pieces each.**

Everyone was a little… Okay, a lot in shock for three reasons. One, they'd just seen Jaune bisect cybernetic men with a sword. Two, he had done so at a speed too fast to just be called blinding. Finally, he made it look so easy. Not just his lack of physical exertion, but also his emotional state. He looked like a man simply doing a job, not a man that just killed three people.

 **Jaune stood normally and ran off down the street. As he did, his ear piece rang out again, "** ** _Jaune! The Prime Minister's car is under attack!_** **"**

 **Jaune looked around, a small device clicking over his eye giving him access to a mapping system.**

Nora chuckled, "Future monocles!"

Ruby's head tilted, "But what's a Prime Minister?"

Ozpin thought for a moment, "I've never heard of one, before… Context would make him similar to a Councilman. Possibly someone in a higher position than that…"

 **Jaune ran off to the car. Unfortunately, he arrived a little too late. The Minister was being held over the shoulder of a massive cyborg man. From the back, it was hard to tell who he was, but once he turned toward Jaune, he looked very familiar; Gira Belladonna.**

Kali blinked for a moment, but her surprise passed soon enough, "Well… that's different."

 **Gira smirked seeing him, "So you're Jaune, huh?"**

 **"What do you want with the Prime Minister?"**

 **"I want him dead. Nothing personal, of course. Times are just getting too peaceful. Business is drying up as more and more countries move away from their war economies. But some of us happen to like that economy! How's an honest warmonger supposed to make a living?"**

 **"So, this is your answer? Kidnap a politician and destroy a city?"**

Roman shook his head, "It would depend on who replaces him if he doesn't make it… If they can force another warmonger or a tyrant, then they get what they want. Otherwise, they're back at square one, presumably unpaid on top of it."

 **Gira shrugged, not too bothered by it, "So far, at least." Gira turned and leapt off the ground and on top of a building nearby, thanks to his cybernetics.**

 **"Get back here!" Jaune started to run after him.**

 **"Sorry, boy. But you've got bigger things to worry about." Gira snapped his fingers with his free hand and the camera zoomed to the nearby oceanfront.**

 **A large bulge appeared in the water before erupting as a massive beast of 1000 tons of metal sprung out from the water. It landed between Jaune and Gira, blocking his chase.**

"Holy crap!" Yang jumped a bit at the sudden appearance of the giant mech. "What the heck is that?"

 **Jaune growled.** ** _Where the hell did they get a Metal Gear Ray?_**

Winter crossed her arms and thought out loud, "Metal Gear… why does that sound familiar?"

 **He drew his blade and widened his stance. He didn't have a choice but to go through the mech in his way. As the Ray roared, Jaune started to run toward it.**

"What the hell is he doing?!" Mercury almost laughed to himself, very confused by his actions.

 **Several automatic turrets started to take aim at the incoming cyborg. As they unleashed their flurry of bullets, Jaune would swing his blade to cut or deflect every bullet that came near him. He slid under the mech and to one of its legs, slicing the outer armor like ribbons. Knocking the mech off balance, Jaune leapt up and sliced the turrets apart on that side.**

 **The Ray jumped away from Jaune and its 'mouth' opened to show a system within. After a moment to charge, it fired a massive laser of plasma, ripping the street and buildings apart. As the laser faded, the Ray roared over a scene of burning city.**

Everyone felt a chill run down their spines. This thing was terrifying in concept and scale. They remembered the old Metal Gear, but they didn't know that Ray was specifically designed to kill other Metal Gears.

 **After a moment of silence, Jaune emerged from the smoke undeterred by the attack. As he approached, the Ray reared back one of its wing-like arms to slam a building sized blade onto Jaune's head.**

Tai's eyes narrowed, but he kept a grin, "Even something that large can be dodged, especially with how slow it's moving."

 **Jaune continued his charge, but the Ray was faster than anticipated, bringing its massive blade down on top of him. Jaune brought his blade over his head, holding back the giant mech despite the massive size and weight difference.**

Yang started to laugh in that way you do when you see something so ridiculous it loops back around to being awesome. At least to her.

Weiss was having a hard time making any sense of what was happening.

 **The Ray, despite its modifications (possibly because of them), didn't have the smartest AI, so it just tried to push Jaune down harder. The blonde cyborg adjusted his stance and grabbed the opened hatch panel on the other side of the blade. As seemed to strain for a moment as his body sparked and started to glow slightly. After a moment, he** ** _somehow(!)_** **tossed the mech over his shoulder and into the air.**

And with that, everyone was more than well aware they were never going to be able to take this seriously.

 **Jaune leapt up after the mech, slicing at the wing before reaching the primary joint between wing and body. There, he jumped again with his sword raised above his head. As he fell, he sliced clean the** ** _entire_** **wing with one move. He landed on the ground with no difficulties and swiped his blade aside again before returning it to its sheath. All the while, the Ray and the pieces of its wing rained down in giant chunks of metal.**

Yang jumped to her feet with a raised fist, "That's was so awesome!"

Weiss did not have the same degree of appreciation, "But how?! How is that even possible?!"

Penny smiled, "It's not _that_ strange isn't it?"

Ruby had a eureka moment, "Oh yeah! Penny! Didn't you hold back a ship on your own?"

"At the docks to save friend Blake, yes. Mechanized individuals are often known for being stronger than organic beings. If friend Jaune is a military cyborg, it's possible for him to do what we just saw. Especially with his technologically advanced body."

 **Jaune started to run off down the street to chase after Gira, only to be blindsided by a massive wing from behind. The Ray wasn't dead yet and it wanted to make Jaune pay for its wing. Ray's 'mouth' opened to roar again as the camera flew off to show Jaune flying spine first into the edge of a building. He rolled over the top, thankful his torso was artificial and strong enough to take that hit without breaking.**

Every one of them could feel the impact in their backs at the hit, also thankful it didn't look any worse.

 **Ray's other arm opened a set of panels to launch a flurry of missiles toward the building. Jaune saw the incoming warheads not as a threat, but as an opportunity.**

Blake raised an eyebrow, "How, exactly, would that be an opportunity?"

 **Jaune leapt off of the roof and onto the top of one of the flying missiles, only to kick off and onto one behind it.**

Blake didn't know whether to be impressed or shut down like Weiss was.

 **Jaune jumped through the other wing and sliced it apart on the way. The Ray seemed to fall over in pain but used the moment to grab Jaune in its 'jaw,' tossing him into the nearby clock tower. But this did nothing to slow him down. Jaune peeled himself out of the cracked brick and ran down the tower toward the mech. He fell upon the mech like lightning, plunging his blade into the Ray's head. Sparks flew out from the wound, a result of the high frequency vibrations running through his blade.**

Ruby gasped, "So that's what it was!"

Yang turned to her sister, but also leaning away a bit, "Um… what was it?"

"The vibrations! There was something about the sword I couldn't make sense of at the time, but that's what it was!"

"Okay… But, how is that good for a weapon?"

King appeared again in a bright flickering, "High Frequency blades are capable of severing bonds on a molecular level. It cuts through almost anything if swung hard enough."

Yang was speechless for a moment. The only thing that came out of her mouth was, "Woah…"

 **Jaune started to run down the length of the spine of the Ray with his blade still buried in its back. As he reached the ground again, he returned his blade to its sheath and the Ray collapsed into two halves.**

Tai burst out into laughter. "What the hell even is this?!"

 **Jaune took off again down the streets. He saw Gira in the distance, surrounded by his soldiers. His target, unfortunately, was lucky enough to have a train passing by. Gira jumped from the street and onto the moving train. Jaune growled to himself, but couldn't just let him get away with the Prime Minister. So, the leaner cyborg started to run along the buildings to the side of the train before leaping off to catch the train.**

Blake was _seriously_ getting creeped out now. This was a little eerie considering his fighting style and now the train.

 **The man on the other end of Jaune's ear piece chimed in again, "** ** _He's heading for the front of the train! Catch him! But keep an eye out. An unidentified dropship was spotted in the area._** **"**

 **Jaune charged forward, leaping over cargo boxes until he reached the car with Gira waiting nearby; the Minister chained to the car in front of them. However, he wasn't alone. Sitting between the two was another cybernetic man, Adam Taurus.**

Ilia blinked in surprise, "I… don't think I've ever seen him without the mask."

Blake thought back, but also couldn't place a moment.

And neither could Sienna, his boss. Questions for later.

 **Gira smiled as Jaune approached. "Too little too late. I don't need my shield anymore." He dragged his blade against the underside of the Prime Minister's chin, drawing blood.**

 **Jaune tried to rush toward him, but Adam stood in his way.**

 **Gira turned back to the Minister, "What about all the good things war has done for us?"**

 ****"There are good things?" Ruby asked.

Ozpin shook his head, "None I'm aware of."

 **"Where are your speeches about that? Jobs? Technological advancement? Having a common purpose? Well, doesn't matter for you anymore, does it?" Gira cut him down before holding him up toward Jaune by the back of his neck. "Mission's failed, little man." His blade then ran through the Prime Minister's body like bloody butter.**

And everyone was back down from their earlier high. Things went from ridiculous to heavy in the blink of an eye.

 **As Gira tossed the Minister to the ground, Jaune lunged forward to try to get passed Adam. But Adam was fast enough to stop him and pull him back again. The dropship appeared over the train and picked up Gira with a support line. "He's all yours Adam."**

 **Adam smirked and adopted a true fighting stance. He and Jaune possessed similar fighting style's but their blades were very different. Jaune's was a straighter modern look to combat blades, while Adam wielded a red bladed katana. The two started to trade blows, each parrying the other for a counter attack to be blocked. After a while, their blades clashed with a high-pitched noise and sparks emanating from the point of contact.**

 **Adam nodded, "Self-taught and not too bad. But still…" He broke the stalemate and Jaune tried to push off and over him, but Adam was prepared and swung his body around to slash at Jaune while he was in the air. Adam had taken control of the fight and was pushing Jaune back along the train. As they clashed again, Adam looked like he realized something. "I see now. You deny your weapon its purpose."**

 **Adam tossed Jaune off but didn't follow through. He wasn't taking this seriously anymore. "It yearns to bathe in the blood of your enemies, and yet you hold it back from what it was meant to be!"**

Blake sighed and shook her head, "Very Adam…"

Yang took in a sharp breath, "Yikes. I saw the guy was a jerk, but _that_ bad?"

"You'd be surprised what people are capable of… Especially if they feel wronged and out of options." Blake remembered Adam before he had taken his first life.

He was still aggressive and impatient, but always cared for others. The worst he ever got was cutting through a wall because he couldn't find a door. But that day, he finally got results. Humans started treating faunas like people because they were afraid of people like Adam. That galvanized him and made him become _more_ extreme to what he is now. He justified it, as so many had, by saying it was the option he had to achieve equality. _Make them fear us if we aren't…_

 **Jaune shook himself back to his senses, "Wrong. My blade is a tool of justice!"**

Yang snickered a little, "That was pretty corny."

 **Adam rolled his eyes. "And that's where you went wrong." Adam was suddenly in front of Jaune and swung his blade up toward Jaune's head, gouging out his still very human eye.**

This got people to recoil at the sight. _Too soon?_

 **Jaune recoiled, stumbling slightly, but kept himself upright.**

 **Adam stabbed the tank beneath them and ran the blade along the form. Fire started to spit from the metal wound, revealing the contents as fuel, and along his blade. Adam swung with the now flame-covered blade; each attack blocked by Jaune but pushing the blonde back with every hit. He swung the blade down to create a smokescreen as he returned his blade to its sheath, out of view from Jaune. The camera moved close to show a trigger near the top of the sheath. As Adam pulled it, the blade flew out from its casing with the force of a shotgun.**

Blake was officially freaked out by this world. There were too many similarities between it and the Adam she knew.

 **Adam took the blade as it flew and used the momentum to slice through Jaune's arm with little effort. As Jaune flew back, Adam decided to throw his words against him for good measure, "This is why you don't bring a tool to a sword fight."**

 **Jaune caught the edge of the last container of the train, barely holding on. He pulled himself up, but it was difficult to do with one arm. Adam approached, holding his blade toward Jaune. As he raised his blade to end the blonde, they left the tunnel.**

 **Adam laughed a little to himself. "Lucky Devil…"**

 **The camera swung around to show Sun riding along the nearby cliff in an armored transport turret. Sun fired the heavy gun toward Adam, effectively saving Jaune.**

Sun pumped his fist in celebration, "Booyah! To the rescue!"

 **Adam had to focus on the new attacker and deflecting the incoming fire. The dropship appeared again, giving Adam his escape. Jaune could only lie on the container, bleeding from his arm and eye. His mission to protect the Prime Minister had failed. His only solace was he was alive.**

Ozpin sighed. Sometimes, people weren't so lucky. In many ways, they had to count every blessing they could ever have.

Jaune fell back in his chair with a heavy breath, "That was a thing… How can something go from serious to crazy and back that quickly?"

Ren shrugged, "In some way, you could consider it pretty similar to life. One moment, everything is calm. Suddenly, everything ends up going wrong."

Coco sighed, "If Yatsu was here, we'd get a philosophical discussion going at this point."

King's body flickered for a moment, appearing to be wearing a blindfold. It was short lived and unnoticed by the viewers.


	107. Future Proofing

**King: This one's a bit different, but I think it was bound to happen eventually.**

 **Knox: Nothing is set in any canon. Also, I leave you to imagine some of this. A few have hints but I don't want to get too overt. You'll know what I'm talking about when you see it.**

 **King: Also! Pyrrha versus Velvet. I flipped a coin and Velvet won. Also, I added some references and dropped a story hint. Hope you enjoy the chapter~**

 **Inspiration: N/A**

 **/\**

Knox appeared with a firework effect, "World number 100, baby!"

Blake sputtered for a moment, "One hundred?!"

Yang blinked, falling back in her chair, "We've seen a hundred of these things?"

Knox nodded, "Well… team RWBY and three fourths of JNPR have."

King popped in this time, "If you count the mini review world, which I do, we have played 99 different realities. This shall be world 100. To celebrate, this one will be a bit different."

"All we can tell you is… If you went back right now. You didn't see this reality."

"You didn't get this explanation."

"You left after 99."

"Alright." King and Knox disappeared soon after.

Jaune looked around, "What do you think that means?"

Pyrrha shrugged, "I'm not sure."

 **The screen opened to show a Beowolf running through a forest area. After a moment, it slowed down and started to sniff about the area. There was something nearby… A human. It moved through the brush, eventually stopping by a bush near the trails the humans would use.**

 **Then, the camera moved in to focus on the bush. After a moment, a pair of gleaming silver eyes burst open at the Grimm's approach.**

"What the heck?!" Ruby shouted, seeing the eyes so similar to her own just suddenly appear like that.

"Must be another initiation." Yang leaned back, kicking her feet up on the chair in front of her.

"But then, what was the speech about before?" Jaune was hung up on that. "What would make it different? We've seen some like that, right?"

 **The human hidden in the brush jumped up and away from the Grimm. As the beast watched its target leap into the air, it didn't notice the thin wire left behind. As the Grimm stepped onto the wire, a survivalist's ax fell from the trees and embedded its blade into the creature's head.**

Yang grinned, "Dang, Ruby~! Look at you go!"

Ruby turned to her sister, a little confused, "What makes you think that was me?"

"The eyes…" No one else had silver eyes after all, so it was a good guess in the circumstances.

"Okay, good point."

 **As the creature collapsed and began to dissipate, the human fell to the ground again and retrieved the ax. Now unhidden, the figure was shown to be a young man dressed in a cape shaped to appear like leaves. His hood came complete with a mask to match the cape, allowing him to hide among the forest floor. Beneath his cape was a black and green, simplistic gothic shirt, pants, and boots. It all focused on range of movement as well as remaining hidden in the leaves.**

"So far so normal…" Blake remarked. It wasn't the first time they've seen versions of the opposite gender for them. "So why the warning before?"

Tai looked over the young man in the cape, thinking to himself in silence until, "I… don't think that's Ruby."

Yang shrugged, "It was Ross, right?"

Qrow rolled his eyes, "Rosso."

Tai shook his head quickly before returning his attention to the screen, "No. There's something else… Something I can't quite explain. But I don't think that's a version of Ruby."

Jaune thought back before hitting the solution, "It's the future!"

Everyone turned to him, skeptical of his answer, but willing to hear him out.

"Think about it! King and Knox said 'if we went back before seeing this.' If that's the case, Ruby would still be Ruby. So," he pointed to the young man on the screen, "why is there a guy with silver eyes?"

Qrow blinked before starting to snicker to himself, "So, Tai! How does it feel to be a grandfather?"

Tai nearly had a heart attack, but shook it off, "Not funny, Qrow. If this is the future, that's fine… As long as it's _far_ into the future…"

Yang and Ruby rolled their eyes, but also agreed with him. They'd considered having families in the future, but they had obligations now that had to be taken care of first.

 **The young man placed his ax away in his belt. "Now… north." He checked the trees for the moss to gather his bearings. "Alright. Let's get moving." He started to run off through the forest toward the northern edge.**

 **Beacon's initiation brought in some of the world's most promising huntsmen and huntresses for training. It was the greatest challenge they would experience until they attend Beacon itself. This was the challenge now faced by the next generation, like Alister Rose.**

 **Alister flicked his cape to the side to show a grappling hook, which he used to climb the nearby tree and start to move through the interconnecting branches.**

Ruby gasped, "Oh my gosh! That's so cool!"

Qrow grinned for a moment, before growing a little concerned, "How's he going to find a partner?"

Ozpin sighed, "He wouldn't be the first to try to fight the odds and select a partner rather than leaving it to chance."

 **Alister moved slowly, not to disturb the leaves and draw attention. For now, he had to reach the ruins. He knew he had to find a partner eventually, but he also didn't want to get dragged down. He refused to leave something that important to chance. It might have worked for his mother and her team, but not for him.**

Weiss sighed, remembering having a similar outlook. But life chose a different path and she was paired with Ruby, eventually joining team RWBY. And, she admitted it was the best thing that had happened to her.

 **As he walked, he found a pair walking on the ground beneath him.** ** _Pairs are already forming. If I'm not careful, I'll end up with someone that I can't work with._** **He moved a little faster to the north. But, this ended up causing him to lose to the power of fate.**

 **Someone noticed the leaves rustling and slammed into the tree. Alister gripped the branches, trying his hardest to stay in the canopy. But the force was too great, and he fell out of the leaves and onto the ground. If not for his aura, that would have left a significant bruise, possibly a broken bone.**

 **Standing above him was a woman in light armor over a hoodie and a pair of thick jeans. The armor consisted of a breastplate, gauntlets, and boots. She had bright orange hair and pale pink eyes. She currently had a sword pointed toward the man in the cape and a shield kept close to her side. Once she realized he wasn't a Grimm, she jumped a bit in place, "Oh my gosh! I'm really sorry! Are you alright?"**

Eyes turned toward team JNPR. This wasn't too surprising since the girl on screen looked like Nora, with Ren's eyes, and dressed like Jaune. It was interesting, to say the least, but ended up needing more questions to be asked.

 **Alister brushed himself off, sighing. He glanced around and didn't find any partner by her side. So, he didn't have a choice now. "Hey. I'm Alister." He held his hand up toward her.**

 **The girl smiled and shook his hand, "Nice to meet you! I'm Freya Ren!"**

Yang snickered for a moment before taking a breath. "Okay. _That_ part is explained. Nora and Ren's kid. Question is, what's with the gear?"

Nora and Ren were still considering the dating aspect of their relationship. Seeing their possible daughter was a little jarring as a result of how recent this decision was.

 **The camera panned up through the leaves and off to the cliffs. The camera moved to show the back of the man standing over the forest. He was dressed in a long brown and green coat, his dark hair styled, but still a bit messy. He looked over a holographic screen connected to several cameras around the forest. However, they also saw his ID signature in the corner labeled [Headmaster O. Pine].**

Oscar blinked in surprise seeing his name on that screen. "Wait… what?"

Ozpin thought for a moment, before nodding. "I suppose this makes a certain sense… I can't be headmaster forever…" It was useless, but he preferred to keep what secrets he had.

 **"Looks like another pair was formed." A woman walked up next to him, dressed in a familiar red hooded cape and gothic dress.**

Ruby gasped even harder than before, causing her to go into a coughing fit. "Oh my gosh! I look so cool!"

Yang chuckled, "You don't look that much different. Just… older."

Tai beamed with a sense of pride, "And apparently working with the Headmaster of Beacon."

 **Oscar turned to Ruby, "Oh yeah? Who's the lucky pair this time?"**

 **Ruby swiped a window from her scroll, as it reappeared on his screen, "Walter Schnee and Sanzang Wukong."**

 **The two pictures showed two young men. One had white hair and blue eyes, dressed in a white coat. The other was a blonde with gold eyes, adorned in something similar to a monastic robe.**

Sun blinked once the name was mentioned. But, after a moment, he slowly started to smile, "I _would_ name my kid after him…" It was clear he was speaking softly to himself, but he was loud enough to be heard by those immediately around him.

Blake turned to Sun, a bit confused, "Who is he that you would name your son after him?"

Sun caught on to the fact he spoke that out loud but waved if off for a moment. "I'll explain it in an intermission."

Weiss could see a lot of similarities between Walter and herself, in contrast to her siblings. Which would explain why he was named after her grandfather.

 **Oscar laughed a little. "Are we getting a team RWBY 2.0?"**

 **Ruby pretended to think for a moment before grinning. "Nope." She moved another window to his screen. "Alister ended up paired with Freya."**

 **Oscar looked over the scene replaying before him. "Huh… She reminds me of Jaune. Isn't she Ren and Nora's child?"**

Yang clapped her hands once before gesturing to the screen, "Thank you! What's with that?"

 **Ruby just shrugged. "Yeah. According to Nora, she developed a sort of hero worship. She modelled her fighting style after Jaune and the rest just followed suit."**

Yang tried to hold back a chuckle now, but it passed in time. She sat back and grinned, "Jaune must be pretty impressive if he's got a fangirl."

Blake thought for a moment before her own thin smile appeared, "It could be something a little different. I would think that their team would remain at least somewhat close."

Nora hopped up and brought her team into a group hug, "We are the best team! We'll be together forever!"

Blake nodded, "Right. So, Freya might look up to Jaune because she's known him since she was born."

Ren let out a single chuckle, "I could see that."

Jaune, however, couldn't, "But why me?"

Nora didn't miss a beat answering that, "Because you are our fearless leader!"

 **A small ping grabbed Ruby's attention. She moved a few icons on her scroll as she spoke, "That's the last of them. And it's the twins, Shang Xiao Long and Fei Xiao Long."**

Yang was a little surprised, but ultimately thought they sounded pretty cool. It was still a little weird thinking that those two were _her_ kids. Or, at least, they could be.

There were a few in the audience that still wanted to know what a few more of the next generation were like. In particular, three members of the audience. Velvet and Pyrrha were secretly hoping they were the one married to Jaune. As for Jaune, he was just curious to see his future family.

 **The camera moved along to show a duo of blonds running out into a forest clearing. One male, the other female, both resembling Yang. The boy was dressed in a long bronze coat and pants, with a pair of gauntlets over his sleeves. His symbol was a fireball in a similar pattern to his mother's. The girl was dressed similarly to Yang, just with a color swap from yellow to sky blue. Her symbol deviated to resemble a burning pair of wings.**

 **The boy looked around to find the ruins. He quickly tapped his sister's shoulder, "Fei! Check it out! We made it!"**

 **Fei patted her chest, over her heart, "Oh thank goodness."**

 **The two walked up to find the remaining relics, all chess pieces.**

 **Shang eyed the pieces, "I guess mom was right. They really don't change things up that much."**

Ozpin sighed, "We generally make sure that our selection method isn't discussed with anyone before they attempt initiation, Ms. Xiao Long…"

Yang held up her hands defensively, "Hey! I didn't know!"

 **Fei, instead, looked around, "This seems too easy."**

 **Shang just laughed it off, "You worry too much. Besides," he picked up one of the white knight pieces, "we got our relic and we're on a team." He tossed the relic in hand for a moment, "You think Al found a partner yet?"**

 **"You know he hates it when you call him that."**

 **"How's he going to know?"**

 **A pair of arms in black and green wrapped around Shang's neck and the attacker's legs wrapped around his torso. Alister had jumped onto his cousin's back and was choking him out for the crime of calling him Al.**

Qrow burst out laughing at the scene.

Yang just jumped at the sudden appearance of her future nephew a he choked out her future son. Yeah, this was weird. Even by the Theater's usual levels.

 **Freya was freaking out at the sudden scene, but Fei held her back. The female twin simply shook her head, "Give 'em a minute."**

 **Shang fell to a knee, losing his breath. After a moment, he tapped out, "I give! I give!"**

 **Alister released his strangle hold and stood up normally again.**

 **Fei sighed, turning to Freya, "They get like this a lot. Just… don't call him Al or he'll choke you out for it."**

 **Freya chuckled nervously, "Good to know." She turned around and looked at the remaining relics. "Okay… How about the Knight?"**

 **Alister helped Shang back to his feet, "That works."**

Ruby swung her fist into the air, "Aw yeah! Best team!" Team RWBY was formed using the white knight pieces after all, so she was bias.

Nora cheered as well. Sure, her daughter wasn't the Princess of the Castle, but she seemed to like being the knight, so it was fine.

 **A loud roar put them all on guard. A massive Ursa Major walked through the forest line, followed by a group of smaller Ursa at its back. There were dozens of these Grimm encircling the group.**

 **As the Grimm approached, each of the prospective students drew their weapons. Shang used gauntlets similar to his mother's. Fei didn't have gauntlets, instead she had a pair of bracelets with Dust crystals. As she snapped her hands to the side, the Dust activated to release fire around her hands.**

Yang was amazed at the sight before her, and it was _very_ clear to everyone around her, "Holy crap! That's so awesome! How does that work?! Can _I_ do something like that?!"

 **Alister, obviously, used a folding hand ax. Freya had her sword and larger shield. One thing they didn't notice before was that her shield had a series of spikes along the upper edge of the frame, pointing outward.**

Ruby nodded, "Okay, so she has a sword catcher on her shield. That makes sense."

 **Fei looked around at the Grimm as they started to move around, "Anyone have any ideas?"**

 **Freya watched them move before pointing toward the Major, "The Major is ordering the others around. If we can get it out of the way, we can disrupt the others."**

 **"That'll still leave," Alister paused a moment as his eyes darted around, "30 Ursa Grimm around us. They don't exactly need orders for that."**

 **Shang grinned, "Oh come on! 31 versus 4? We can take that!"**

 **"I'd prefer we had better odds. We won't get out of this without taking some serious hits. That'll make getting back to the cliffs in time that much harder."**

Sun started to laugh to himself, "10 lien says someone shows up to help them in the next minute."

Yang turned toward him, "You're on! They don't need that help!"

 **"YEHAHAHAHA!" A strange voice rang out over the clearing. A man flew out from the tree line and onto an Ursa's back with a curved cutlass being run through its back. The new face was a young man with white hair in a matching, navy inspired coat. As he pulled the sword from the Grimm, he hoped off and revealed himself to be Walter Schnee.**

Weiss wasn't sure what she was expecting, but this definitely wasn't it. Her future son had just suddenly leapt into the fray like a madman. "What on Remnant is he doing?!"

As this happened, Yang groaned as she handed Sun 10 lien.

 **Walter laughed and rolled toward the group, "Finally! I get to really let loose!"**

 **Another Ursa had charged up behind him with a raised claw.**

Weiss slammed her hands on her chair, "GET OUT OF THERE!"

This sudden outburst from the 'Ice Queen' surprised the Beacon group.

 **But the attack never came. A glowing, ethereal hand was holding onto the beast. Then another, and another, and another. Soon, the creature was lifted off the ground by a set of ten glowing arms to reveal Sanzang Wukong at the center of the glowing arms, his own hands set similarly to a prayer.**

Sun let out an amazed chuckle, "Now that… is cool." It reminded him of his own semblance with his ethereal clones, but just the arms.

Kali placed a finger on her chin and tilted her head in thought, "Hmm… He rather reminds me of Gira back when we first met."

Blake turned to her mother, surprised, then back to the screen. She… had to admit it was similar to the old pictures of her father…

Yang grinned, "You don't think…?"

 **Sanzang bowed his head, "Go now in peace." His body was glowing slightly and the Grimm recoiled in pain, disappearing soon after.**

Yang snickered, "More like… go in pieces~!"

Tai started to laugh with his daughter before giving her a high five.

Everyone else just kind of groaned at the pun. All but one, anyway. And for once, it wasn't Cinder.

Sun was sitting with his hands together in his lap, fingers laced between each other as his grip tightened a bit. Not in a bad way, but rather out of a sense of nostalgia. He couldn't help it seeing his future son and how he acted.

 **Sanzang slowly walked to meet the group, putting the odds at 30 to 6.**

 **Shang chuckled, "Awesome. Gang's all here." He punched out an Ursa that tried to capitalize.**

 **Fei combo-ed with her brother, lighting the creature on fire with a burning, open-palm strike. "You happy with these odds, Alister?"**

 **Alister swung his ax into an Ursa's neck and pushed it away, "It's better." He jumped over Shang to bury his ax into the Grimm about to strike him. "But still not good."**

 **Freya charged around to block an attack with her shield. She grinned and slid to the side for a moment, swinging her shield around to push the spikes into the Grimm's torso. It tried to fight back, scrambling to save itself, but Freya stabbed the Ursa through the head from the side.**

Jaune watched the scene before going into his thinking state, "That would actually be pretty helpful… But the shield would need to be larger…"

 **Freya smacked the dying Ursa aside and took a breath from behind her shield. "Okay! How many left?!" She looked around for a count but didn't have the time. She had to bring her shield up again to block another attack.**

 **As Alister jumped off another Ursa, he took a position at Freya's back. "24 fresh, one heavily injured, and one Major."**

 **"We** ** _need_** **to get rid of that Major!" Freya pushed the Grimm back before bashing it in the face with her shield. "Anyone have any range?!"**

 **Walter grinned before pulling a pistol from his belt. He fired a Dust infused shell into the Ursa that burst, igniting several of the Ursa. "How's that for range?!"**

 **Fei nodded and widened her stance. She channeled her aura into her hands before punching the air in front of her, sending a small fist-shaped fireball toward an Ursa.**

Yang gasped, "Holy…! That's so cool!"

Weiss turned to her teammate, a little confused, "Um… Isn't that just like your shotgun?"

"Well, yeah. But she doesn't _have_ gauntlets or shotguns. She just… punched fire out of her hands!"

 **Freya moved to block another attack meant for Fei, "Keep firing and keep them back! We need to pressure the group and get an opening to the Major!"**

 **The Major tilted its head, seeming to laugh. It let out a roar and the minor Ursa group charged together in a wave. 20 massive bear-like creatures would overrun them in seconds unless they got a miracle.**

 **Enter one miracle. A metallic orb struck a rock and bounced up directly in front of the Major. The creature looked down to see a spherical object, seemingly made of gold and silver, with a bit of smoke coming out from a small hole on top. After a pause, the orb began to brightly glow before erupting in an explosion way too large for its small size.**

Ruby jumped at the scene, "What the heck?! How is that even possible? That was way too large an explosion for such a small grenade!"

Penny thought for a moment before nodding, "It is likely compressed Dust. Using a crystal in place of standard materials for grenades would create similar effects."

Velvet's head tilted slightly, something stuck in her mind, "But… where did it come from?"

 **The Major was knocked back, its mask cracked. As it tried to roar again, a rifle shouted over the clearing and its head exploded into mist as the tree behind it found itself with a gaping hole at the same level. The camera swung around to show the end of the rifle, still smoking from the barrel. It moved around until they finally saw the approaching duo: one male and one female.**

 **The girl had chocolate-brown hair, a red beret, dressed in what could be considered fashionable combat gear, and a pair of mirrored sunglasses. She was wielding a large machine gun with a drum feed, not to be confused with her mother's chain/mini gun.**

Coco went so far as to remove her glasses to see the girl on screen. It was impossible not to see the similarities between herself and the girl on screen right now. "Well… Nice to know I passed on my best traits~"

 **The boy was revealed to be the one wielding the rifle. He was a platinum blonde faunas with rabbit ears. He was dressed in light armor over a white and bronze coat, his golden symbol popping against the fabric as dual arcs with a heart underneath the two.**

Velvet was celebrating internally. There were too many clues pointing to this being the son of herself and Jaune.

Pyrrha… had the opposite reaction. A part of her broke for a moment, but something in the back of her mind reminded her, this was a _possible_ future. And, on top of that, it was a future that wasn't actually theirs. King and Knox said that this world was if they never say this reality. The fact that they did means it can change. This might just be the kick in the head she needs to get her act together and ask Jaune out.

But Velvet wasn't going to go down without a fight. She was going to make sure this happens. Sparks few between the two a moment, but that was just Knox being dramatic. There was no actual lightning.

 **The young man's rifle was a bolt action, Arcadian Direct Dust (DD) heavy rifle. Etched into the side of the stock was a running rabbit with a banner underneath reading, [Caerbannog].**

Jaune blinked before nodding, "What kind of name is that?"

Coco chuckled, "Don't know. It kind of sounds like a killer rabbit or something."

 **Freya pushed off an Ursa as she turned to the duo, waving to the boy, "Arthur!"**

 **Arthur grinned and glanced to his new partner, "Moka? Anything you'd like to say?" He aimed his gun toward the Ursa pack.**

 **Moka cracked her neck and dropped to one knee, a small barricade forming from a handbag placed on her belt. "Sing for me baby~" Her gun unleashed a torrent of rounds into the half of the Grimm to the immediate left, allowing the six in the center to escape the circle and group up with their new friends.**

Coco smiled seeing her daughter mow down Grimm, "Yeah! Go get 'em, girl! Show them who's boss!"

 **Sanzang used his semblance to create hands to place on everyone's shoulders to get their attention, it was the easiest way to do so. "It would be best for us to retreat for the moment. This fighting will only draw more Grimm."**

 **Walter nodded, "Better listen to him. He has this weird knack for this stuff."**

 **Arthur shot down another Ursa, a rustling of the brush catching his eye on the other side of the clearing. "Yeah. Let's move!"**

 **Moka retracted her barrier and the eight teenagers made for the forest and back south to the cliff face. The camera moved up toward the sky to show it growing dark. When the camera returned to the ground, it showed the eight teens climb up over the side of the cliff and reaching Oscar and Ruby.**

 **Ruby clapped for the group, "Congrats. You're all the last students to finish the test~"**

Glynda couldn't help but let out a snicker. The look on the future parents' faces was too funny and the future Ruby's semi-condescending grin just pulled it all together.

None of Ruby's friends could believe she could act like that, so it was interesting to say the least.

 **The eight didn't care. Just collapsing in relief. Except Sanzang, who just bowed to the teachers in thanks. He was a very calm child.**

 **Oscar's screen retraced into a standard scroll, "Don't get too comfortable. You have to walk back." He placed his scroll away and grinned down toward the students, "But… you all did very well. I would like to welcome you to Beacon Academy."**

 **The students started to celebrate amongst themselves. This was easily the biggest moment in their lives. Then, it all crashed when the scrolls of the teachers before them let out a piercing alarm. Ruby and Oscar glanced toward each other, shock on their faces for a moment before nodding. Oscar turned to the group of students, "Everyone! Get back to the school!"**

 **"Sir?" Shang had picked himself up and was now helping his sister. "What do you…"**

 **"NOW!"**

 **Oscar's shout made all the students jolt upright and run off toward the school grounds.**

Everyone in the room had a fairly similar jumping moment. Oscar obviously wasn't the most vocal individuals, evidenced by the fact that they almost tend to forget he's there. But what really got them was the suddenness of the alarms.

"What's going on?" Ruby turned to the other teachers, believing it to be something they might know. Like, it was something set for all teachers already.

But, the only answer she received from Ozpin was, "I don't know. However, it is obviously not good."

 **As the students ran off, Ruby hit a button on her scroll and nodded to Oscar. "Ready?"**

 **"Let's go."**

 **Ruby moved so fast that she became a blur of rose petals enveloping them both. When the petals fell, they were gone and the shared blur was moving off into the forest. The blur moved between the trees at a blinding speed.**

Ruby was starry eyed seeing this. She'd never been able to bring someone else along at her speed. Then again, she also never really tried. She _can_ carry someone, not anyone too heavy but still! It _can_ be done.

 **The blur dropped off Oscar before flipped over to his side, Ruby reappearing in a flurry of petals. His eyes were closed, his semblance reaching over the forest. This ability was called Sixth Sense, allowing him to sense the danger around him at a more precise level that the usual aura effects.**

Port laughed to himself, "That would certainly come in handy."

 **Oscar's eyes opened again, "He's noticed us."**

 **A shuffling of the brush put both of them on edge. Ruby drew her scythe from her back as it snapped into form. It resembled the current Crescent Rose, just with a sleeker form and blade. It still looked very mechanical, but more futuristic (Given the timeline, it better). Oscar grabbed a folded weapon from his coat. It snapped into the form of a short hunting rifle with a bayonet at the barrel.**

Ruby turned to Oscar, the weapon raising an important question. " _Can_ you fight?"

Oscar just shrugged, "Not really? I mean… I'm an okay shot since I needed to keep my families crops safe from vermin. But that's about it."

"Vermin?"

"Small animals that try to eat our crops. We grow enough to survive, so we can't really spare anything."

 **The rustling bushes started to spread apart. A humanoid creature stepped through the forest, its body a sickening black with red veins. A solid white mask hung over its face, smooth as a marble without any features. Bone white shards struck out from its back.**

Ruby sunk a bit in her chair, "What the heck is _that_ thing?"

Ozpin had seen many things. Many horrifying creatures form and die out. But this… "I don't know." Those of his inner circle knew this was a bad thing. A creature he didn't know, even after his many lives, was unheard of.

 **The creature before them was Merlot's most horrifying experiment, Test Subject Balor.**

Port's laughter died, replaced by a low growl, "Merlot…"

 **Balor was a new Grimm formed in Merlot's lab, born in the body of a human as it ate away to replace the living corpse.**

That mental image caused Jaune to lurch forward, almost vomiting all over the floor. The only thing stopping him was the fact that he didn't actually see it.

Cinder was amazed by the sight. She'd have to speak with this Merlot fellow.

 **Balor noticed the two and its head tilted a little too far than a human neck would allow. This creature wasn't like any of the other Grimm because of one major factor, it can think. A Grimm with a human brain. And that led it back to see these two again. It knew when to escape and who to attack. And its target was the silver eyed girl that could kill its kin. Though its mask was unmoving, it let out a roar fueled by its intent to kill.**

That shriek sent a chill down their spines. It was truly inhuman, despite its supposed origin. This beast was unlike any other they'd ever known.

 **Ruby's eyes seemed to glow for a moment, but they soon returned to normal. "Damn… Worth a shot." Her silver eyes would normally allow her to shut down any Grimm in her path and turn them to stone.**

Ruby's eyes seemed like shining silver stars, "No way! I can really do that?! It wasn't just some weird quirk in the other reality?!"

Ozpin figured it was best to let this out in the open. "With training, you can. Silver eyes are often compared to mirrors that reflect the light of hope within a person's soul. With the need to protect others and the will to stand in kindness, you can push away the darkness of the Grimm."

"Woah~"

"However," Ozpin's continuation snapped Ruby out of her excitement, "Should your soul falter, you'll be as vulnerable to the beasts as the rest of us. Those with silver eyes will train for their entire lives and only scratch the surface of their abilities. What's more, if your mind faulters, this power will be lost to you. Remember this."

 **However, its power** ** _only_** **works on Grimm. The body beneath, infused within the Grimm, was human. Her silver eyes would be unable to help her here. But Ruby just smiled. She didn't need her eye hack for this. She was more than ready for Balor this time. When the creature tried to jump her, she seemed to disappear into a flurry of petals. Balor, now off balance, wasn't prepared for Oscar to swing the butt of his rifle like a club into its jaw (or lack thereof). Oscar allowed his swing to continue over his shoulder and jammed the bayonet into the Grimm's chest. Balor, unlike other Grimm, bled. Balor tried to raise a hand and slash at the headmaster, but said huntsman fired his rifle to push the Grimm away.**

Port's eyebrow raised slightly. "It's odd to see a Grimm actually bleed. But… considering…" The fact that there was once a human under all that maliciousness was still staggering.

Oscar was just amazed seeing himself so capable in a fight against a Grimm.

 **Ruby spun around the moment landing a heavy slash into the Grimm's back, causing it to release a splattering of black blood.**

 **Balor leapt away from the two. It was a decent fighter, smarter than its kin. But it was still a shambling corpse. It groaned and looked between the two. It wanted death, but not its own. It turned and started to run in the opposite direction.**

 **Ruby grinned seeing this. "Not happening. We were ready today."**

 **Balor then found a heavily armored fist into its face, its mask cracking slightly. Balor was tossed back into the small clearing by a golden gauntlet wielded by the pun-fueled blonde brawler.**

Yang was grinning seeing her future self, "Awesome! Kick that thing's ass!"

 **Yang was dressed fairly similarly to the version in the audience, with a few differences. Yang now wore a pair of jeans with her boots instead of the shorts and asymmetrical stockings. She also had a golden dragon tattoo running down her right arm. "That was for Tipo Village."**

 **Balor shook its head, the crack starting to spread slightly. It tried to stand again, only for its hand to grab something rounded and metallic. It looked down to find a small grenade blinking before exploding into a pink cloud.**

 **Nora was nearby, laughing. She now wore a form fitting leather chest plate over her white shirt, a pink heart stained onto the leather. She still had her skirt and boots, but now they had a little more in the way of armor. Her shins were now covered by metal plating and her skirt had an upper layer of light plating.**

Nora cheered seeing her future self. She had to admit it was probably a good idea to add a bit of armor, and she did like this design.

 **Balor shook itself out of a stupor and its mask cracked even further across its lower face. The mask snapped in two, giving the creature a mouth. As it let out an unfettered roar, the piercing scream was loud enough and powerful enough to force the huntsmen to flinch in pain.**

And the audience had to cover their ears at its cry.

Yang tried to yell to her friends and family, "What the hell was that?!"

Tai, however, couldn't hear her, "What?!"

No one really could. Their ears were ringing to no end thanks to the Balor's scream. It died down, but it was something they didn't want to go through again.

 **Balor used this moment of pain to escape into the forest.**

 **"Damn it!" Oscar shouted in frustration, "He's getting away!" This put the populous and the students at risk, depending on which way he goes. "Would he risk going to the school or the city?"**

 **Ruby, Yang, and Nora gathered together, awaiting the headmaster's orders.**

 **Oscar turned to the three, "Alright! Move in groups of two. Balor's still out there and he'll be more than happy to try to pick us off. One melee, one range. Nora, you and I are heading for the school. Ruby! Take Yang to Vale! Top speed!"**

 **Ruby turned to her sister, "Ready?"**

 **Yang stretched her arms and back quickly before nodding. "Let's go."**

 **Ruby grabbed her sister's arm and the two disappeared fast enough that Ruby didn't even leave rose petals in her wake.**

Ruby was bouncing in her chair now, "Oh my gosh! That's so cool! I can get even faster! I _so_ have to train that more when we get back!"

 **Oscar and Nora ran off toward the cliff and to the school. The camera moved along to show a black spot rising up the cliff. Balor had chosen its target.**

Ren tapped his chair in thought for a moment, "A thought occurs. All of these are supposed to involve Jaune in some way. We've seen versions where he was absent, but there was a medium to communicate through."

 _Knox addressing you, kind readers: See 'The Last Word'_.

Ren continued, "And though we've seen someone who is likely his son, where is he specifically?" This was a concerning aspect. Balor was made from a human body, and they've seen worlds where such bait and switches have happened… So, it was a valid question.

 **Balor leapt over the side of the cliff, groaning in pain as his black blood splattered across the grass. Balor had to move quickly. Though his wounds were healing, the huntsmen won't let him simply escape.**

 **Speaking of…**

 **"You've got some nerve to get near Beacon." Standing between Balor and his escape route was Jaune Arc, Grand Prince of Arcadia. Standing now in full white and gold plate armor. Everything about the man exuded a sense of power, but also kindness.**

 **Balor had a brain, but he was by no means wise. He didn't know or care who this was. What was important was that he was alone. Balor started to opened his new mouth, only to find Crocea Mors rammed into his mouth, cutting its tongue out. Only, the blade was a blue framework of hard light dust.**

Those who had yet to see this weapon system before were in shock. This seemed to come out of no where and made no sense to those viewers. However, Coco and Velvet grinned, more than well aware of what was happening.

 **Velvet jumped into frame and the blade dissipated. Her box-like weapon's projector shut down again and she stood beside Jaune. She was dressed in a long white coat with golden accenting over her usual brown attire. She seemed more confident, an outlook born through a life as a huntress and as the current Princess of Arcadia.**

Velvet was beyond happy. Married to Jaune in the future, confident, it was a like a dream~

 _Okay…_ Pyrrha finally had to admit that she needed to get her act together when they get back.

 **Velvet recreated the sword, this time with a shield. The two stood side by side as a wall that Balor couldn't break, and he knew that. Balor made to run back to the forest, but an explosion down in the ravine bought Nora and Oscar in to cut him off. Balor was cut off again. Its roar won't save it now that its mouth was filling with its blood. This… angered the creature. Not the common rage of the Grimm, but the true and unyielding pain of human emotion. Balor began to grow as its own negativity fueled it. It pushed through the drowning of its blood and roared, allowing it to escape again.**

 **Oscar growled to himself, "That's getting old fast…"**

 **The camera hung on the sky for a while, watching the sun set and the stars begin to shine in the night sky. The camera fell again to show the new students gathering together, mingling amongst themselves.**

Neptune sat back in his chair, "I wonder what the teams were called."

Sun shrugged.

 **Off to the distance, Jaune was watching the new generation.**

 **But his attention was needed elsewhere. "Jaune? You there?"**

 **He turned back to see Ruby standing in front of him, "Yeah. Sorry."**

 **"It's fine. But I wanted to say thank you for coming on such short notice. I know you and Velvet are usually pretty bust these days."**

 **"Hey! Don't worry about it. All part of the job, right?"**

 **"Right…" Ruby sighed and looked out over the teens. "I kind of wish you guys could stay. That we could get everyone together like old times."**

The students weren't sure how to take that. They always thought they'd be a team, together forever, but this is hard to believe that they would split up. The adults knew the reality, though. That they have a job and that job will often lead to different paths. What's important is to relish when those paths converge now and then.

 **Jaune sighed, "Yeah. I know what you mean. But everyone has their own stuff to deal with. Blake running Menagerie…"**

Blake went stiff. She never considered taking over for her father, but there she was as a leader. It wasn't the future she'd have envisioned.

 **"… Weiss with the SDC…"**

Weiss nodded. In contrast to Blake, this was _exactly_ the future she envisioned.

 **"But!" Jaune still smiled, a calming visage in a somber moment, "That doesn't mean we can't find a day to get everyone together."**

 **Ruby nodded with a smile. "New topic, where do you think Balor got to?"**

 **Jaune's smile faded and he took on a serious look. "I don't know. But we need to be ready for it.**

 **The scene faded again to show the Grimm stumbling through a clear field beyond the kingdom. It opened its mouth, a shriek now unable to form.**

Tai sighed in relief. "Oh, thank goodness. I don't think my ears could take another one of those screams."

 **Balor saw a Beowolf nearby, a small wolf without a pack. The humans would kill it soon, no doubt. But there was something in Balor's mind that made it approach the wolf. The screen cut to black with the sound of flesh tearing. And soon, a solid red eye formed in the center. Balor was growing.**

 **With that, the reality ended. The future wasn't set and this, as well, was still untold.**

"Did…" Port was stunned still at the implication, "Did it just… eat the Beowolf?"

"But… how?" Oobleck's glasses slipped down his nose.

"I don't know." Ozpin's face was grim. "But we can ensure it doesn't come into existence."

The teachers nodded to one another. When they returned, more resources would be dedicated to hunting down Merlot and stopping his twisted experiments.


	108. Championship

**King: I'm back~!**

 **Knox: Where to this time?**

 **King: Where do you think, my guy?**

 **Knox: ... Um... where?**

 **King: ... Right then. Let's begin! Gotta' Catch 'em All!**

 **Inspiration: Pokémon**

 **/\**

That last world was a series of ups and downs. Let's see what we get this time!

 **The world opened to a view down upon a massive stadium. The city around it was lighting up as dusk was fading into the land. They could hear a crowd cheering in a thunderous uproar. The camera moved to the stadium and through a cloud to transition inside. Standing on one side of the arena was a girl dressed in a red tank top, black jeans, sneakers, and paired with a red rose har pin in her dark hair. This was the challenger, Ruby Rose.**

Yang grinned and pulled her sister into a one armed hug, "That's a fun look for you, sis."

Ruby tried to free herself again, but Yang was still freakishly strong.

 **Ruby looked upward slightly and toward a massive snake-like creature, shimmering in the lights around her. Its body was seemingly made of steel-plated boulders, with one in the middle of the body with two protrusions on either side. Even its teeth appeared to be made of metal.**

Qrow nearly fell out of his chair, "What the hell is that?!"

 **The world behind the creature froze and swapped to blue as various stats appeared around it. They also heard a mechanical voice playing, "** ** _Steelix: The Iron Snake Pokémon_** **…"**

"Poke-what-now?" Nora was excited about the creature, but had no idea what was going on.

Knox appeared with a glowing gold to explain it, "It's what's called a Pokémon, short for pocket monster. They are creatures that life alongside humans in this reality. This one in particular, as the voice said, is called Steelix. These creatures will often battle each other while being led by a human Trainer."

Ilia looked up toward the strange creature, "That sounds kind of…" she waved her hand, searching for the right word.

Weiss was the one to offer one, "Suspect?"

Ilia was still iffy about agreeing with a Schnee, but she had to concede this time. "Yeah. That. Like a dog fight of something."

King popped back with a shimmering silver effect surrounding him for a moment, "Not quite. It's more similar to a fighter and their… well… trainer. The Pokémon naturally fight one another, being their primary method of growth and transformation/evolution. However, if they ally themselves with worthy trainers, they gain this power faster. Such battles are fought until the Pokémon either faints or is knocked out, like a boxing match. It's a mutually beneficial system."

Knox snickered, "Yeah. A boxing match with creatures the size of cars that can breathe fire. No big deal."

 **The voice continued, "…** ** _A Steel and Ground type. This Pokémon will chew through boulders with its massive jaw. It's believed that iron deposits within these boulders are the reason its body have become so dense._** **"**

 **The world returned to normal to show Ruby frowning up toward the creature. She was the last chance she and her Pokémon had to win the match. It was one on one now. She took a breath and grabbed a small orb from her belt. She touched a button in the center and it expended to fit into her hand.**

"What is that thing?" Ruby asked the two fireballs.

But, they were remaining quiet this time. The viewers just had to see it in action.

 **Ruby tossed the ball up a moment and tossed it into the arena. The ball burst open and a bright light flowed out like a bolt of lightning. The light then seemed to reshape and form into a body far larger than the ball should be able to hold. When it was done forming, what looked like a 5 foot tall emperor penguin with a trident forming over its beak and face was standing in the area. Its stomach had a white lace-like design and its wings were tipped like blue blades.**

Weiss blinked at the moment, a part of her rational mind just breaking down, "That doesn't make any sense! How is that even possible?"

Knox just started to laugh a bit at Weiss's outburst.

 **The scene moved to the information again with the mechanical voice, "** ** _Empoleon, the Emperor Pokémon. A Water and Steel type. This Pokémon can swim as fast as a speeder boat. Its wings are capable of cleaving through large ice drifts._** **"**

 **The world returned to normal as Ruby's Pokémon puffed out its chest. It grinned up toward the Steelix, seeing a weakened opponent.**

 **Ruby thrust her hand forward and pointed toward the Steelix, "Empoleon! Metal claw!"**

 **The Pokémon's wings started to glow before shimmering like steel. It charged forward as the Steelix's tail tried to intercept it. Empoleon jumped over the attack and struck at the large metal snake's center.**

 **"Steelix!" The trainer on the opposite side was now visible, revealing it to be James Ironwood. He was dressed in a steel-grey military uniform with a few medals on his chest. It was more akin to a ceremonial uniform than a combat uniform.**

Ironwood nodded lightly to himself, liking the look. But, to be fair, it wasn't too different from what he was wearing right now anyway.

 **"Smack that bird down a peg with earthquake!"**

 **The large snake reared its tail back before slamming it back onto the ground. The world around them started to shake. Empoleon was knocked down to one knee.**

 **"Now!" Ironwood swung his hand to the side, "Iron Tail!"**

 **His Pokémon's tail began to slow and swung back for a bit hit.**

 **Ruby, however, was just grinning, "Now Empoleon! Hydro Pump!"**

 **The penguin smirked and its mouth opened, unleashing a stream of pressurized water straight into the Steelix's face. The weakened Pokémon was knocked back and slammed into the ground, its tail flying far from its target. The Steelix's eyes seemed to shift to a pair of swirls.**

 **The announcer to the side raised a flag toward Steelix, "Steelix is unable to battle! The winner is the Challenger!"**

Yang cheered for her sister's counterpart and her Pokémon, "That was awesome!"

Ironwood wasn't as ecstatic, but he didn't really mind it either.

 **The Ironwood on screen returned his Pokémon to its ball before starting to laugh a little. After a moment, he fell to a sitting position, laughing jovially.**

This got Qrow to bust out laughing. "Oh my gods, he _can_ laugh!"

Ironwood glared toward Qrow for ruining his mood.

 **James stood again after a few seconds to laugh and brushed himself off, "That was quite the battle! You and your Pokémon have a great sense of trust and teamwork. I'd say you earned this win. Congratulations Ruby Rose. You have bested the Elite Four."**

 **The massive screen above them lit up with four portraits. They appeared from left to right: Winter Schnee, dressed in an ice white military uniform reminiscent of a winter coat; Emerald Sustrai, dressed in a black crop top and black capri pants with both having yellow rings at the base of her neck and around her legs; Sienna Kahn, dressed in a sleeveless Gi with a black belt around her waist; and James Ironwood, as described previously. These were the Elite Four, four of the best Trainers in the region, bested only by the reigning champion.**

The four felt a certain pride in knowing they were the best, minus one person above them. That said, it was bitter moment when they realized that Ruby had just defeated the fourth member and therefore beat all of them previously.

 **The crowd went into a frenzy as the scene faded to show a set of six pokeballs in a machine, glowing slightly. When the machine dinged, the balls were removed and placed onto a tray. A woman with pink hair handed the group to Ruby, "All healed up~"**

 **Ruby took the six and they shrunk down again as she placed them on her belt. "Thank you." Ruby spun around and started to run outside. Her traveling companions Weiss, Blake, and her sister Yang were waiting for her.**

 **Yang grabbed her sister in a one-armed hug, "This is so awesome! My sister is about to be the Champion!"**

 **Blake shook her head slightly, "She's not champion yet. She still needs to beat the current holder."**

The Blake in the audience nodded, "That's a good point. But who is this champion?"

Coco chuckled, "You get three guesses."

Blake thought over why she would say that, eventually remembering the rules of the screen. "Fair point."

 **Ruby grinned and looked back over to the stadium. This was going to be the hardest battle she's faced. She had to be ready for anything, especially now that she's reached the champion. She only knew him by reputation. She knew she couldn't fall back on old battle footage since he always changed his team. He wanted people to earn their win, not that anyone did. She was going to have to be careful.**

 **The scene moved to the inside of the stadium. Lights were blaring as night fell on the area. This was the climax of the day, the week, the year… It was rare for trainers to climb their way through the Elite Four and challenge the Champion. This was going to be something to watch. The camera moved to the stands to show Weiss, Blake, and Yang cheering for Ruby before she even entered the stadium.**

 **They then saw Port standing on a small platform at the edge of the arena. He held a microphone up to him mouth and held his hand out to the audience, "Welcome one and all! Tonight! We shall witness a great battle between two great trainers and their teams of Pokémon! Now, to introduce the Challenger!"**

 **One of the doorways opened with a glowing red fog effect. After a moment, Ruby walked out toward the center.**

 **"From the small town of Patch, Ruby Rose! She's fought her way through the eight gyms of the region and finally bested the Elite Four! But now, she must face her greatest challenge!" Port gestured to the other end of the arena.**

 **As he did, the lights on that side dimmed and music began to play. It was a triumphant symphony the audience in the stands can only hear in battles like these.**

 _King: Think the Championship theme for Lance._

Yang let out an impressed whistle, "Give him this, Jaune knows how to make an entrance."

Tai chuckled, "Watch it not be your friend and this has all been a setup."

"Nah, he _has_ to show up in these. It's kind of the point to them."

 **The doors opened slowly, but, instead of the usual entryway, the area split to reveal a set of stairs leading up to a throne. Sitting atop the marble seat, Jaune was leaning slightly to the side, resting his head on one hand. He was dressed in formal attire, almost like a warrior king. He stood and grinned down toward Ruby. He slowly started to descend the stairs toward her. In time, and with the roar of the crowd at his back, he stood opposite Ruby in the arena. This was the challenge Trainers dream of, a chance at the Championship title. And he wasn't about to disappoint. Not the viewers, not his challenger, and certainly not himself.**

Port chuckled jovially, "An excellent outlook! Especially for something of this spectacle."

 **Jaune grinned toward Ruby, "That was quite the story. You're a long way from home, and you've accomplished so much. You should be proud of that."**

 **Ruby smiled toward her opponent, "Yeah. Of course I am. My Pokémon and I have come a long way." She pointed up toward the throne behind him. "And we're going all the way." Despite the confidence she tried to show, she was nervous. This was the ultimate challenge and Jaune was the best in the entire region. She took a discrete, deep breath and tried to keep her confident face on.**

 **Port raised a hand between them. "Alright! Release the first Pokémon!"**

 **Jaune, as the Champion, had to select his Pokémon first. He picked a ball from his belt and tossed it to release a green and white creature that seemed to possess a spiked shell, almost like a thick piece of armor. "First up is Chesnaught."**

 **I think you get the idea of what happens by now. "** ** _Chesnaught, the Spiky Armor Pokémon. A Grass and Fighting type. By defending itself with its shell, it is capable of withstanding a bomb. A single tackle from this Pokémon can knock over a 50-ton tank._** **"**

Yang laughed a bit at the description, "Holy crap! That thing is a beast!"

"More like a tank." Ironwood grinned. "It would be rather helpful, that's for sure."

 **Chesnaught slammed its fists together and looked ready for a fight.**

 **Ruby had to think this one over. She couldn't send out Empoleon, since he would have a major type disadvantage.**

"What's that about?" Blake looked up to the fireballs.

King was the one to explain it, "Each Pokémon has one or two elemental types. These types have natural advantages or disadvantages against other types. Water beats fire, fire beats grass, that kind of thing. Empoleon is Water and Steel which are weak to grass and fighting types respectively."

Nora thought that over for a moment, "So… it's like rock paper scissors?"

"More or less. Just more complicated with 17 distinct types."

"How does anyone keep track of all of that?"

"It's easier if you grow up with it. And you'll still mess it up now and then."

 **But she** ** _did_** **have an option. She pulled a ball from her belt and tossed it out to reveal something akin to a large black dog, only with bone white horns, what looked like a rib cage ridges on its back, and a spade tipped tail, a literal hell hound.**

This got Blake and Kali to hide behind Gira. But Gira wasn't taking the creature's appearance well either. A normal dog, he can handle. A Grimm, sure. A demon dog, however? Now that's a different story.

 **"** ** _Houndoom, The Dark Pokémon. A Dark and Fire type. Its fire burns using toxins from its body, causing permanent burns to its prey. Its howl was once believed to be the call of the Grim Reaper._** **"**

Blake leapt up, her hands resting on her father's shoulder, "I knew that thing as evil!"

Knox snickered, "I mean… the Dark type is considered the Evil type. Eh? King~"

King moved over and slapped Knox upside the head. "You got something to say about my favorite type?"

"Who? Me? Of course not."

 **Houndoom snarled toward Chesnaught. Ruby grinned, her Fire type having the advantage against the Grass type of her opponent. However, the Fighting typing had the advantage over Houndoom's Dark typing. She took a breath and waited for Port.**

 **Port's hand fell between them, "BEGIN!"**

 **Ruby wanted to capitalize and get that tank out of the equation, "Houndoom! Flamethrower!"**

 **Her Pokémon's mouth opened slightly, flames licking at its lips. When its mouth opened fully, a torrent of fire flew off toward Chesnaught.**

 **Jaune snapped his hand up, "Spiky Shield!"**

 **Chesnaught brought his hands together and a green shield of grass and thorns formed in front of him. The fire impacted the shield and flew out harmlessly away. The Pokémon trust its arms wide again and the fires flickered out of existence around him. The Grass type seemed to smirk toward his opponent.**

"This is pretty crazy!" Nora was bouncing side to side in her chair.

"It does seem rather interesting." Ren liked the aspect of preparedness and the balance between the elements.

 **Houndoom snarled, his eyes glancing back to Ruby.**

 **But Ruby was smirking, "Now! Fire fang!"**

 **The hound grinned and his pointed teeth beginning to produce a heat effect before his mouth burst into flame. He charged forward and leapt onto the juggernaut, biting down on his arm and creating a burst of fire.**

Blake was hiding from the beast again, "THAT THING IS EVIL!"

Yang laughed her ass off and fell from her seat.

 **Chesnaught started to stumble back, but Jaune didn't seem too worried. "Chesnaught! Hammer arm!"**

 **The green paladin reared its arm up, with Houndoom still hanging by its jaw, and slammed its arm, and Ruby's Pokémon, into the ground. This created a massive impact crater into the ground.**

 **Ruby watched as Houndoom continued to dig its jaw in and keep its grip. "Houndoom! Inferno!"**

 **The hell hound growled as fire licked at its lips. The flames started to burn brighter before erupting out and engulfing the two in a massive flame. When the fire faded out again, Houndoom stood over the Grassy knight, triumphant. It let out a roar of victory out over the arena.**

Yang cheered with a fist pump, "Nice! Ruby goes in with the advantage!"

Blake and Kali were still hiding behind Gira. Kali hopped up, using his shoulder to lean over, "But hasn't that dog taken a lot of damage?"

 **Houndoom was taking deep breaths, the hammer arm from before did a serious number on it, being weak to fighting type moves. But he held firm. He wasn't backing down for anything. The bond between Trainer and Pokémon is one of trust, and he trusted Ruby to make the best call, even if it meant he would have to lose to knock his opponent down for the next member of his team.**

Port nodded, "A good strategy at times… and an amazing show of trust."

 **Jaune returned to Chesnaught to its Poke Ball. He was down to five Pokémon now. He grabbed another from his belt and expanded like the first. However, this one was blue with two small red sections on the top.**

Kali glanced toward the purple fireball, "What's that?"

King created a small fireball that took a similar form as the ball on screen, "This is a Great Ball. It's an improved version of the Poke Ball." The red and white ball appeared again. Another joined the group, one decorated in yellow and black, "Then there's the Ultra Ball, which is better than both of them. Different versions have certain advantages when catching various Pokémon."

 **Jaune tossed the ball up and into the air. When it popped open, a large green creature on two legs. It had short arms and a tail that seemed to spike out before the end. It stomach was a purple indenting, almost indicating the body on either side were armor. The creature resembled a dinosaur, not that they knew what that was.**

 **"** ** _Tyranitar, the armor Pokémon. A Rock and Dark type. This Pokémon traverses mountains in search of worthy opponents to fight. Weak opponents are ignored._** **"**

Weiss chuckled a bit, "Sounds like Yang."

Yang just shrugged, "It's no fun if they just go down in a punch or two. Besides, I'll take it as a compliment. That thing is awesome."

 **Tyranitar roared, making Ruby bite her lip nervously. Tyranitar was a strong Pokémon and its Rock typing put Houndoom at a severe disadvantage. She held up her ball, "Return!" Houndoom's body reformed into a red laser and returned to the ball. A grass type might be the best option. She grabbed another ball and tossed it out.**

 **The creature that appeared was a bipedal being, its body was green and seemed to possess a cape. Its face seemed to be covered by a mask. At the end of one was what appeared as a bouquet of red roses, while the other hand had blue roses. Its 'hair' seemed like white rose petals.**

Ruby gasped with a giant grin on her face, "Oh my gosh! That's so cool!"

Tai smiled and ruffled his youngest daughter's hair, "You _would_ pick a rose creature."

 **"** ** _Roserade, the Bouquet Pokémon. A Grass and Poison type. It lures in prey using a sweet aroma and movements like that of a dancer. When close, it attacks with poisonous whips._** **"**

 **Roserade seemed to brush a hand over its bangs and stood with an air of confidence.**

 **Ruby pointed toward the giant green goliath, "Roserade! Magical leaf!"**

 **Roserade spun around like a dancer, petals flying off around her. When she stopped, she held a rose-covered hand up as the petals around her floated in the air. When she levelled her hand toward her opponent, the petals flew off like a storm of mystical blades. The attack followed Tyranitar's movements, unable to miss.**

 **Jaune had to plan a counterattack, "Tyranitar! Sandstorm!"**

 **Tyranitar let out a massive roar to the heavens as the dust, sand, and rock around them flew into the air, creating a vortex of wind and sediment. The vortex smacked the rest of the petals aside and surrounded the two.**

Sun took in a sharp breath through his teeth, " _Really_ glad that's not a thing in this world. Normal sandstorms suck, but being able to just make them happen whenever… That's just messed up."

Blake was confused a moment before remembering something important, "Oh right, you grew up in Vacuo."

"Yep!" Sun grinned, remembering those old days. "They weren't the best days, but they made me what I am."

 **Roserade tried to cover her eyes. The sand and rocks were buffeting her over and over. She looked around, unable to see. The scene moved back to show a silhouette of Tyranitar formed behind her, his blue eyes glowing through the winds.**

The scene evoked monster movie imagery. It was as if this creature was a force of nature, rather than a single piece within it.

 **Jaune grinned, "HYPER BEAM!"**

 **Roserade heard that through the wind and spun around, seeing a glowing aura from Tyranitar's mouth. The Armor Pokémon leaned forward a bit and a massive beam of energy flew out from his mouth and slammed into Roserade, temporarily causing the storm to stop before the ground erupted into an explosion from a point-blank laser beam.**

 **Ruby had to shield her eyes from the force of the impact, "ROSERADE!"**

 **Roserade flew through the air and slammed into the ground, rolling across the stone-like flooring of the arena. She weakly rose back to her hands and knees before returning to her feet.**

Ruby cheered as her proxy Pokémon stood again, "Yeah! Go get 'em! Show that thing who's boss!"

Ozpin shook his head ever so slightly, "After a hit like that at point blank… I don't know what else it can do."

 **Tyranitar roared again, but Roserade just grinned.**

 **As did Ruby. After a hyper beam, the Pokémon was vulnerable, unable to use an attack. "Now! Petal blizzard!"**

 **Roserade's attack seemed similar to last, except that all the petals remained red. She charged toward Tyranitar to ensure he couldn't dodge the attack. She seemed to fly through him as the petals swarmed around him in a storm of floral blades. Tyranitar cried out in pain as the Grass type move dealt massive damage. When the petals scattered again, Tyranitar started to sway.**

Ruby's body swung up in a triumphant pose, "Yes! That's how it's done!"

Jaune blinked for a moment. There had to be more to this. Hiding in the sandstorm for a heavy attack was too well planned. There's no way that was it.

 **The Jaune on screen folded his arms and grinned, "Flamethrower."**

 **Tyranitar snapped around to face Roserade and unleashed a torrent of fire onto the Grass type. The flames petered out, showing Roserade's blank eyes, having passed out from the attack.**

 **Port swung his hand toward Jaune's side, "Roserade is unable to battle!"**

Ruby's triumph was cut short and she fell to her knees on her chair, "NO!"

 **Ruby groaned and returned Roserade to her ball. She grabbed another and tossed it out to release Empoleon again. Tyranitar was breathing heavily, his stamina sapped. He remained weak to this new challenger, and he'd taken too much damage. Empoleon puffed out his chest and seemed more than ready for a fight.**

Ozpin tapped his chair, looking over the situation, "They might be even again, but if that… what was it called? The green one."

Knox floated closer as he answered, "Tyranitar."

"Right. Tyranitar. If it remains in the battle, Ms. Rose will have the advantage again."

 **Ruby knew this as well, and was ready to capitalize on it, "Empoleon! Aqua jet!"**

 **Empoleon charged forward as water surrounded his body, creating a pressurized stream pushing him faster. When he slammed into Tyranitar, the water burst out in a powerful impact and pushed the larger creature onto his back.**

 **Port moved a hand to Empoleon, "Tyranitar is unable to battle!"**

 **Jaune sighed, recognizing his situation as he returned Tyranitar to his ball. "Okay." He took a breath and tossed another ball into the air.**

 **When this Pokémon appeared, it showed as a canine-like blue, black, and yellow creature. A set of four hair like protrusions on its head seemed to vibrate for a moment. The backs of its hands and the center of its torso had steel-grey spikes. It let out a small huff of air and stared down its opponent.**

Yang's eyes widened slightly at the Pokémon, "Ooh? What's that one?"

 **"** ** _Lucario, the Aura Pokémon._** **"**

"Aura?!" Ruby sputtered, "They have aura?!"

"That would make sense." Blake glanced to her team leader. "We did see one of those Pokémon tank a laser-induced explosion at point blank."

Weiss nodded, "That _is_ a good point."

 **"** ** _A Fighting and Steel type._** **"**

Yang chuckled, "No wonder I like this one."

 **"** ** _This Pokémon can perceive the aura of all living creatures within a half-mile radius. It has also learned to control this aura for combat._** **"**

"So… kind of like us?" Nora thought out loud. "Just… without the half-mile thing. Though I guess Ren is pretty good at that. Maybe if he trained a bit more…"

Ren shook his head, "I doubt I can be that precise."

 **Lucario cracked his neck before adopting a fighting stance.**

 **Jaune grinned and pointed toward the penguin, "Aura sphere!"**

 **Lucario brought his paw-like hands together. As his hands separated again, a blue sphere formed with a strange effect radiating out from it. After a moment, he reared the ball back and threw it straight toward Empoleon.**

 **Ruby called out to her Pokémon, "Empoleon! Dodge it!"**

 **The penguin kicked off and into the air as the ball of energy flew passed.**

"Nice!" Ruby celebrated. A bit too early.

 **Jaune smirked, his Lucario's four hair-like protrusions were standing on end to either side of his head. Lucario seemed to be smirking as well. The ball of energy bounced off the ground, then to the wall around them, and into Empoleon's back. Lucario can use his ability to sense aura to predict simple movements, ensuring that Aura Sphere will never miss.**

Sun chuckled a bit, "That would be so awesome! Maybe I can figure out how to do that."

Yang grinned and pumped her fist, "Yes! We need to figure that out!"

The two then shared a quick high five in solidarity.

 **Ruby growled at the hit, "Empoleon! Hydro pump!"**

 **Jaune swung his arm forward, "Lucario! Extreme Speed!"**

 **Lucario's body seemed to disappear and reappeared directly in front of Empoleon as the penguin was charging his attack. Lucario placed his palm on the penguin's chest.**

Ruby gasped in amazement, "Oh wow! That's so cool!"

 **Jaune's hand swung around to snap his finger, "Force Palm!"**

 **Lucario's hand started to glow before pushing Empoleon back. A shockwave shook the air around them as Empoleon was sent flying backward.**

Ruby's excitement fell off as she remembered the situation on screen. "That looked bad."

 **Empoleon spun across the ground, the impact of the attack dealing a large amount of damage. The penguin tried to stand but fell to one knee. He could still fight, and the battle continued, but he was hanging by a thread.**

Neptune grinned, "He's a fighter at least."

 **Empoleon's mouth opened again and water started to form before shooting out in a pressurized torrent. Lucario held his hand up and used his aura to mitigate the damage, allowing him to stay in place. But he did take significant damage from the attack. He grinned as another sphere formed in his outstretched hand. Jaune snapped his finger and the sphere flew off and hit the penguin square in the jaw, knocking him back and out.**

 **Port raised the appropriate hand, "Empoleon is unable to battle!"**

Ruby groaned, not liking the outcome as it happened.

 **The Ruby on the screen had a similar reaction as she returned the Pokémon to its ball. She took a new ball from her belt and threw it into the air. The ball popped open to reveal a giant seemingly made of Roman armor. Its body was like clay and rock, a large steel seal resting across its aqua chest. A strange energy radiated from the cracks in its body like a ghostly aura.**

 **"** ** _Golurk, the Automaton Pokémon. A Ground and Ghost type. It is believed this Pokémon was created by ancient civilizations as a laborer. Removing the seal on its chest will cause it rage without any regard for its surroundings._** **"**

"A ghost?" Weiss raised an eyebrow, "That's an odd sentiment."

Ruby remained positive, "At least it's a friendly ghost. Mostly."

 **Golurk let out a cry similar to a ghostly moan as heard through a device. Golurk stood like a statue before the arena.**

 **Jaune's eyes narrowed. This one could be a problem. Golurk was a ground type, which had advantage against steel types, and a ghost type, which was unaffected by fighting types.**

 **Ruby grinned and swung her arm to the side, "Now! Use Phantom Force!"**

 **Golurk's shoulders perked up slowly as its arms rose. The shadows beneath it started to seem to form a portal as it sank into the ground.**

"What's going on?" Ruby asked.

Oobleck adjusted his glasses before answering, "According to legends, ghosts possess the ability to solid matter. One could assume that they could pass through the ground as well. This is likely a sneak attack of some kind."

 **Lucario looked around for a moment, his eyes failing him. He closed his eyes and took a deep inhale, the protrusions on his head standing on end again. The ground behind him started to turn dark as Golurk rose up from the ground again. Lucario spun around, hoping for a counter, but only found a massive fist slamming into his face. Lucario flew off and into the wall. The fighting type shook himself off and growled.**

 **Jaune, however, wasn't going to let that continue, "Lucario! Return!" He returned the blue fighter to the ball and shrunk it down again. He needed a new strategy. He grabbed another ball and took a breath. This was going to be a crazy gamble. He tossed the new ball into the arena.**

 **When the ball popped, a bipedal, dark brown rabbit creature appeared. The ends of its hands, legs, eyebrows, and long ears were tipped with cream colored fur. It's fur seemed very well taken care of.**

Velvet blinked in surprise.

Coco started to snicker before bursting out laughing. "What is that~?"

 **"** ** _Loppuny, the Rabbit Pokémon…_** **"**

Coco snickered, "You don't say~"

 **"** ** _… A Normal type. Its ears appear to be very delicate. However, if they are handled roughly, it will retaliate with an attack with its powerful kicks._** **"**

Coco tapped her chair for a moment, "Hey Velvet, did you ever consider taking up a kicking fighting style or are you just going to do what you usually do?"

Velvet _had_ considered it but had no one to learn from. She just shook her head and continued to watch.

 **Normal and Ghost types can't effect each other, so they would both need to use other moves. And thankfully, Jaune was ready. "Ice Punch!"**

 **Loppuny swung her ears aside as she jumped toward Golurk, her fist reared back and fogging with a cold mist around it. When she hit the large golem, a force of ice erupted from the point of impact. Golurk staggered and slowly fell onto its back. The Ground type Golurk was weak to Ice attacks.**

Ren tapped his chin in thought, "Interesting… It seems each of the weaknesses are based on actual elemental interaction."

Jaune nodded, "Like how water puts out fires."

Ruby spun around to the two, "But why the ice against ground? Why is that better?"

"I think its supposed to be the effect of Winter on the ground." Oscar offered, "When its too cold, the ground becomes brittle and unusable."

 **Ruby growled, "Golurk! Use Earthquake!"**

 **Golurk's arms rose up over its head, hands balled into fists.**

 **Jaune snapped his hand upward, "Loppuny! Dodge it with Bounce!"**

 **Lopunny crouched before taking off, leaping as high as the stadium. When Golurk's arms fell, there was no target to hit as the ground shook and rumbled. Lopunny started to fall again and spun into an attack run.**

 **Jaune's hand fell back down and toward Golurk, "Attack with Ice Punch!"**

 **Loppuny's attack swapped to a chilly punch slamming into Golurk's face, breaking into ice again. Golurk stumbled back again and fell to the ground. It slowly shook its head and stood again.**

 **But Ruby knew staying with Golurk was going to backfire. She raised the ball and returned the giant to its rest. She grabbed another ball and tossed it in the giant's place. What appeared resembled a red colored, bipedal bug with a pair of pincers at the ends of its hands.**

"Is that going to be a better option?" Ruby tried to distract herself from the fact that the bug on screen was taller than she was.

 **"** ** _Scizor, the Pincer Pokémon. A Bug and Steel type. Its body is like steel, most attacks bouncing off as a result. Its large pincers are more suited to smashing attacks than grabbing something._** **"**

Ruby blinked then laughed a bit, "Sounds a little like Yang."

Her sister gave her a playful punch for that one.

 **Scizor raised its claws to threaten Lopunny.**

 **Jaune chuckled, "Alright. A decent pick. But let's see if it does you any good. High Jump Kick!"**

 **Loppuny crouched before flying forward with her leg outstretched for a powerful kick.**

 **"Scizor!" Ruby shouted to her Pokémon, "Intercept it with Vacuum Wave!"**

 **Scizor reared a pincer back and slammed it forward, the air in front of the attack pushing away as a vacuum effect pushed toward her opponent. The effect slammed into Lopunny and pushed her away from her course, dealing good damage, and causing her to barrel to the side and crater into the ground, causing more damage. Lopunny winced on impact and clutched her leg in pain before she could stand normally.**

Tai winced at the moment of impact as well, "That's got to hurt."

 **Lopunny staggered back up, only to be wrapped in a red laser effect as she returned to the ball. Jaune had a face that held respect, but also a certain grim truth. He'd been holding back. "I'm impressed. Let's see if you can keep it up." He grabbed a new ball and tossed it into the middle.**

 **The Pokémon that appeared resembled a golden sword with a single eye at its large hilt. A pair of dark tassels behind it folded like a pair of arms behind its back. The whole form rested within a circular shield.**

Jaune blinked in surprise. "Is… that supposed to be Crocea Mors?"

Ruby was geeking out about a Pokémon that was also a weapon. "Oh my gosh! That's so cool! Please tell me I have one of those too! What's it called?!"

 **"** ** _Aegislash, the Royal Sword Pokémon._** **"**

Jaune sighed. He was lucky that his friends didn't get hanged up on the High Prince thing since they learned about it a while back. For now, at least.

 **"** ** _A Steel and Ghost type. It can detect the qualities of leadership in those around it. It is said that anyone this Pokémon bonds with is destined to become a king._** **"**

Jaune felt a little better at the sound of the Pokémon's ability to gauge leadership. Ever since taking over as team leader, he would question if he was really qualified. Ruby's pep talk, which he has dubbed the _Nope_ Speech, was good to get him in gear and start really acting like a lead for his team. However, in the back of his mind, he was always questioning if he really should have been the leader of the team.

Pyrrha knew the look on his face and placed a hand on his shoulder. She gave him a reassuring smile to say _You're a great leader, Jaune._

 **Aegislash looked around before noticing the Scizor.**

 **Jaune swung an arm to the side, "Aegislash! Use Swords Dance!"**

 **Aegislash's body seemed to glow as etherial swords formed around it. This wasn't a damaging ability, but rather increased his attack potential.**

 **Ruby wasn't going to let that slide, "X-Scissor!"**

 **Scizor crossed her arms and charged forward.**

 **Jaune snapped his finger, "King's Shield."**

 **As Scizor reached Aegislash, she swung her crossed pincers to either side in an X, only to be met with the Pokémon's shield. Scizor's eyes sagged a moment, energy sapped from her body.**

Ruby was a little worried now, "What's going on?"

Knox popped in, mimicking the robotic voice that introduced the Pokémon, "King's Shield. A Steel type defensive move that protects the user from incoming attacks. If the opponent makes contact with the shield it drops their attack stat."

"That's… That's a thing?"

"Yep~ It's like Spiky Shield dealing damage with contact and similar abilities."

"So that's why she started with flamethrower." Nora realized, "It doesn't make contact."

"Bingo."

 **Aeislash pushed Scizor back as Jaune cried to him, "Sword's Dance!" The swords appeared again, making the bladed Pokémon even stronger.**

Mercury laughed a bit, "He's setting up a quick win. Probably to sweep the rest of her team."

 **Ruby was a little worried now, "Scizor! Use Night Slash!"**

 **Scizor shook her head and tried to get herself together again, aiming her attack toward the center of the Pokémon, using the shield as reference. This was a mistake. Her attack flew across the air, the camera revealing that Aegislash had removed the shield from its blade and was now wielding it in one of its arm-like tassels.**

Nora started to laugh at the sight, "A sword using a shield!" She was trying to get herself under control, but failed.

 **Scizor's eyes went wide at the realization.**

 **Jaune grinned, "Night Slash."**

 **Aegislash's body floated around with a heavy slash into Scizor's head, slamming the bug type into the ground. The attack in question focuses on dealing massive damage through weak points in the opponent. A critical hit, if you will. And with a boost of two Swords Dances, that was a massive hit. As a result, Scizor faceplanted into a small crater, knocking the bug out.**

 **Port swung his arm around, "Scizor is unable to battle!"**

"NO!" Ruby cried out. "Dang it."

 **The Ruby on screen remained composed. She pulled a ball and released Houndoom again. "Use flamethrower!"**

 **The hound released its flame once more.**

 **Jaune called out to his Pokémon, "King's Shield!"**

 **Aegislash blocked the attack as fire flew to either side.**

 **Ruby grinned, "Keep up the heat!"**

 **The fire continued, growing hotter. Aegislash's defense started to crack gradually. The attack made no contact so Houndoom remained unaffected by the debuff. The King's Shield cracked before bursting apart as fire engulfed the blade and his shield. The Steel type took heavy damage from the fire-based attack. Thankfully, he was in his defensive form, so the damage was mitigated slightly. Aegislash was covered in soot with small smoke trails rising from his body. Jaune called out to his Pokémon for another attack. Aegislash shook himself and rose his blade up, for a second Night Slash.**

 **Ruby snapped her finger, mimicking Jaune's actions through the match, "Foul Play!"**

 **Houndoom attacked with a powerful assault against the Ghost type, the Dark type ability dealing more damage. What's more, the attack used Aegislash's attack stats, boosts and all.**

Yang took in a sharp breath. "And after those two boosts…"

King appeared again, "Four."

"What?"

"There's an odd quirk where Sword's Dance is a double boost. Aegislash's attack was boosted by four stages."

They were quiet before Qrow chuckled, "This will hurt."

 **The attack sent Aegislash barreling into the wall.**

 **Port's arm raised, "Aegislash is unable to battle!"**

 **Jaune returned the blade to the ball and took a deep breath. "Okay… Not yet." He rereleased Lucario, the best option for the battle. "Now! Aura Sphere!"**

 **One sphere of unmissable aura shot the still damaged Houndoom down.**

 **Then Golurk returned, smacking Lucario into the ground.**

 **Loppuny returned next with a powerful Ice Punch in revenge.**

 **Ruby was down to one Pokémon left. She took a deep breath and held her last Pokeball. She nodded and tossed the ball.**

Yang grinned, "10 Lien says it's the sword Pokémon from before."

Ruby was giddy at the idea, "Please!"

 **The ball opened to show a quadrupedal creature with white fur over its body except its face and a small dark section on its forehead. Its tail resembled a blade-like design and the side of its head had what seemed like a scythe growing from it to counter the white fur on the other side.**

 **"** ** _Absol, the Disaster Pokémon._** **"**

Qrow froze mid-drink and had to cough up from the liquid trying to go down his throat.

 **"** ** _A Dark type. This Pokémon can sense disasters before they appear and will appear to warn nearby humans. This has given it the reputation of a bad omen and the cause of such events._** **"**

Ruby pouted loudly, "That's not fair at all!"

Qrow sighed with a slight chuckle, "You have no idea, kid…"

"What?"

 **Absol shook her head and a small orb on a necklace fell out from her fur. Ruby placed a bracer on her arm with a similar orb at the center. Both orbs started to glow before Absol was wrapped in a sphere of crystal. She broke out with what appeared like wings of fur. Everything from fur to claws extended and the blade took on a more pronounced form.**

Nora gasped, "What was that?!"

Knox popped in, "Mega Evolution. A temporary boost of power. At the end of the battle, the Pokémon returns to normal. Until then, the Pokémon gains a massive stat boost."

"That's so cool~!"

 **Jaune pointed toward the opposing Pokémon, "Use High Jump Kick!"**

 **As the opponent jumped up, Ruby swung her arm and called out to the Pokémon, "Sucker Punch!"**

 **Absol swung her body and slammed into Lopunny's gut with a powerful hit. The bunny recoiled in surprise before flying off course and slamming into the ground, knocking the rabbit out.**

 **Port's hand rose again, "Lopunny is unable to battle!"**

Velvet recoiled with sympathy for the Pokémon. She could only imagine how much that had hurt. It didn't help that she felt a certain connection to the creature.

 **Jaune returned the Pokémon to her ball and took a breath. He looked up toward Ruby, "You've done very well to get here. And now I only have one Pokémon left. You've backed the Champ into a corner, something no one else has accomplished. You should be proud of that."**

 **Ruby smirked, "You make it sound like I'm about to lose."**

 **Jaune held up a ball with a purple top with two pink sections on either side of the section. A single white M was placed in the center.**

"Okay." Emerald thought back to the explanation of the balls before. "What's that one do?"

King appeared in a flicker with the same color scheme as the ball, "The Master Ball. A guaranteed catch, no matter what you're catching. It's the most powerful ball you can get and the rarest. There's maybe one or two at most in an entire region."

 **Jaune tossed the ball into the air and it popped open into the sky. A bright light shined down upon the arena. The light descended before they saw the creature radiating such effect. It was similar to a white horse-like being. Its feet ended in points rather than hooves, the back of its head seemed like a stationary, flowing mane. A golden cross-like wheel with green gems protruded from its body.**

Everyone was in shock at the creature's appearance. It was commanding, powerful, and giant. It's light made it seem beyond mortal comprehension.

 **"** ** _Arceus…_** **"**

Nora snickered, "Arc-eus? Really?! It's perfect!"

Jaune chuckled a bit too, finding it pretty funny. As did many others.

 **"** ** _… the Alpha Pokémon. Current type: Normal._** **"**

Yang raised an eyebrow with a slight smirk, "Alpha Pokémon? What the heck does tht mean?"

 **"** ** _It is believed this Pokémon has existed before the universe. Myths address it as the creator of the world._** **"**

Laughter died down hearing that.

Ozpin blinked in amazement, "Mr. Arc… Captured a god?"

King flew in, " _The_ god of the Pokémon World. Creator of all and the mightiest being of their world. Not including mega forms for other legendary Pokémon. Well… two, anyway."

Ruby slammed her hands against her chair, "How is that fair?!"

Jaune was stunned at the idea alone, but the fact that it was _actually_ happening that he had apparently captured a god! This was just crazy.

 **Arceus glared down toward Ruby and Absol. Everyone in the arena was amazed at the sight. A real legendary Pokémon and it was ARCEUS! Jaune raised a finger to the sky. "You are the first to see my great partner. You deserve more praise than you will likely feel in a moment. Arceus! JUDGEMENT!"**

 **Arceus reared back onto its hind legs before slamming back into the ground. The screen went white from the attack. They could hear Port in the background, still reeling from the reveal, "** ** _A… Absol is unable to battle! The winner and still champion is Jaune Arc!_** **"**

Ruby just groaned and fell back into her chair. "Dang it…"


	109. KWoR: Arcadia Part II

**King: Time to learn again!**

 **Knox: What about this time?**

 **King: We're going back to Arcadia! We're rounding out the family and covering a few more for fun. Hope you enjoy~!**

 **Inspiration: n/a**

 **/\**

 **The black screen started to shine a bright white with those two golden arcs and blade, the symbol of Arcadia. A banner moved across the bottom reading, [King's World of Remnant: Arcadia Part II].**

Yang chuckled at the screen, "So, we're learning more about Jaune's family again?"

Blake nodded slightly, "Looks like it."

 **"** ** _Welcome back. Where did we leave off… Oh yeah! The Arc Family. How about we go over some more members of the family, starting with those famous eight kids._** **"**

 **A picture appeared on the screen, a family portrait of eight blond kids with their father pulling them all into a group hug, every one of them smiling. A banner above them read [Happy Birthday Dad!]. Jaune's mother, Simone, was presumably the one holding the camera.**

Salem sighed happily seeing her family, even if it was a different version. It was like a scene out of her own life. Perhaps she would get the chance to meet this Simone. Though, preferably in a different dimension and not her own. She trusted her husband more than anything in their world, but she didn't trust other women to keep to themselves.

 **The picture moved to show a single member of the family. She stood in a white and gold military uniform, saluting the camera with a smile. Her blonde hair was tied up but kept short and manageable. Her sapphire blue eyes seemed to shine in the photo.**

 **"** ** _First up, we have Penelope Rowe; maiden name Arc. Penelope is the eldest child of Montesquieu and Simone Arc._** **"**

Ruby grinned at the screen, "So, we get to learn about all of Jaune's sisters?"

Jaune sighed but smiled all the same. He loved his family, but they still had their moments of embarrassment.

 **"** ** _Penelope joined the Arcadian Defense Force, rising to the position of Lieutenant Colonel._** **"**

Winter nodded once learning that, "An impressive feat, to be sure."

 **"** ** _However, defying many expectations, she remained upbeat and kept a smile on her face. But don't mistake this for being soft. She's strong enough to crawl up through the ranks of the ADF in a short time._** **"**

"And how are we supposed to know that wasn't based on who she is?" Roman smirked as he sat back in his chair, "I mean, she's a princess, right?"

"Don't let her hear you say that." Jaune turned slightly to glance toward the criminal.

 **"** ** _Penelope takes after her father, willing to defend others and tank attacks behind her shielding._** **"**

 **The picture changed to show Penelope with a large tower shield, taller than she was, as she braced her shoulder against it. A large Beowolf was trying to slash at the shield to get to her. Like last time, her voice carried through the screen. She had an upper Mistrali accent, but a faint one. "Stay behind me! My shield shall never faulter so long as you are behind me! I won't allow it!"**

Nora smiled as she heard Penelope, "I like her!"

Ren nodded, "She does seem rather nice."

Jaune grinned, "Well, we all think so. But we're family, so we're bias."

 **"** ** _The next sister in order is Saphron Cotta-Arc._** **"**

 **Said sister now appeared on screen. She was fairly plain compared to the last sister, and most of the family really. She just seemed like any other citizen of Remnant.**

 **"** ** _Saphron is the quintessential older sister. Teases her younger siblings, caring, always there for her family, that kind of thing. Unlike the rest of her family, she showed absolutely no talent for combat and moved to Argus, getting married and taking the job of housewife._** **"**

 **The picture swapped to show Saphron, her wife Terra, and their son Adrian.**

Nora gushed a little, "Aw~ That's so cute."

 **"** ** _If we're being honest, she's pretty unremarkable on her own. But it works for her. She's not a fighter or a leader. She's not a huntress or anything. She's just a daughter, a sister, a wife, and a mother. That's all she needs._** **"**

 **The picture changed to show her just before she left home, arms wrapping around her siblings, pulling them into a tearful hug, "I'm so happy to be a part of this family. I promise to make you all proud in my own way!"**

Salem smiled and nodded, still proud of her other dimensional daughter, "Good for her~"

 **"** ** _The next sister down the line… Let's see… is… Marie!_** **"**

 **The picture swapped over to a young woman in a white lab coat. Her dirty blonde hair was cut short to avoid loose ends in a lab setting. Beneath her coat was a dark shirt and slacks, the picture of a scientific mind.**

 **"** ** _Marie is often described as a mad scientist, but she's more of a mad engineer. She's often found inventing something crazy or seemingly nonsensical, but she usually finds ways to make it work. Marie Slivani Arc was the pioneer behind the tactical visor system and Direct Dust (DD) ammunition production. Self-described to be married to her job and a willing insomniac, she tends to go through periods of obsessive work followed by periods of lethargic rest._** **"**

 **The picture showed her two states. One was her leaning over a table with mechanical parts, her eyes hidden behind a pair of glowing goggles. The other half showed her slumped back in a chair, out cold.**

Port chuckled a bit, "She certainly seems to be a driven worker. Though her habits seem questionable."

Jaune sighed, "We know. Everyone knows. But there's no stopping her."

 **The picture swapped again to show her holding up a device toward someone off screen, "Do you know what we can accomplish with something like this?! It's the most important invention of our time! Do you see the potential?! DO YOU?!" There was a moment of silence where you could hear the confusion in the air. "I… never told you what it was, did I?"**

Jaune chuckled at the voice line, "Marie in a nutshell."

 **"** ** _Alright! Next kid!_** **" King sighed, "** ** _This is going to take a while._** **"**

 **The next of them to appear was a young woman with long cherry blond hair. Said hair was frayed and wild, similar to Yang's but not as long. She was dressed in a long coat with a steel breastplate and vambraces accompanied by long pants, boots, and a choker with a lion's head pendant. A large, double headed war ax rested on her back. She stood in profile with a foot elevated onto a rock in front of her with her arms crossed.**

 **"** ** _The next child is Leona Reznov (she's an Arc, just married), nicknamed the Lioness._** **"**

Yang let out an impressed whistle, "Dang! She looks pretty awesome."

 **"** ** _Leona is renowned as a fighter, not to be confused as a huntress or soldier. She's a prize fighter in Arcadian tournaments._** **"**

Weiss turned to Jaune, "So… Is that why you never knew about Pyrrha being a champion?"

Jaune shrugged, "I never actually bothered to watch the tournaments unless it was my sister's big fights."

 **"** ** _She's an adrenaline junky that deliberately puts herself in unwinnable situations so she can break through it, proving to herself no situation is unwinnable. She's the 'punch a wall until it breaks' type of person._** **"**

The Beacon crew all turned toward Yang, seeing plenty of similarities.

 **The picture changed to show Leona triumphant, her ax held to the sky with one hand, "Go home! Rest! Train! Come back to me and fight again! I'm going to keep getting stronger! See if you can keep up with me!"**

Nora laughed, "I like her!"

Pyrrha nodded, "I've met a few people like her during my time in the tournaments, but she's definitely more… direct."

 **"** ** _And the next kid… is the exact opposite._** **"**

 **The screen changed to show Jaune, albeit a few years older. He was dressed very similarly to his current style with one major difference. This Jaune was a true huntsman candidate worthy of Beacon. His armor was filled out over his torso, a small armor belt, and gauntlets.**

Coco played up the moment with a whistle, "Damn Arc~ Who knew you could clean up so well?"

Jaune wasn't sure what to think of the scene yet, especially since they'd already seen a version of the future. But this was kind of weird to see himself like that, a future so close but seemingly so far to him. It was like a language he can't speak, but its so similar to one he can.

 **"** ** _The fifth child of the Arc family, Jaune Arc, heir apparent of the throne of Arcadia. Seriously, this kid's story is just inspiring when you think about it. No one around him really believed in him, but he still went out to Beacon and made something of himself. Currently in his third year at Beacon Academy, he's not the top of the class or anything but he's definitely not the bottom. He's trained twice as hard as anyone else to prove what he's got and its showing._** **"**

Pyrrha smiled, happy to know he's really improving and that he's truly working to achieve his goal. All of friends were actually happy for him, knowing he'll improve so much.

 **The screen changed to show his full team who were gathered for a photo. Pyrrha stood next to Jaune with a big smile and Ren was trying to keep standing as Nora had tackled onto his back when the photo was taken.**

Nora giggled a little. It was totally something she do.

All of Team JNPR smiled seeing the photo. It was comforting to see that they remain so close.

 **"** ** _He's the leader of Team JNPR from Beacon academy, and with good reason. He's proven his talent wasn't in combat, but in leadership._** **"**

 **The screen changed again to show Jaune in the middle of a fight with an Ursa, his shield blocking an attack and blade set to counter. "No! I will not fall! Not today! Not tomorrow! As long as people need me, I won't fall to even a knee!"**

Yang chuckled a bit at that one, "That was pretty corny."

Velvet, however, disagreed, "I like it. It sounds like something a hero would say in a novel."

Blake thought back over her reading time, but ultimately had to nod. "I could see that."

Port sighed with a smile, "That may be a good decision, actually. Part of being a huntsman means inspiring the people as well, making them feel safe. These 'corny' lines may often help with that."

 **The photos swapped to the next child, a young woman with platinum blonde hair tied back into a bun on the back of her head. She dressed in a long white dress with a golden necklace, her family's sigil hanging as a pendant. She stood with poise and a posture one would associate with fairy tale princesses.**

 **"** ** _Next up is Anastasia Arc, the very definition of a princess. She's a kind soul and an honest mind. She's the type that could be an excellent ruler but prefers to remain out of the spotlight. Until recently, she would be the heir apparent and next Arc to rule the Principality; assuming she kept her name when she got married. But she celebrated when her older brother proved himself and was named the heir instead. She's elegant and poised, but she's also lazy as hell._** **"**

 **The next scene showed her sitting in a chair, the perfectly poised figure like a doll, "I have no intention of rule. I've no interest in it. Keep the golden laurels far away from me."**

"Golden laurels?" Ruby turned to Jaune, silently asking him for more details.

So, Jaune answered her, "It's a special crown made of gold leaves. It rests over your ears and around the back of your head." He motioned around his head where the leaves would be. "Arcadia gives them out to people who earn them, the material representing what you accomplish. The gold laurels are only used for the High Prince."

"Oh. That's kind of cool. What other materials do they use?"

However, King stopped Jaune from answering, "Tut, tut! Stories for another day. Now we focus on family."

 **The next sibling to appear was dressed in a moss green shirt, yellow vest, and brown shorts. She looked more like she was going camping than being some kind of warrior like most of the siblings so far. Her blonde hair was tied back in a pony tail and she had a bandage over her nose.**

 **"** ** _Sherry Arc, the explorative member of the family. Gifted/cursed with an overly curious mind, she's the girl climbing hills in the hopes to find what's beyond them. She's the girl looking for dragons on the horizon, and if she doesn't find them she'll look somewhere else._** **"**

 **Another shift showed Sherry looking out over the horizon from the side, "Just imagine what we can find~! What wonders are just over that hill?! I can't wait to find out~"**

Port laughed jovially, "An excellent outlook indeed!"

Oobleck nodded, "Admirable. If sounding a little obsessive."

 **The final sister appeared, a young girl in something of a white and gold nun's attire. She appeared as a cleric complete with a staff with her version of the family sigil, the arcs twisted around to overlap each other with both curves to point in opposite directions.**

 **"** ** _And finally, we have Lilianna Arc, the youngest Arc child. She wants nothing more than to help others heal. However, this is not physical healing, a doctor could do that. No. She wants to heal the mind and soul. She believes in the principle of redemption for all, but able to recognize not everyone you offer it to will take it._** **"**

 **Lilianna now stood before others wearing similar clothing, her staff held up in front of her, sounding optimistic but grounded, "I offer you a chance at redemption. Your crimes can be forgiven in time. Your life can still turn around to a righteous path. You just need to take the first step."**

Ozpin thought to himself. He believed in redemption as well, Ms. Belladonna could attest to that even if she didn't know it, but he never considered how far it could go. He never offered the chance, but let them make the choice themselves.

Yang grinned, her glance moving toward Jaune, "At least we finally got more about those sisters we've heard about."

 **King took a deep breath. "** ** _Okay. Lightning round! Seriously, this family is ridiculously massive. So, I'm covering a few more family members quickly, including a few family friends that aren't actually related but they treat them like family anyway… You'll see. Picture, name, relation to… let's use Jaune as our anchor, one sentence description, and a voice line to really hammer it home. Let's go!_** **"**

Yang laughed now, "And now we get more? Jeez! How big is this family?"

Jaune sighed, "We'd be here all day."

 **The figure to appear showed a woman with dark blonde hair dressed in civilian clothing, but with small pieces of armor on her shoulders.**

 **"** ** _Sharona Blau, Jaune's paternal aunt. She's often described as the team mom in whatever situation she finds herself._** **"**

 **"Do you have your armor? Sword? Rope? Sleeping bag? I just want to make sure you have everything you'll need."**

Tai smiled, remembering the old days with Summer. She was easily the best thing to happen to him, even before their later romance, she was an anchor for their team that kept everyone together. Mostly…

 **The picture swapped like a slideshow to show a blonde man in a white suit with gold epaulets His dirty blonde hair was gelled back and cut short. His dark steel colored eyes were set in a glare toward something in front of him.**

Ruby jumped in her seat a bit, "Wait, does he have silver eyes?"

Ozpin shook his head. "Not quite. Silver eyes are distinct to common grey. They are a brighter shade and easier to see at a distance."

 **"** ** _Lucius Arc, Jaune's paternal uncle. Shrewd, practical, and tactical; Lucius sits as the chief of foreign affairs for Arcadia._** **"**

 **"I will not allow Arcadia to be dragged into the failures of the Kingdoms. Let them stay at each other's throats if they must continue to act like children, but leave us out of it."**

Eyes turned to Jaune, a little surprised by his uncle's speech. Jaune just sighed, "He doesn't trust the kingdoms to leave us alone if we get any closer. He says that if Atlas or Mistral gets the chance, they'd try to take over."

Ironwood wanted to argue it, but he knew the council members too well, not to mention that old zealot stationed in Argus. "I hate to admit it… but his fears aren't unfounded."

 **The slide changed again to show a dark-haired man in a blue and gold military uniform. He was clean shaven and a bit shorter than most of the men around him, but he still looked on par in terms of strength. He was decorated with several medals and a silver laurel crown, indicating him as a sitting member of the Paladin Court.**

 **"** ** _General Napoleon Arc, Jaune's paternal uncle._** **"**

Ironwood blinked in surprise. It was interesting to see someone of a similar rank to himself. Most of the kingdoms didn't bother with a true standing army, so his only contemporaries were his fellow headmasters.

Neo's head tilted slightly at first. She thought they said her full name, Neapolitan, for a moment, but thinking back, it _was_ a different name. Just very similar.

 **"** ** _A man of convictions and principles, he set out to do whatever necessary to ensure the safety of Arcadia and its place in the world of Remnant._** **"**

 **"Any man that fights under me trusts me with their life. I will not send them off to fight a battle I am not willing to face myself."**

Now, Ironwood had a respect for this man. This was a rare trait in leaders these days. Even he found himself stuck behind the chair too often for his tastes.

 **The next slide showed what looked like a younger version of the man before. He dressed in a similar blue coat, but it was undecorated and clearly very new.**

 **"** ** _Napoleon Arc III, Jaune's Cousin and son of General Napoleon._** **"**

Penny looked around, confused, "I understand that being named after someone will usually result in being called the second. Why is the son of the first called the third?"

Jaune took in a sharp breath, "He's… the second child. Napoleon the second died a few months after he was born."

The room was quiet, somber at the death of a life so young.

 **But the screen was recorded, so King continued on, "** ** _A man described as too smart for his own good by half, he thinks he's just as capable as his father, but he REALLY isn't._** **"**

 **"Let's see what the world can throw at me! Bring on your worst then! That Laurel is as good as mine!" They then heard something collapse on top of him. "Ow."**

The reactions this garnered ranged from none (Cinder), a smirk (most), a snicker (the good natured), or out right laughter (Yang and Nora).

As Yang's laugh died down, she turned to Jaune, her smile still on her face, "How big is your family? Seriously, this is pretty crazy."

Jaune gave a nervous chuckle, "It's… pretty big."

"What? You have one of those families that's notorious for having lots of kids all the time?"

Jaune was quiet for a few seconds before conceding, "Yeah. Pretty much…"

Thus, the minds of Pyrrha and Velvet went into overdrive, and possible burnout.

 **"** ** _How much time do I have… Hmm… Okay. I only have enough time for two more to talk about._** **"**

 **The next Arc to appear on the screen was a young woman in her early twenties. She dressed in red and gold, in contrast to everyone else's white and gold. Her hair was a silver color and her eyes were a bright orange. Everything about her exuded confidence and a sense of regality. She sat in an ornate chair, as if looking down on someone. They could also see someone in armor standing next to her behind the chair, but just out of frame enough to know he's there but not what he looks like.**

Jaune felt a chill run up his spine. "Oh come on… Why did she get put into this one?"

Salem had a similar reaction, one with a sense of disappointment.

Yang turned to her fellow blonde and the interdimensional parent, confused, "What? She that bad?"

Jaune just sighed and motioned for them to keep watching.

 **"** ** _Beatrice Lastrade, Jaune's second cousin._** **"**

"Okay, this is something I still don't get." Ruby spun around to the adults, hoping for an answer, "What's the difference between a cousin and a second cousin?"

Port nodded, "A common question, but I have learned it thus. Each stage of relation to those of your generation is based on where your family trees meet."

Ruby's face was blank. Most of those not in the know were.

Port continued, counting back the generations on his hand, "Your siblings have the same parents, your cousins share grandparents, second cousins share great-grandparents, and so on."

"Oh!" Ruby nodded as she finally understood what he meant, "Okay. I think I've got it now. But why is she so bad?"

 **"** ** _A woman so far into herself she changed her name to Lian Arc in order feel more important._** **"**

Blake sighed, "So she's one of _those_ types."

Jaune nodded, not looking up at the screen.

 **Lian's voice line then followed, "You believe yourself** ** _my_** **equal? Allow me to rid you of these delusions of grandeur." She sounded exactly as smug as you think she does.**

Ilia already didn't like her. She was reminded of those bitchy girls she tried to blend in with during her time in that private school. She could just see this bitch treating people like garbage, especially faunas.

 **King sighed a bit, "** ** _And you can't talk about Beatrice/Lian without talking about her bodyguard._** **"**

Jaune perked up a bit. "Wait." He looked back up toward the screen, "But he's not…"

 **"** ** _Might not be an Arc, but people just treat him like one at this point. So, let's talk about…_** **"**

 **The picture swapped to show a man in gleaming red and gold armor. He was standing in a rocky field with one foot placed on a rock to cut a triumphant pose, holding the Arcadian banner flying behind him in the wind. His bright white colored hair had black streaks seemingly running through the strands at random. His golden eyes seemed to glow as he looked out over the area. A bronze Laurel crown set around his head as well. And, to top it all off, he had a pair of feline ears sticking out from the top of his head.**

This got the members, and former members, of the White Fang to stop in surprise., waiting to see where this goes.

 **"** ** _Cassius Kahn…_** **"**

Ilia jumped then turned to her leader, "Wait, what?"

Sienna shrugged, "He's not related to me, if that's what you're asking."

 **"** ** _…the most loyal retainer to House Arc; his words. A member of the Arcadian Honor Guard, Cassius floats like a battleship and stings like a fucking missile!_** **"**

Yang started to chuckle again, "Damn! He sounds awesome!"

Kali snickered to herself and elbowed her husband's side, "You two may get along pretty well~"

Gira just rolled his eyes with a smile.

 **"I am Cassius Kahn, most loyal retainer to House Arc! If you mean them harm, you'll have to get through me first! And that's** ** _very_** **unlikely~"**

 **The screen returned to the same design as the beginning, "** ** _That's all for today. Seriously, this family is to large it's stupid. Until next time~_** **" With that, the screen closed again.**

King popped back in for a moment, "Alright. Let's take a break. Intermission!"


	110. Intermission 9: Game Night 2

**King: 4 MILLION BABY!**

 **Knox: Holy shit! Really?!**

 **King: Yep! We hit 4 million after the last chapter. And we're still going strong.**

 **Knox: Kind of.**

 **King: A lot's going on in life and that takes precedence. Anyway, enough about that. Let's get this intermission going. I hope you all enjoy.**

 **Inspiration: Intermission (but a few references can be found here and there).**

 **/\**

As everyone left, the two fireballs floated alone.

Knox waited a minute before, "Okay, they're gone."

Knox's fire started to burst and expand before solidifying. Knox was now a human teen with golden hair and eyes, his circlet resting under his bangs. He wore a yellow vest and dark pants. He folded his legs as if he was sitting in midair, which he was, and crossed his arms, "So… when do you think we should show these off?"

King's fire followed a similar course, forming a young man with glowing purple hair, his eyes the same golden color Knox had. He wore a long purple coat with yellow pants and black boots. He floated in the air by standing with his arms behind his back in contrast Knox, "For now, we'll stick with what we have. It's easier to move around and pop back explain things in our suppressed forms." King waved his hand and pulled up a magical circle from the screen. He started to tinker with the circle with his fingers, having more finesse using hands than he had as a ball of fire.

"Alright." Knox leaned back to lie in the air, "You're the boss." As King continued to tinker with the magic, Knox thought something over. Perhaps this was a good enough time to bring it up. "Hey King?"

"Hmm?"

"Something's been bugging me. What are we?"

King didn't look up from the magical circle, "Like our species or in a metaphysical sense?"

"No. Like… what are we to each other? I mean, you created me using magic and the screen's internal tech. Am I your creation? Son? What should I call you?"

King sighed. "I don't know. I also don't really care. As far as I'm concerned, you're Knox. I'm King. That's all that matters." King's eyes went wide for a second before narrowing on something in the magic, "Hmm… Something's wrong."

"What's up?" Knox leaned back to spin back around in the air to sit up again.

"Our… uninvited guests left gaps in the theater's dimensional barrier. That's how a possession led to the twins arriving soon after."

"What does it mean?"

"It means… Our dimension is bleeding. Bleeding into other realities."

Knox looked over to King in concern, "Like… theirs?"

"Exactly."

"So… is that a bad thing? I mean, we could drop in whenever we want anyway. So what if the theater shows up there?"

King swiped the magical circle away and sighed, "I'd prefer it if that didn't happen. It would be hard to explain when the world's god… gods? Whatever. It would be hard to explain us to them."

"But aren't the Brothers still their gods? Like in the Prime timeline?"

"That's where the split happened. The old world, the one with the Brothers, is the main point. The Prime timeline follows the reality where their position is never truly filled. My timelines are where I take over."

"Time… lines? Plural?"

King waved his hand at the screen a series of realities appeared before them. Some were very similar to each other. Some were drastically different, with people and situations Knox didn't recognize. In a couple of them, the people had pastel colored skin! What's with that? "That's why I have this little pocket reality. To watch over and influence all of these realities at once. But that's not important right now." Another swipe and the realities faded away. "Right now, we have some patching to do."

Knox shot up and saluted, "Yes sir!"

As they returned to fires and flew off, another hole in the barrier appeared.

\/

We find team JNPR walking through the hallway with a disappointed Nora. Their unofficial sister team, RWBY, had decided to spend the intermission in the arena for some team training.

Nora groaned as she walked among her team, "I really wanted to get our teams together for that multiverse game."

Ren comforted his childhood friend, "Perhaps we can play one as a team. Now that we're all here."

Nora perked up in an instant, "Oh yeah~! You're right!"

Jaune was, understandably confused, "That what game?"

Pyrrha explained it since Nora ran off excitedly, "A card-based game where we all work together to fight a villain."

"Oh. That sounds pretty fun actually."

They arrived at the game room and found Nora shuffling through the games. Nora lifted a massive box from the shelf over her head, "Found it!"

Ren raised an eyebrow, "Did it get larger?"

"Yep." Nora almost fell backward from the size of the box, thankfully caught by her teammates before she could. "There's a lot more stuff in this one!"

Jaune's eyes were drawn to a card on the side, "Guardians of the Multiverse: Beyond the Void. In this expanded game, you can fight as new heroes against terrifying villains making their debuts. A new addition also adds new heroic versions of previous villains. But be careful, because your friends have also returned in new villainous forms. Good luck out there." Jaune flipped the card over to see if there was more but found it blank. "Huh. That sounds pretty cool."

Nora perked up, "Right?!" He placed the box to the side of the table. "So, let's play!"

"What are we playing?" The group jumped and spun around to find the red headed robot standing behind them. Penny waved to the group, "Hello friends."

Everyone calmed back down after a moment, realizing who it was. Jaune was the first to speak up again, "Hi. You're… Penny, right?"

"That is correct." Penny sounded cheery as always.

Nora popped up between the group and Penny, "Um… Don't take this the wrong way, but why aren't you hanging out with Ruby? She's your friend and," Nore motioned between the robot and his team, "we never met before."

"I know that. But I saw you get excited over the prospect of a board game and wanted to investigate. I didn't mean to intrude."

"It's fine." Jaune moved to the table and opened the box, "I don't see why you can't play. The more the merrier, right?"

Nora smiled, "Obviously! This game is about being a team and working together anyway!" She started to sift through the cards. "Okay! I'm thinking we all get random decks this time. We might get to play a full game." No one argued the point, so Nora handed out the decks, "Remember! Don't look until your first turn!"

The turn order was set to run as Nora, Ren, Pyrrha, Jaune, then Penny to allow the two new players to see how the game is played. And with it, they began the game. Their opponent showed a version of Blake dressed in a white kimono with her sleeves tied back. She was kneeling with a paintbrush in hand over an open canvas scroll. The card was labeled as [Blake Belladonna: The Painter].

Nora's face shifted to something more determined, "Okay! Looks like we're fighting Blake this time."

Ren thought back to the card from before, "This must have been what it meant by old friends being villains."

"Doesn't look like much." Jaune picked up the accompanying card, "This card cannot be targeted by hero or environment effects or damaged as long as this side is face up. At the end of the villain turn, if five or more Painting cards are in the villain trash, flip this card over."

Pyrrha looked at the card over his shoulder, "Okay, so we need to remove these Painting cards?"

"Looks like it."

Blake the Painter took the first turn, playing a card. It showed Blake snapping her brush with one hand, [It's Not Good Enough: destroy on Painting card on the field. If a Painting is destroyed this way, reveal cards from the top of the deck until another is found and play it].

Pyrrha smiled a bit, "Looks lie we got lucky again."

Blake's ability, however, allowed her to play another card at the end of her turn. The new card showed a red ink outline painting of Ruby with her scythe, [The Innocence (HP 10): At the end of the villain turn, deal the Hero target with the highest HP 2 melee damage]. However, since Blake's turn was already over, no damage was dealt.

Jaune looked down at the card, "Oh! I get it. These are the Painting cards."

"Ooh!" Nora looked down to her deck and removed the top to show her character. Nora was playing as a version of herself dressed in a school uniform with a tan sweater vest, electricity surging around her, [Nora Valkyrie: The Human Railgun]. "That looks so cool!" Nora giggled and looked through her hand. "I'll play… THIS ONE!" She played a card showing her cracking her knuckles with electricity running around her fists, [Electric Current: Increase damage dealt by this card by 1]. "Now! I use my power, Rail Gun, to deal 2 electric damage to that Painting."

Next it was Ren's turn. He flipped over his card to show Coco, the version they were all familiar with at that. He picked up his cards and played his first card showing Coco relaxing against her standing weapon with a coffee cup in hand, [Break Time: Power: Heal 1 target 2 damage]. "I'll play that for later." With that played, he used his ability to deal 3 targets 1 damage, ultimately only hurting the Innocence for 1 point.

Thus, Pyrrha was next. "Okay." She picked up her card, showing her in something she never expected to see. It was a version of her dressed in a semi-transparent body suit over most of her body, her chest covered in the darker fabric, gold circlet, armor and fabric draped over her waist, and a cape over her shoulders. Really, it looked more like a bikini with a suit covering the rest of her body, [Pyrrha Nikos: The Dark Hex].

Nora chuckled a little, "That's an interesting look for you Pyrrha."

Pyrrha took a breath and sighed. She looked at her hand and didn't fare better. Her face went red in embarrassment for a moment. She groaned a little and played her card, showing her version biting her thumb with an angered look, [No One Gets Between Me and My Beloved! Target one villain target and deal 1 mystic damage. If that target still has 5 or more HP, it cannot damage any heroes in play]. "I'll select the Innocence, since Blake can't hurt us."

"Blake can't what?" The people at the table looked up to find half of team RWBY, missing Weiss and Blake. Yang looked at the game and had an exaggerated look of hurt, "You're playing the game without us?"

Nora shot up in her chair, pointing an accusatory finger, "You went off to train as a team! We decided to play a game as one!"

Ruby waved to her red headed robot friend, "Hi Penny."

Penny waved back to her, "Hello friend Ruby."

Yang raised an eyebrow, "As a team, huh?"

Nora huffed, falling back into her chair, "She joined after. Now, we want to try to finish this game. So, Pyrrha still has to use a power."

The champion looked over her card again, [Hex: Discard the top card of any deck]. "Okay. I'll discard from the villain deck."

Yang looked down at the cards in question as her sister took a seat next to Penny to help her. Yang picked up the discarded card that showed a white ink painting of Weiss on a black background, "The Pride, huh? Fitting."

Jaune nodded, "Alright. That's one. Four more in the trash area and we can deal damage." He flipped his card to a version of himself dressed in opulent purples and golds. Gemstone were embedded into his robed clothing and he gestured as if to show off the grandeur around him. Jaune leaned over to read the card, "Jaune, the Emperor Reborn."

Nora jumped up and ran to look over his shoulder, "Woah! That looks so cool."

Yang looked over the other shoulder, "A bit much if you ask me."

Jaune groaned, "Can I play my card without you over my shoulders?" After they both apologized and backed up, He looked over his hand and selected his card. It showed a creature that was very bulky, both in fat and muscle, dressed in similar colors of combat gear to fit its body with a kite shield made of energy. [Loyalist Phalanx (HP 5): Decrease damage to all hero targets by 1. Decrease damage dealt to Jaune, the Emperor Reborn, by 2]. "Okay. Next I use my power, Royal Power, to draw a card." After that, he drew the card for the end of his turn.

Penny nodded, "Okay. It is my turn, correct?"

Ruby smiled, "Yep!"

Penny flipped her card to show her character for the game. Penny was to play as a version of someone that looked an awful lot like Blake. However, this person was male and didn't possess cat ears. He stood in night colored robes and light armor. The card was labeled [Gira Belladonna].

Yang and Ruby looked from the card, then each other, and back to the card. Yang blinked in surprise, "So, Blake's dad is a card?"

Ruby nodded, "Do you think that's actually him or another version from another world?"

Penny looked over her hand and ran over her options. "Okay then. I select this card." She played a card that showed a wakizashi in Gira's hand with a small droplet forming on the tip of the blade, [A Little Poison Goes a Long Way: All damage dealt by this Hero is irreducible]. "Then, I use my power, called From Shadows, to deal the Innocence 1 damage."

Nora grinned and bounced in her chair. "Alright! Now, the environment."

They were revealed to be fighting in a place called, [Shirokiba Castle, seat of the White Fang]. The card drawn showed a White Fang member with a rifle shooting something off the card, [Target Practice: Increase damage dealt by Environment cards by 1]. But no environment cards were played, so the turn passed and the game continued.

\/

As the game was played in the game room, Blake made her way to the common lounge. She found her target and walked over to him. "Hey Sun."

Sun looked up toward her and smiled, "Sup?"

Blake took the seat in front of him with her usual Blake look. "I wanted to hear the story of Sanzang. Why is he so important to you?"

Sun's smile changed. It wasn't his usual bright smile, but instead more nostalgic, lost in his own thoughts. "Alright. I did say I'd tell you at the intermission." Sun took a deep breath before beginning his story. "Okay. So, you remember how I'm from Vacuo, a den of thieves and 'scoundrels'?

Blake nodded.

"Well, it's mostly true. The usual exceptions exist. The huntsmen, the VWE, some police. But they all usually have one thing in common. They're busy. Too busy to actually help anyone that isn't in trouble at that _exact_ moment. There's too much going on that they can't help someone starving in the street or the kids that can't find their ways to schools. I… I was one of those kids."

Blake's fist tightened a bit. "What happened?"

"If you're asking if I'm an orphan or something, I'm not. I got parents back home in Vacuo. Though, we don't exactly stay in touch. They're not exactly the best parents…" Sun took a breath and sighed. "Left me without much in the way of role models, you know? It stayed that way for years until I met Sanzang."

"I take it he was a huntsman? That's why you want to be one?"

"Kind of. Sanzang _was_ a huntsman, but he stopped when he arrived in Vacuo. By the time I met him, he was just a civilian and a teacher. And probably the best thing to ever happen to the kingdom. He tried to help from the bottom up, teaching the kids that can't go to school. Teaching people to read, young or old. But you're right that he's why I want to be a huntsman."

Blake tapped her heel on the ground a bit, almost anxious to hear this story. It was rare for Sun to be serious or to seem to look up to someone like this. "He sounds… almost unreal."

Sun nodded. "Most people think that. Never holds a grudge, rarely gets angry, quick to forgive. It's crazy to think about it, but he's real. I wanted to be just like him, to grow up to be a teacher."

Blake started to laugh. "You? A teacher?"

Sun took that pretty well, "I bet I'd have been a great teacher!" He laughed it off, but returned to his story, "But when I told Sanzang, he told me something that stuck with me. That to be him is to be a failure. Someone who chose a path he wasn't suited for, only to find it too late. He told me not to follow in his footsteps, that I should do what _I_ want to. What _I_ can do. In the end, that was being a huntsman."

Blake let out a breath and nodded slowly. "That certainly explains why you'd name your child after him."

"To be honest with you, I never thought about that until we saw that world. But yeah."

Blake and Sun spent the rest of the intermission just talking.

\/

Weiss made her way through the library to find something to occupy the rest of her time. She eventually found something odd. There was someone there she didn't recognize. A man, based on his build, dressed in a long pink coat. His blonde hair was long and curled up into full circles around his shoulders. He was looking through a book and turned a page before returning it. He walked around a corner and out of sight. Weiss tried to case him down and confront this strange figure, only to find him having disappeared. She looked around, but all she found was a flag she didn't recognize. It had red and white stripes and a section of blue in the upper left corner with white stars arranged within the blue.

Weiss picked up the cloth, confused. "Where in the world?"

\/

We return to the game being played. Five Paintings have been defeated: The Innocence (Ruby), The Pride (Weiss), the Champion (Pyrrha), the Guardian (Jaune), and the Assassin (Mercury). This flipped the Blake villain card to show her white attire covered in inky paint of various colors. Now able to be damaged, she remained with 17 health points remaining.

It returned to the villain's turn and Blake played her card, [Art of Darkness: reveal cards from the villain deck until you reveal 2 Painting cards and put them into play. Discard all others.] Two Paintings were then found as revealed as a pink Nora and a green Ren labelled as [The Storm] and [The Silence], respectively.

Now flipped, Blake's end of turn effect is to deal the Hero target with the highest HP H-1 damage (so 4 damage). This happened to be Jaune at that moment with 16 HP. Next, the Paintings attacked. The Silence dealt 2 melee damage to the Hero with the lowest HP (a minion played by Jaune with 3 HP) and the Storm dealt 2 lightning damage to the Hero with the highest HP (now Ren with 14).

Yang looked over the field so far. "Alright. What's the game plan now?"

Nora looked over her cards and smirked, "I'll play this card!" Nora slammed her card onto the table to show the group. It depicted the version of Nora flipping a coin in her hand with an electric spark around her hand, [Prep Time: Increase electrical damage dealt by this character by 2]. "So when I attack this time, I deal 4 damage! I'll hit Blake to knock her down to 16!"

Ren nodded, "I'll play this," [Dust This Bitch!].

Yang snickered a bit, recognizing the inherent pun in there.

[Deal up to 3 targets 2 Fire damage]. Ren added 2 damage markers to all three villain targets. "Alright. Your turn Pyrrha."

Pyrrha nodded, still a bit embarrassed by her deck. "Okay. I'll pick… this one." The card showed a strange device resembling a gyroscope of some kind, [Master Seal: Increase all damage dealt by this target by 1]. She nodded and used another card she'd played previously, that showed her other version wielding a purple and black book [Nosferatu: Power: Deal 1 target 3 damage and heal this Hero by half the damage dealt rounded down]. She used the power to deal 4 damage total and heal 2.

Jaune's turn again. Only difference was that his field was unlike the others. "Okay. Let's go through all of these." He possessed minion cards that had abilities to play when his turn started.

First was a beast, something of a dog combined with a lizard of some kind. It was armored over its face and neck with spikes at the back of its head, [Loyalist Warbeast: Deal the villain target with the lowest HP 2 melee damage]. This knocked the Silence down to half. Next was called the [Loyalist Legionary]. It dealt 1 damage to the non-hero target with the highest HP, hitting Blake again. Finally, there was the [Loyalist Colossus] which dealt the villain targets with the highest HP 3 damage and dealing 2 more targets 1 damage.

With that over, Jaune picked through his cards and grinned, "I'll play my Psionic Burst card, dealing 3 targets 2 damage." This knocked out the Silence and put the Storm on its last point. "Next, I'll use my Emperor's Boon to increase Penny's damage by 2 for the turn."

Penny looked at her hand again, "Okay. Then I play this card." The card showed the younger Gira with a small string of firecrackers, [Distraction Techniques: Increase all damage this turn by 1]. "Next, I use my power to deal 1 damage, boosted up by my card and 2 more thanks to friend Jaune. Dealing 4 damage and knocking the villain to zero."

Nora shot up with her hands in the air, "WE DID IT!"

Jaune fell back in his chair, "That was pretty fun."

"Pyrrha nodded, "It really was."

The PA system pinged to get their attentions. " _The intermission is coming to an end in two minutes. Please return to your seats in the main theater. Thank you._ "

After putting the game away, everyone stood again to make their ways to the theater, chatting about little things along the walk.


	111. More than Meets the Eye

**Knox: You got the touch! You got the power!**

 **King: Enough of that. That's not happening in this one.**

 **Knox: Aw...**

 **King: Still, important note, the counterparts in this reality don't use their human names with each other, since they aren't. But, in the narration, the characters are addressed by the names we all know. You'll see what I mean. Anyway, hope you enjoy it.**

 **Inspiration: Transformers**

 **/\**

With everyone back in their seats, King and Knox returned in their usual fireball forms. King floated over all of their heads, "Alright! Welcome back everyone! You ready for the next reality?" With everyone back in their places and ready to go, King chuckled, "Alright! Hit it!" Both fireballs disappeared again the screen began to light up again.

Yang tapped her foot on the floor as she crossed her arms, "Wonder what this one is going to be."

 **The scene opened to show a scene in the middle of an urban area. It reminded them of Vale, but a bit more futuristic. After a moment, they saw a yellow blur fly across the screen. The camera moved to catch up to and reveal a yellow sports car with a black accenting down the side.**

Yang let out an impressed whistle, "Damn. That thing looks nice."

 **They heard a radio call from inside the vehicle, "** ** _Report._** **" The voice sounded like Ruby, if a bit older.**

 **They heard Yang speaking from inside the sports car, "Nothing so far. Been pretty quiet, actually."**

 **"** ** _Alright. Kee- … -infor- …_** **" Ruby's voice started to cut out into static.**

 **"Hello? I'm not in a tunnel, what's going on?!"**

 **"** ** _… -bee! Get ba- … -ase! Dec- …_** **"**

Ironwood's eyes narrowed, "Communication jamming."

 **"Hey! What's going…"**

 **An explosion went off on the street in front of the vehicle, causing Yang to skid to a stop. They saw a massive shadow form before seeing something slam back onto the ground. The dust settled to reveal a large tank sitting on the street with heavy turret pointed at the yellow car.**

 **"Wah-oh." The car's wheels slid across the ground and Yang got the hell out of there as the space it occupied was suddenly splintered into fragments.**

Yang recoiled a bit, "What the heck is going on?"

Ren tapped his chair in thought, "Better question, why haven't we seen her yet?"

Nora turned to her childhood friend, "What do you mean?"

"It's just… all we've seen is a car and a tank. But we have yet to see the drivers."

"Another thing," Jaune interrupted, "How did a tank come _up_ _through_ the street?"

 **Yang tried to call back to Ruby, "We got bad guys! It's Blutschwur! Permission to engage?!" She heard nothing but static. "Damn it!"**

Ruby's head tilted, "Blut-who? I don't recognize the name."

 **The tank fired another shell that knocked the car into the air. As another shell launched from the barrel, the world slowed to show the trajectory of the explosive. There was no way for a car to possibly dodge it midair.**

Ruby panicked at the scene, "Yang!"

Yang got ready for an explosive end.

 **Only for the yellow car's front section to suddenly split apart up to the windshield, splitting in time for the shell to fly passed. The machinery continued to spin, lock, and unlock in various ways until the vehicle reshaped completely. It slammed into the ground and slid across the asphalt in a now bipedal robot form. In this new stance, they could see the robot had a slightly feminine form with a section of the car breaking back like a long mass of yellow hair.**

Eyes went from screen to Yang and back. The resemblance was uncanny.

Ren was still stunned, but nodded with a sense of understanding, "That explains _that_ then."

 **The tank moved forward, "Oh! The little Bumblebee finally gets serious!" The tank's machinery also unlocked, spun, and relocked into a bipedal robot form. This bot looked fairly similar to, and sounded an awful lot like, Weiss Schnee. She stood with her turret now mounted over her shoulder and pointed toward Yang. "Look what I found. A little bee all on her own~" She fired a shell that knocked the Yang-bot off her feet, forcing her to hide behind a barricade. "What's wrong? Where's your usual bravado, Autobot?"**

Weiss jolted upright in her chair, "What on Remnant is going on?"

Knox popped back with a burst of golden fire, "Transform and roll out!"

"What?"

King appeared soon after, "In this reality, sentient robotic lifeforms exist that can transform between bipedal and vehicle modes. Said robots are further divided between the Autobots and Decepticons. You can tell between them through various means, but the symbol that appears is a dead giveaway."

The group looked up to the screen and finally noticed the helmet-like symbols on both bots. Yang's alternate had a red, more squared variation while Weiss's symbol was purple and more angular.

Ruby jumped a bit in her seat, "Wait! But who's that… bloot or whatever?"

"Weiss is." Knox answered. "And the Yang in this world is called Bumblebee."

Yang laughed to herself, "Seriously?"

Blake glanced to Yang, an eyebrow raised, "Like your bike?"

Yang just kept laughing.

 **The Yang-bot had to crawl up behind her cover to avoid the incoming shrapnel. She growled her herself, unable to move without risking serious injury. "Dang it!" She brought her hand to the side of her head, pressing on the communication button, "Prime! Come in! I need backup!" She was only met with static. "Come on! Work!"**

 **"Getting stressed, Autobot?" The back section of Weiss's cannon cycled around to a different cylinder. A section along the barrel started to glow an ice blue. "I think you need to chill out a little." As she fired the shell, they could see a sparkling mist following behind the ordinance. On impact, it burst and the contents instantly froze into a pillar of ice.**

Yang was frozen with a smile on her face, "Did… did she just…?"

 **The Yang on screen growled, popping up over the cover for a moment, "Hey! Mid-battle quips are my thing!" She then realized what she'd done and ducked back down as a new shell flew over her head, bursting into an explosion of ice.**

 **Weiss laughed, "You sure its not getting frozen?! Because that's what it looks like from here!"**

 **Yang recoiled as a more conventional shell hit her makeshift cover, "Focus! Think. Blutschwur is an attack bot. She can't scramble comms. So, who do you know that can?" She jerked up a bit, not hearing another volley of shells. "Oh no."**

 **The wall beside her suddenly erupted, revealing the Weiss bot, now specified to be named Blutschwur, broke through the brick to slam her fist into Yang, "Oh yeah~!"**

 **Yang skid across the paved road a bit before jumping back to her feet. She growled to herself, annoyed that she caught off guard like that. Her forearm seemed to spin around, replacing her hand with what looked like a stinger on the other end. Electric sparks started to surge from the device as the other hand followed suit.**

Nora gasped, "Oh my gosh! That's so cool! Are they like giant tasers?! Can I do something like that?"

Yang shrugged. Personally, she preferred her concussive rounds to electrical rounds. But, then again, she wasn't a two-story transforming robot.

 **Yang pointed the stingers toward Weiss and fired two bolts of electricity.**

Nora gushed again, "So cool~"

 **But the bolts bounced off of Weiss harmlessly.**

Nora deflated immediately, "Aw…"

Ren patted her back in condolence for the electrical weapon.

 **Weiss laughed, "Was that supposed to hurt? That's the problem with you Autobots. You never realize when you're out gunned!" She leveled her cannon again and fired a cryo-shell toward Yang.**

 **The yellow bot was able to get behind cover that was now frozen over. She growled and glanced back through the ice toward Weiss. She needed to keep an eye on her this time. She was pulled out of her thoughts by a droplet hitting her head. She looked up to see dark clouds had formed above her. "Oh right. There was a storm tonight." She blinked at a realization. "Wait… That's it!"**

 **Weiss fired another shell with a laugh, "What's the matter?! Get out here and fight like a robot!" She fired a high explosive shell to weed her out from cover. Yang rolled away before impact and pointed her charged stingers toward Weiss. She fired the bolts at Weiss again. Weiss just laughed it off, "That's just sad."**

 **But Yang was smirking.**

Weiss raised an eyebrow, "Why is she smiling."

Ruby nudged her teammate and pointed to her counterpart.

 **Weiss was surrounded by electricity this time. Yang had lowered the output of her stingers, changing them from an offensive bolt to a concentrated pulse. The electricity surged around her rather than bouncing off her plating.**

Nora jumped up onto her seat in an amazed realization, "Oh! I get it! She charged Weiss's metal body with the bolt! And with storm clouds overhead, she became a living lightning rod!"

 **Nora was spot on, point proven as the electricity around Weiss crackled faster before a bolt of lightning crashing down onto her.**

 **As Weiss fried, Yang let out a laugh, "What do you think of that stinger?!"**

 **As the bolt faded, Weiss twitched as her processor caught up with the rest of her. She shook her head, thoroughly pissed now, "That's it! I was going easy on you! Have fun with it! But now I'm mad!"**

 **Weiss's comm link beeped as her fellow Decepicon called in to her, "** ** _Blutschwur!_** **" The voice sounded an awful lot like Ren, "** ** _Autobot reinforcements are approaching from the north. And I can't hide our energy signatures forever._** **"**

Nora giggled to herself at how appropriate that was.

 **Weiss growled, not really hearing Ren through her rage. "I will end you, Autobot!" She fired another shell toward Yang, but got another lightning bolt her trouble. "AGH! I hate this planet!"**

Nora gasped, "They're aliens too?!"

Yang shrugged, "Makes more sense than them being built by us."

 **"** ** _Blutswur!_** **" Ren's voice came in to try to warn Weiss, but it was too late.**

 **Weiss spun around to fire another shell at Yang, only to find a blue metal fist to her face plate. The camera tracked back to show a taller red and blue robot who seemed to resemble Ruby. The new robot jumped back next to Yang to get into formation. The Ruby bot glanced toward her, "I thought something was off when comms went out. Nice touch on the lightning."**

Ruby chuckled, "Yes! Now I'm the tall one!"

Yang laughed a little and pulled her sister into a hug, "You wish, squirt."

 **"Thanks boss bot." Yang chuckled a bit, "I had her where I wanted her." She sighed and smiled.**

"And I'm still the leader!" Ruby cheered.

 **As Weiss growled, Ren's voice screamed at her again, "** ** _Blutschwur! I'm serious! Get out of there!_** **"**

 **Weiss knew he was right, but she didn't move yet. She had to think this through. She laughed, trying to play herself up. "The mighty Optimus Prime. About time I met you."**

 **Ren yelled at her again, "** ** _What are you doing?!_** **"**

 **"They're expecting a hello. What better time to say goodbye!" Weiss leapt up and pointed her cannon to the ground and blew up the road beneath them, causing the road to collapse. Where Yang and Ruby were both ground-bound bots, Weiss had a secondary mode as a fighter jet and used it to escape.**

Ironwood nodded, "Smart move as a distraction… though a bit destructive."

 **Weiss flew up over the storm clouds, revealing another jet over the clouds with a communication array on the top. Weiss growled as both jets flew off. "I don't believe this! I had her!"**

 **"Regardless." The other jet was revealed to be Ren. "Right now we need to return to base while our signatures are still scrambled."**

 **Both jets flew off and out of the city limits. The camera tracked as they showed the two jets approaching what looked like a mountain but was actually a hidden warship. They flew through a hidden hatch and transformed back into robot mode. Inside, the ship seemed perfectly normal for the robots.**

Roman whistled in amazement, "How big must that ship be?" This got eyes toward him for him to explain, "Think about it. Those robots are like… what? Two stories tall? The ship must be massive."

 **Ren erupted in an emotional outburst, "We failed! We couldn't even pick off one of them! Megatron will be so angry with us."**

 **Weiss groaned, "Let's hope that's all we get."**

 **Both walked into a large room, the bridge of the ship. A monitor showed what looked like a robot Roman on the screen, "** ** _Pleasure doing business with my favorite customers! Let me know if you need anything else. And tell the old war monger I said hello~!_** **" The screen cut out soon after.**

Roman smirked, liking what little he saw of his counterpart. He seemed like a man that knew how to make a buck while looking out for number one.

 **Another robot stood in the room, the image of Nora with a set of helicopter blades on her back. She groaned and shook her head, "I say we can never trust him." She turned toward the two as they approached, "Welcome back, Blutschwur. Sky Break."**

 **Ren glared toward Nora, "Storm Runner."**

Nora wanted to giggle about her name and how cool it was, but she was hung up on the idea that this version of her and Ren didn't like each other.

 **Nora smirked, "So… how did it go?"**

 **Ren scoffed, "I've no reason to report to you! I answer only to our glorious leader!"**

 **"Well I'm in charge on the bridge until he returns from the lower hanger!"**

 **The two glared at each other, sparks flying as the growled at each other.**

 **Weiss got between them and split the two apart, "Enough! You're stupid competition to be Megatron's favorite is getting old."**

"Oooh…" Nora felt a little better that they didn't hate each other. It was competition between them.

 **They jerked up as the heard the door open. The camera fell to the ground at the door as an armored foot fell onto the steel flooring. The camera tracked for a moment before flowing up to the back to show the back of the robot that stood full heads above the three others. A set of wings rested on either shoulder with a what looked like helicopter blades rearranged like a pair of swords. A large cannon rested on his right arm as well. As he walked passed them, the three stood at attention before their leader.**

 **He moved to a chair at the center of the room, sitting in his command seat. "Storm Runner, were you able to acquire the materials from Swindle?"**

Neo laughed a bit, as if she just knew that was the Roman counterpart.

Everyone else simply turned to their counterpart of the Decepticon leader, Jaune Arc. Jaune just blinked, not sure what to think about the scene.

 **Nora snapped to attention, "I have, oh glorious leader! I just finished the communication."**

 **"Good. Blutschwur! Sky Break!"**

 **Both bots locked up in fear, their mission failed in removing any of the Autobots on the planet.**

 **"You've done well."**

 **Now they froze in surprise. Weiss blinked in shock (too soon?), "We what?"**

 **Ren just looked elated before bowing to his leader, "Thank you my liege! I live to serve you and your glorious vison!"**

Ironwood tapped his chin in thought, "I can't tell if he's a suck up or a zealot."

 **Jaune looked back to the screen. "You're distraction was most helpful for our cause."**

 **Ren praised the genius of his leader, but Weiss wasn't so happy, "Distraction? But our mission was to eliminate at least one of the Autobots."**

 **"An assurance that you'll not hold yourself back. Now, the Autobots will, no doubt, run themselves ragged for the foreseeable future. And, with your work, we're one step closer to our goal on this miserable planet." Jaune pressed a button on his chair's console and a gold spike appeared on the screen.**

 **Weiss was awestruck, "A Piece of Eternity? Here?"**

 **"And soon, it shall be without our hands. And with it, Cybertron will submit to my rule. Now, go and rest for now. We have preparations to make." As the three left, Jaune changed the image on screen to show Ruby from Weiss's mission camera. He stood again with his hands behind his back. "It is only a matter of time, Prime… Our final battle is approaching. Where one shall stand, and one shall fall." The world faded until only his glowing purple insignia remained, cutting out soon after.**

Yang fell back in her chair, not quite realizing she had been sitting on the edge, "Well… that was different."

Nora huffed, "I'm just disappointed we didn't get any more action."

Ren reassured her with a pat on her back, "There _is_ the archive. We might return to it later."

"Oh yeah!"

Jaune groaned, not quite sure if he wanted to see it again. Sure, the transforming robot thing was cool, but it was clear the world was setting something big. Likely something horrible.


	112. The Blind Duel Event!

**King: OOOH! Shit! We're back again!**

 **Knox: You ever think about branching out into other card games?**

 **King: I was about to get to that. Point is, this is a Yu-Gi-Oh round again. But here's the thing. When we return to this, and we** ** _will_** **be back to this! But when we get back to this, I'm making up cards instead.**

 **Knox: Fair.**

 **King: And it'll be a new series, not a GX-like version. I might come back to this particular set, but not right away. I also might get to Cardfight Vanguard. We'll see. Also, this isn't going to be one duel. This one has a bunch of smaller duels and ends up longer overall. Seriously... 11,000+ words! Was fun as hell though. Anyway, hope you enjoy~**

 **Inspiration: Yu-Gi-Oh**

 **/\**

The screen chose to open on a new world before anyone could speak up. And this was going to be a fun one.

 **The screen opened to the world of Duel Monsters once more.**

 **They saw what looked like an old dormitory building resting on a small field overlooking the ocean. It wasn't anything special, two stories, yellow siding, and a red roof. It was the very definition of quaint.**

Yang crossed her arms and tilted her head slightly, "I… would kind of prefer a dorm like that, actually."

Weiss turned to her, incredulous, "You can't be serious."

Yang just shrugged, "I don't need the fancier stuff. As long as it has running water and electricity, I'd be fine. And it looks like there's enough room for my bike. I still don't like that I have to keep it in a storage garage back in Vale."

Ruby explained the situation for her partner, "Yang put a lot of work into her bike."

Jaune thought for a moment, "So, I'm guessing it's like you with Crescent Rose?"

Ruby nodded, "Kind of."

 **The camera zoomed in before entering one of the rooms. It showed Jaune Arc, dressed in his red blazer, sitting at his desk. He was looking over a set of cards and shuffling between them. The scene went white for a moment as a flashback began.**

 ** _Jaune was in his Physical Education class. Students ran by as Jaune sat to the side, his laps completed. "You want me to what?"_**

 ** _Sun was sitting next to him, "I'm just saying. It would be pretty interesting."_**

 ** _"You're basically asking me to build a whole new deck in one week."_**

Jaune groaned and fell back in his chair. Once again, he was denied seeing the Hero cards he'd heard about.

 ** _"What? Don't think you can pull it off?"_**

 ** _"You just want me to use a deck I'm not familiar with so you have a better chance of beating me."_**

 ** _"Consider it a challenge then."_**

 ** _Jaune was silent a moment. "I hate you." He never backed down from a challenge and he wasn't about to start now._**

 **Returning to the Jaune in the present, agonizing over the deck he was building. Sun's challenge was to use a brand new deck for the upcoming blind duel. This means no Heroes and no D/D cards. Unfortunately for him, that was most of the cards he had. He needed to resupply with new cards and familiarize himself with a completely new set of monsters, spells, and traps. It was quite the experience.**

 **However, today was the day of the school's Blind Duel contest. And this year, it was an Action Field Duel, where you can actually interact with the monsters and field and around you. It was relatively new technology, but the school picked it up like nobody's business. Probably helps that the company that made it, the Schnee Corporation, also owns the school.**

This got Weiss thinking, "I _really_ hope someone other than father or Whitely is in charge of that…"

Ozpin just sighed. He never liked the idea of corporations running schools. Hell, he didn't like the Kingdom's running them sometimes. It was one of the many reasons his previous life created the Academies as separate entities. It was one thing he hated about Atlas's current system combining the Huntsmen Academy and the Atlas Military.

 **Jaune sighed and picked up his completed deck. He nodded confidently, until he looked at the clock, realizing he needed to leave five minutes ago. "Oh crap!" He slid across the floor a bit, grabbing his shoes, and ran off out the door at full sprint to make it to the event. The camera tracked him as he ran down the path to the main campus of Beacon Duel Academy.**

 **The scene transitioned to show Jaune's pace slowing as he arrived in the larger arena built for the new dueling type. He doubled over, hands resting on his knees, as he breathed heavily.**

 **A hand rested on his shoulder and helped him back to stand upright again. "Cutting it a little close, don't you think?" Yang chuckled. After a match a while back, Yang had become quick friends with the students of the Slifer dorm.**

Ruby chuckled at the scene. It was just like Yang to make friends through a competition like that.

 **Jaune didn't have the breath to reply.**

 **The students had to calm down as Chancellor Port arrived. "Welcome students! You'll all have the honor of being the first to test the latest additions to the Action Field System. And I want you all on your absolute best behavior! As we have guests to ensure everything runs smoothly."**

 **Standing beside Port was Winter Schnee, dressed head-to-toe in white, complete with a coat that almost seemed like it was made of ice. This was the CEO of the Schnee Corporation and, thanks to her company's work in holographic technology and dueling systems, the most powerful person on the planet.**

Winter blinked in surprise. She'd never considered taking over the company, preferring her work in the Atlassian military, so it was odd to see her in a position like that. Of course, she's happy her father or younger brother wasn't placed in charge of students. Even if it was a different world, it was hard to see her father or Whitely as being… let's say objective. To be fair, neither is Atlas Academy, but at least that's more about the protection of the Kingdom.

 **Next to her was Weiss, dressed in a white dress that resembled her combat gear in the viewers' reality. However, her half jacket was replaced with a full, white jacket that reached to her waist. She seemed uninterested in the situation at hand, like she was dragged along by her sister.**

 **Winter was a famous figure, and her presence got people talking. Yang chuckled, finally letting go as Jaune could stand up again. "Think we'll get the chance to duel her?"**

 **Jaune took one last deep breath to lower his pulse back to normal, "Doubt it. It would be cool, though."**

 **As Port explained the new systems, Winter leaned slightly toward her sister, "Now, remember Weiss. You're to take part and see just how far your training has come."**

 **Weiss nodded, "Of course, sister." Weiss thought this was a waste of time, given her training with actual professionals.**

Yang grinned, "How much you want to bet that she has to square off against Jaune?"

Ren nodded, "It would be the most likely outcome for the situation. At least in a dramatic sense."

 **The students all moved off toward the stands to wait their turns. Port nodded and led the Schnee sisters to a waiting area in the stands as well. When everything was set, he stood looking over the students. "Let's begin! Now, the Blind Duel Event rules will be as follows! You've been given numbers that will call you all into the arena. And, to make things more interesting, you won't know what format you'll be dueling in. You could duel normally, or perhaps be placed in a tag duel. Maybe you'll be placed into an asymmetrical duel, finding yourself facing against two or even three opponents."**

 **This got a few in the audience of the arena to murmur, not sure what to think, while most were fidgeting excitedly. Plenty of students were preparing for this event to really show what they had, and the fact that the Schnee Corporation CEO was watching just made them more excited. Some wanted a challenge while others hoped to show off and maybe make a good impression. This was a big moment for them.**

"Makes sense." Ozpin took a sip from his coffee. "It would be beneficial if one considers her a potential employer. And considering her reach and power in this reality, it's safe to say that many of them do."

 **"Oh, and one more thing, we'll be making this more interesting by cutting your starting life points in half!" As his students reeled slightly hearing this, Port swung his arms out to address them, "Now! Let's begin! First match!"**

 **The large monitor lit up with a section listing out that the first match will be a one on one duel. This was followed by the numbers 7 and 34 appearing before being replaced with the pictures of Coco, who was dressed in a white and blue uniform, and Blake, in her blue overcoat, appeared on the screen.**

Coco grinned, "Oh yeah? So I'm in the best dorm, huh?"

Jaune looked toward her, confused, "What?"

"Oh right!" Ruby jumped and spun toward him, "You weren't there for the first one. So, there are three dorms: Blue, Yellow, and Red."

"Yep." Coco sat back with a grin remaining on her face, "And the Blue dorm is the best of the school, Yellow is second, and Red is the lower dorm."

Jaune deflated a bit, "Oh…"

 **Both students approached the middle of the arena with duel disks ready. However, before they could begin, a device lowered from the ceiling and emitted various lights that took form as a hologram around them. The arena was soon blanketed by the hologram, leaving them standing in what looked like a dense forest area surrounded by cliffs.**

 **Port's arms swung outward again, "Welcome, to the Savage Canyon! And try to remember those Action Cards spread out over the field. They could save your life points. Now… BEGIN!"**

 **Both students shouted, "DUEL!"**

 **[Blake – 4000 LP]**

 **[Coco – 4000 LP]**

Coco sat back in her chair. "Should be interesting seeing what cards I work with."

Blake wouldn't admit it out loud, but she was too.

Her mother, on the other hand, "Ooh! What will Blake have, I wonder. Maybe something with ninjas."

"Is that a thing?" Yang asked to the two fireballs in charge.

King nodded. Kind of. "Yep. There's a whole group of Ninja cards. But I'm not spoiling anything else."

"Must be that then."

 **Blake was given the first turn and drew her starting cards. "Alright!" After looking over her options, she selected her opening move. "I play my Raidraptor Vanishing Lanius!" The creature that appeared looked like a mechanical bird of prey with a green and blue body. [1300/1600]**

"Not what I was expecting." Yang looked over to Blake, who just shrugged.

 **"Next! I activate his ability to summon another level 4 or below Raidraptor from my hand. Like another Vanishing Lanius!" A second copy of the card appeared on the field. "And that's not all! Because I can activate the effect through my new Lanius to summon a third!" Cue third bird.**

 **Coco had a nervous smile. "Three level four Winged Beasts…"**

 **"And I think you know what that means! I form the overlay network!" All three copies of the cards flew up into the air and became balls of light as their bodies dissipated and a new monster formed. It resembled a massive mech-falcon made of blue, green, and grey plates. It was ornate and rather detailed, complete with feather-like blades along its wings. "Raidraptor Rise Falcon!" The bird roared out with a piercing screech. [100/2000]**

Yang raised an eyebrow with a slight grin, "100 Attack points? Really? For all of that, you think there'd be more to it."

Blake thought for a moment, "It likely has a very good effect. It would have to."

 **Blake finished her turn with a face down card. She smirked to herself as they heard her thoughts.** ** _I might take a bit of damage, but this will keep my monster in play for next turn._**

 **Coco grinned and drew her card for the turn. "Alright then. I guess I need to be careful with that monster, since it can fight back against any special summoned monster I bring out. If it sticks around!" She placed a card in the back line of her disk. "I activate Frontline Base! This lets me summon a level 4 or lower Union monster for free each turn. And, to kick it up again, I'll activate my Double Summon to let me normal summon twice this turn!"**

Yang grinned, "I bet this'll be a big summon! Probably using one normal and the special summon to get tributes for a big monster."

"But what's a Union monster?" Ruby asked.

Yang just shrugged, "Probably like Raid birds. Just a name."

 **Coco grinned, "Now! I'll start by summoning my X-Head Cannon!" A blue and yellow robot torso appeared, a pair of large cannons mounted on each shoulder. "And now! For the Union Special summon! I call my Y-Dragon Head!" A red dragon robot flew down and landed next to X-Head Cannon. "And don't forget my Double Summon effect that lets me call my Z-Metal Tank!" A yellow robot tank trudged forward to join its comrades.**

Coco had to sit normally again. "X, Y, and Z? I half expected something more…" She swung her hand in a circle, searching for the words.

Jaune offered it for her, "Je ne sais quoi?"

"Ooh! I like that. What does it mean?"

"It literally means 'I don't know what.'"

Coco snickered for a split second, "Seriously?"

"Yep."

 **Coco's grin spread, "And now! Let's put them all together! I remove all three from play so I can Union Summon XYZ-Dragon Cannon!" The three flew up as pieces opened or snapped off to slot into form of the new monster: X taking the top section, Y in the middle, and Z acting as the base. [2800/2600]**

 **Blake growled. She wasn't expecting a big monster like that just yet.**

 **"And now, for his ability." Coco took a card from her hand and placed it in her graveyard. "I can discard a card from my hand and destroy one card on your field. Like that face down!" XYZ fired a shell and destroyed Blake's trap card.**

 **Blake shielded her eyes as the impact kicked up the holographic dust. She felt the wind from the attack, but thankfully not the actual explosion. "So, that's how Action Fields work."**

 **"And! He still gets to attack! Knock that bird out of the sky!" The Dragon Cannon fired another shell at Rise Falcon and turned the Winged Beast into a chunks.**

 **[Blake – 1300 LP]**

Coco kicked forward a bit, "Nice! One more of those."

Blake growled a bit. Sure, it was a game, and one she wasn't even playing personally, but she still would have preferred to see herself win.

 **Coco chuckled and crossed her arms, "You're up now."**

 **Blake groaned and drew her card. She didn't have anything that could help her now. That said, the impact from before reminded her of something important right now. Her eyes darted around for a moment before finding her target. Her foot slid across the ground a moment before running to the side.**

 **This shocked Coco, "What are you doing?"**

 **Blake ran up to a tree and jumped up, her foot landing on the solid light hologram so she could kick off the trunk and reach something on the lower branch. When she landed, it revealed she had a new card with what looked like an ornate letter A on the back.**

Yang was getting more excited now. "Oh! This just gets better! It's not just standing around anymore. That's what it means by Action Dueling. That is awesome!"

 **"Oh crap! The Action Cards!"**

 **Blake slotted the card in and swung her hand, "I activate the action card Savage Revival! By paying 500 Life Points, I can revive a monster in my graveyard!"**

 **[Blake – 800 LP]**

 **The ground tore open and Rise Falcon flew up back into place.**

 **Coco chuckled nervously. Blake's monster was designed to destroy special summoned monsters like hers. Then she remembered something, "Wait… Your monster doesn't have any Xyz materials. It can't use its ability without them, so why summon it?"**

 **"This is why!" Blake took a card from her hand and slotted it into place. "Rank-Up-Magic Revolution Force! With this card, I can select a Raidraptor Xyz monster on my field and summon a new monster one rank higher. Like my Raidraptor Stranger Falcon!" The new monster appeared, a tan and brown mech-falcon with glowing red accents. It looked more alien than bird. A single ball of light orbited around the creature. [2000/2000]**

Ruby worried a bit, "That's not enough to beat Coco's monster."

Blake felt otherwise. "Wait for it."

 **Blake's hand shot up to point to her monster. "Now! Since a Raidraptor Xyz monster is used as a material, Stranger Falcon can remove it to destroy a monster on your field!"**

 **Coco jerked up, "Crap!"**

 **The ball of light flew into Stranger Falcon's chest as a pulse of energy erupted from the beast. XYZ Dragon Cannon was swept up and slammed into the cliffs around them.**

 **"And that's not all. You take damage equal to the monster's original Attack points. So, 2800."**

 **The ground around Coco started to glow before enveloping her in a bright red pillar.**

 **[Coco – 1200 LP]**

 **"And now! Stranger Falcon will attack to win the game!"**

 **As the bird flew forward to strike Coco, she ran around to grab a card in a bush nearby. "I play the Action Spell Overgrown Canopy! This cuts any battle damage I'm dealt by half!" The attack connected, but she remained in the game.**

 **[Coco – 200 LP]**

Coco let out a breath with a hand over her heart. "Still in this."

"But for how long?" Yang challenged. "Betting Blake kicks your butt hard!"

 **Blake huffed a bit before placing a card face down. "Your move."**

 **Coco growled and drew her card. She'd have to do what Blake had done and hope for a lucky Action Card nearby. She found one and picked it up off the ground. She slotted the card in, "Activating Savagery of the Bone Breakers! This card lets me activate a trap card from my hand like it was a spell! So, I can activate Union Scramble! This card lets me special summon up to 3 Light machine monsters that were removed from play! But don't get used to them, because I'm sending them off again for a familiar face!"**

 **X, Y, and Z returned for a moment before reforming the familiar form of a new copy of XYZ-Dragon Cannon. Its eyes snapped to glow again as it roared out with a vengeance.**

Yang's grin instantly broke. "Shit."

 **Coco grinned and sent her last card to the graveyard. "Now! Put that bird down for good!" XYZ fired its shell again and destroyed the monster on the field.**

 **However, Blake was smirking.**

"Wait, what's going on?" Coco looked over the situation before remembering that face down card. "Oh no."

Yang jumped up excitedly, "Oh yeah!"

 **Blake swung her arm forward, "I activate Rank-Up-Magic Raptor's Force! When my Raidraptor Xyz monster was destroyed, I can bring it back as a material for a new monster one rank higher!" Stranger Falcon reemerged and flew up to become a ball of light. The new creature started to form as a glowing silhouette of a large bird as Blake chanted for her new monster's rise. "** ** _From shadows, to Rise, to Blaze! Now call down the might of Revolution!_** **"**

 **The new monster appeared, looking very similar to Rise Falcon. However, it was larger and more streamlined, as if scarred by the horrors of battle. "Raidraptor Revolution Falcon!" [2000/2000]**

 **Coco's eyes went wide in shock. This would be a problem now. No cards in her hand, no way to fight back if this didn't work.**

Nora crossed her arms and tilted her head, "I don't get it. If Coco attacks, she'll deal Blake 800 damage and win. Right? What's missing?"

Jaune sighed, "An ability. And I bet a big one."

 **Coco sighed with a grin. "No way out of this one, huh?"**

 **Blake grinned, "Doesn't look like it. Unless you want to push your luck with another Action card."**

 **Coco shook her head. "Nah. Even if it worked, your monster could either destroy it by its effect or attack and reduce my Cannon's attack to 0. Might as well go out on my terms! XYZ-Dragon Cannon! Attack!"**

 **Her monster roared and fired both shells at the Falcon, only for its effect to reduce the special summoned monster's attack to 0. The shells did no damage and Revolution Falcon swung its wings back before firing feather-like missiles toward the monster, destroying it.**

 **[Coco – 0 LP]**

 **[Winner – Blake]**

"Booyah!" Yang swung her fist into the air, excitedly.

Coco groaned and sat back, "Dang it."

Blake had a small grin for her win.

 **Port clapped for them both. "Excellent duel! And now, for a new match!"**

Yang perked up again, "Ooh~! We get more matches?"

 **The board listed a tag duel with numbers 3 and 54 facing off against 43 and 16. After a second, the portraits appeared to show Yang and Pyrrha fighting Penny and Ruby.**

Ruby got excited now, "Yes! I get to see my deck!"

Penny smiled, "It would be interesting to see my collection of cards as well.

Pyrrha nodded, "Likewise."

Yang grinned, "Damn right."

 **The four gathered, revealing Pyrrha as a Blue student, Yang as a Yellow, and Ruby and Penny as Red students.**

 **Port smiled as the Action Field formed the new world for their battle. It was an ancient factory area overtaken by plant life. "Welcome to the Overgrowth!"**

 **Ruby smirked, "My kind of field."**

"Why would it be Friend Ruby's preference of field?" Penny's head tilted, now having adopted the gesture after seeing it so often.

Yang shrugged, "Not sure. I would think Ruby's deck would be filled with nothing but weapons."

Ruby groaned a bit, but also thought that would be cool. It was more about Yang's joking tone.

 **"Ready…"**

 **"DUEL!" all four shouted in unison.**

 **[Pyrrha & Yang – 4000 LP]**

 **[Penny & Ruby – 4000 LP]**

 **First turn went to Ruby, so she drew her card. "Okay! Let's go!" After a moment, she pulled her first card to play. "Let's start with this! I summon my Twilight Rose Knight!" The creature that formed resembled a young man dressed in dark armor with a white bodysuit underneath and a white cape cascading down his shoulders. He drew his sword and swung it forward in challenge. [1000/1000]**

Tai snapped his finger and pointed to the screen, "Roses. That makes sense."

Ruby smiled, liking the theme and the monster on screen.

 **"And! When he's summoned, I can special summon a level 4 or lower Plant monster from my hand. Like my Rose Fairy!" The monster appeared, a pixie with four petal-like wings and hair tied back to create a rose. [600/1200] "But don't get used to them, because I'll tune them both together!"**

 **Twilight Rose Knight disappeared into three rings of light surrounding Rose Fairy, who formed into three balls of light. Ruby smirked as she started her chant, "** ** _Knight and Fairy of Roses, come together to form something Splendid!_** **I synchro summon Splendid Rose!" The monster appeared, a young man with short blonde hair with a curl covering his left eye. His attire was cut down the middle, his left side being light green and right side being a darker shade. Thorn-covered vines shot out form his shoulders and his ankles were covered by bright red rose petals. [2200/2000]**

Yang let out an impressed whistle. "Not bad, but let's see if its good enough."

 **Yang drew as her turn now started. "I'll play a monster and one card face down, ending my turn."**

Yang groaned, "Oh come on…"

 **Now it was Penny's turn. "I have to say, I'm glad I went third now. Since Yang controls a monster and I don't, I can use that loophole to special summon my Cyber Dragon!" The monster ripped through the ground, revealing a robotic serpent as it roared with an electronic sound. [2100/1600]**

Penny perked up. "Oh. So my cards focus on machinery?"

Ruby chuckled, "Looks like it."

 **"And, I can still normal summon my Armored Cybern, a Union Monster that will hook onto my Dragon." A robotic creature flew down, hooking onto the Cyber Dragon and giving the creature a pair of turrets. "And, I'll place a card face down."**

 **Now it was Pyrrha's turn. "I'll start by summoning Alpha the Electromagnet Warrior!" The creature that appeared looked like a smooth robot covered in red and blue accenting around magnetic designs. Its 'spear' was an electric coil system and similar smaller coils covered its body. [1700/1100]**

Nora started to laugh, "Pyrrha's cards are magnets!"

Ren had a smirk as well, "It does seem appropriate."

Pyrrha just blushed a bit, slightly embarrassed she was that predictable.

 **"This card lets me grab a level 8 Magna Warrior from my deck as well." Pyrrha grabbed her card from her deck before continuing. "Now, I'll place one card face down to end my turn."**

 **With Ruby's turn now beginning again, they were allowed to strike. She drew her card and grinned toward Yang, "Let's get that card off the field! Splendid Rose! Attack her monster!"**

 **Splendid Rose leapt into the air and swung a vine toward the face down card, flipping it face up to reveal a small pink bird with cartoon shoes and a bell collar.**

Yang groaned, "What is that thing?"

 **As Splendid Rose attacked, the bird remained unharmed. Yang just grinned, "Sorry Ruby. But Sonic Chick can't be destroyed by monsters with more than 1900 Attack."**

Yang's face did a complete 180. "Oh? That's pretty cool."

 **Ruby grinned, however, "Good to know. Since Splendid Rose attacked, I can remove one Plant monster from my graveyard, like my Rose Fairy, and attack again with half his attack points! In other words, 1100! Enough to break through your monster and under the effect threshold!"**

Ruby had a mini celebration, "Yes!"

 **As Splendid Rose leapt to attack again, Yang grinned. "I activate my face down! Scarp-Iron Scarecrow!" A scarecrow of various metals and nails appeared and took the attack. "Best part is, I can to set it again and use it later."**

Tai tapped his chair, "Interesting. Her deck seems to be built around surviving. But to what end?"

 **Ruby groaned and placed a face down to end her turn.**

 **Yang's turn, so she drew her card. She smirked and took one, placing it in the graveyard. "By discarding a monster card from my hand, I can special summon my Quickdraw Synchron!" What looked like a semi-cartoonish cowboy appeared on the field. [700/1400] "He's a level 5 tuner monster that can take the place of any other Synchron monster for a Synchro Summon! So, I tune my Quickdraw Synchron and my level 1 Sonic Chick to summon Turbo Warrior!" The monster broke through a nearby wall. Its body was like a red muscle car reformed in a humanoid body. [2500/1500]**

"So that's it." Tai grinned.

Yang nodded, "Keep the smaller leveled monsters on the field to reform into the larger, more powerful Synchro monsters. Nice~"

 **"Now! Turbo Warrior will attack your Rose. And, when he attacks a level 6 or higher Synchro monster, your monster's attack is cut in half!" Turbo Warrior charged forward on a pair of wheels at its feet, clawed hand rearing back to swing a powerful attack into Splendid Rose. As Ruby's monster exploded, their shared life points decreased.**

 **[Penny & Ruby – 2600 LP]**

 **With that, it was Penny's turn. "Draw! I'll summon my Cyber Dragon Drei!" Another version of the cybernetic serpent appeared with a sleeker body and small pieces of place on its head and halfway down its body that stretch out like horns or wings, respectively. [1800/800] "And his ability makes him classified as a Cyber Dragon on the field. And all Cyber dragons, including him, are now level 5." Pyrrha tapped a button on her disk and continued, "Now, I activate my Cybern's ability. I can reduce my Cyber Dragon's attack by 1000 and destroy a monster on your field!" Cybern fired an energy burst to strike Turbo Warrior, destroying it.**

Yang growled, "Dang it."

 **"And now! I'll create the overlay network with 2 level 5 Light machine monsters!" Both dragons reformed as balls of light and started to orbit an empty space that was soon to be filled. "** ** _Dragons of machinery! Be remade in the heat of the stars!_** **I summon Cyber Dragon Nova!" Nova appeared as a mechanical serpentine dragon with a large pair of wings. Various red accenting glowed on the creature's body and its center mass resembled a reactor or similar core unit. [2100/1600] "And I'll boost it even further to turn it into Cyber Dragon Infinity!" The dragon started to glow before being surrounded by a sphere of light. After a moment, the ball burst to reveal what looked like an upgraded version of Nova. "He also gets 200 Attack points for each material attached to him. [2700/1600]**

Yang nervously chuckled, "Oh… that's not good."

"I disagree." Penny grinned, "I find it to be very favorable."

 **Penny smirked and swung her arm to the side, "Now! Cyber Dragon Infinity! Attack Yang directly!"**

 **Yang flipped her face down up again, "Did you forget about my Scrap-Iron Scarecrow?"**

 **"Actually, I didn't. Once per turn, when you activate a card, I can remove a material from Infinity, negate the effect, and destroy the card!" Infinity took one of the balls of light and fired it into the Scarecrow, causing it to erupt in flames. [2500/1600] "Now! The follow through!"**

 **[Pyrrha & Yang – 1500 LP]**

 **Penny smiled. "Your move."**

 **Pyrrha shouted, "Hold it! While your turn is still active, I tribute my Electromagnet Warrior to summon a Magnet Warrior from my deck! And I'll bring up Beta the Magnet Warrior!" The small robot-like creature looked like a robot made up of yellow spheres with a magnet sticking out of its head lie a pair of horns. [1700/1600] "And! I'll summon my Beta the Electromagnet Warrior!" The Electromagnet version looked similar, however it was red and had the electrical coils about its body. [1500/1500] "Best part is, I get to grab a level 4 or lower Magnet Warrior from my deck!"**

 **"Nice try!" Penny cut her off. "I'm not letting you summon that Valkyrion! I activate my Infinity's ability to stop your monster!" Another ball, another destroyed card.**

 **But Pyrrha kept smiling. "That's fine. Because I already had the other two!" The Magnet Warrior versions of Alpha and Gamma appeared for a moment. "And I can send Alpha, Beta, and Gamma to the graveyard to summon Valkyrion the Magna Warrior!" The magnetic monsters tore apart for a moment before reforming into the combined monster. [3500/3850]**

Yang celebrated in her chair, "Yes! Knock them down!"

 **Pyrrha pointed her monster to Ruby, "Now! Attack Ruby directly and win the duel!"**

 **But Ruby was running along the foliage and grabbed a card. "I activate the Action Spell Seed Scatter! This card lets me special summon a monster from my hand, but the drawback is that I have to give up 100 life points for each level. I defend with Dandylion!" A plant with a feline-esc face with a mane of yellow petals. As it was destroyed, two Fluff tokens appeared in its place.**

 **[Penny & Ruby – 2300 LP]**

Ruby jumped up in her seat, "YES!"

Yang groaned but seeing her sister that happy did make her feel better. If a little bit.

 **Ruby's turn again and it was the big moment to turn it around. "Okay! I summon my Lonefire Blossom!" The plant grew up from the ground, creating a bulb with what looked like a lit fuse. [500/1400] "This card lets me tribute a Plant monster to summon a new one from my deck! Like my Copy Plant!" The monster was a mass of vines growing up from the ground. [0/0] "Now, he can copy the level of any other Plant, like Lonefire. Now! I can Tune my level three Copy Plant, level three Lonefire Blossom, and level one Fluff Token!** ** _I call upon the dragon of petal and thorn!_** **I summon my Black Rose Dragon!"**

 **The factory behind Ruby exploded to reveal a giant dragon with a body made of red petals and black base. Its tail was covered in spikes to represent the thorns of roses. A pair of petal-formed wings spread out from its back. [2400/1800]**

Ruby was awestruck, completely speechless. First, the dragon was freaking cool! Second, it was like it was made for her! It was just so cool.

 **"Now! Attack Yang!"**

 **Yang smirked, "Nice try, but you're not the only one that use Action Spells!" Yang grabbed a spell and flipped it over. This was a mistake. It was the Action Trap Industrial Collapse, which forced her to discard two cards from her hand. "Crap!"**

 **"Bad luck, Yang. But I win this time!" Black Rose Dragon took in a breath, its breath of black fire and red petals formed. "Attack!" The dragon's attack slammed into the defenseless Yang and wiped her Life Points out.**

 **[Pyrrha & Yang – 0 LP]**

 **[Winners! Penny & Ruby]**

Ruby swung over and gave Penny a celebration hug, "We did it!"

Yang sighed and fell back in her chair. "I'll admit it… That was pretty cool. I'd have preferred we get to win."

Nora jumped up, "Please! Tell me we get to see me duel too!"

 **The board started to move to new numbers and a new state as the holograms faded. The new format was listed as a [Three-for-all] with the numbers 22, 93, and 54. The numbers moved to show Nora, Ilia, and Cardin.**

Nora shot up in celebration, "YES! Break their legs!"

Ilia moved one seat away from the hyper redhead.

 **As they approached, they showed Nora in red, Ilia in yellow, and Cardin in blue. This duel was a three-person free for all, hence the name. No friends, only one winner. They could choose to work together to knock out the third member, but they had to be careful of the other person.**

 **Port smirked and set the Action Field to start its shift. "Now! Welcome… to Valley of Gods!" The field formed as a massive desert, dunes of sand rising around them. In the distance, they could see a massive pyramid (even if they couldn't actually go to it).**

 **Ilia smirked at the sight. This was home turf for her monsters.**

This got Ilia to raise an eyebrow.

 **All three shouted, "DUEL!" and their match began.**

 **[Nora – 4000 LP]**

 **[Ilia – 4000 LP]**

 **[Cardin – 4000 LP]**

 **First turn went to Ilia. So, she drew her starting card, looking over her options. She had a smirk for after a moment. "I place one monster face down and set one card. Pass turn."**

Ilia was getting antsy now. She wanted to know what her other self meant by home turf.

 **Now it was Cardin's turn.**

Nora roared, growing impatient to see her cards.

 **Cardin drew and looked up toward Ilia. He wasn't allowed to attack anyone on the first turn, so he knew Ilia played a card with a Flip ability.**

"A what ability?" Ilia asked.

Knox flew in to explain, "Basically, you played a monster face down, and when it gets flipped face up, the effect goes off."

"Oh. Like an ambush."

"That's the idea."

 **Cardin nodded to himself and placed a card in the back row first, "I play my Ancient Gear Castle!" A large medieval castle rose up from the sand covered in weapons and gears. "And I'll play my Ancient Gear Knight!" The machine of gears and rust dug itself up from the sands as well, its right arm was a lance while its other arm had a round shield made from a giant gear. [1800/500]**

Penny shivered. She still didn't like the look of these creatures, unable to shake the feeling of robot zombies.

 **"And, while Ancient Gear Castle is on the field, my Ancient Gear monsters gain 300 Attack. [2100/500] "One face down will end my turn."**

"Finally!" Nora shouted.

 **Nora drew her card and grinned from ear to ear. "Alright! I place a card face down."**

Nora fumed.

 **"And!"**

Recovery.

 **"I summon Valkyrie of the Nordic Ascendant!" A young woman in a white dress with red armor floated down from a pillar of light. Her shining white wings flapped as she slowly descended upon the battlefield. [400/800]**

"Woah~!" Nora was excited now. "That's so cool! It's even named Valkyrie!"

"Not a very strong monster?" Mercury was unimpressed.

"You shut your mouth!" Nora would have none of it.

 **"And, since you had monsters and I didn't when she was summoned, I can remove 2 Nordic monsters from my hand to create 2 Einherjar Tokens!" Two identical warriors appeared to either side of Valkyrie.**

Tai chuckled, "That's a mouthful."

 **Cardin growled. "Crap."**

 **"That's right! A level 2 tuner and two level 4 monsters!"**

Ozpin tapped his chair. "So, a level 10 tuning."

Nora bounced in her chair, waiting for the monster to come.

 **"Now!** ** _Ascend to the skies of Valhalla as we call forth the All Father!_** **" Valkyrie turned into two rings as the two tokens reformed into eight balls of light. Soon, a massive pillar rose to the sky. "I Synchro Summon!" The sky itself seemed to split apart as a giant appeared before them. A giant man in a white robe and red cloak. He held a spear in hand with the staff of the weapon was jagged as it approached the blade. His large helmet covered one eye. He was an old man with a long white-grey moustache and beard that reached down his chest. He towered over all mortals beneath him, a god among them. "Odin, Father of the Aesir!" [4000/3500]**

Nora would have jumped up and celebrate a big play like that, but she was just awestruck at the monster. It was unlike anything she'd ever seen. It was rare, but she was at a loss for word.

Ozpin, on the other hand, was at a loss for a different reason. Ozma had met their world's versions of gods (and so did he, but he didn't know King basically ruled his version of reality).

 **"Now I…!" Then she remembered the format, "end my turn…"**

Nora sank in her chair, "Aw…"

 **Ilia grinned and drew her card. "Now! I flip summon my Gravekeeper's Spy!" A man appeared in a solid black robe that seemed to dissolve into blue with yellow hieroglyphic symbols. [1200/2000] "This lets me special summon my Gravekeeper's Curse in defense mode!" A similar dark skinned man in a black and red robe appeared holding a silver crook. [800/800] "This card deals my opponent 500 points of damage. To Cardin!"**

 **The Curse started to glow bright green as scarabs appeared from the sand and flew off to Cardin.**

 **[Cardin – 3500 LP]**

 **Cardin huffed, but knew this was preferable to some of her other plays.**

 **Speaking of, Ilia played another monster. "I play Gravekeeper's Descendant!" A man with lighter hair appeared, similar to all the others in dark robes and tan skin. He held a gold staff with a cobra head on the top. [1500/1200] "Now, I tribute my Spy to destroy one card on the field. Like Odin!"**

"NO!" Nora shouted.

 **Odin exploded under the strain of the Descendant's magic.**

Nora was crying for her awesome monster. "This sucks! I didn't even get to see it in action!"

 **Cardin growled, "Damn it."**

This got Nora to stop a moment. "What? Why would he be mad about that?"

 **Cardin new what Ilia didn't, but she would learn soon.**

 **Ilia swung her hand forward, "I attack Nora with my Gravekeeper's Descendant!" The Descendant pointed his staff at Nora and fired a bolt of magic.**

 **[Nora – 2500 LP]**

 **"I end."**

 **Nora grinned, "NOW! I remove one Nordic Ascendant tuner from my hand to summon Odin from the Graveyard!" The mighty god reappeared kicking up sand, a very angry look on his face. "And I get to draw a card on top of that~"**

Nora's mood turned manic again. "YES~!"

Ilia facepalmed. She didn't know this Cardin guy, but it was clear he wasn't exactly the brightest or best person. And the fact that she didn't know about an ability like that was embarrassing.

 **Ilia growled. "Just wait. That won't work so well by next turn."**

 **Cardin shook his head and drew his card. "While you were all normal summoning monsters, my Castle was gaining counters. And it's time to cash in! With two tokens, I can remove it from the field and summon my Ancient Gear Golem!" The giant golem of gears and rusting metal appeared from under the sand. It released steam from between its armor plating and its gears slowly spun. [3000/3000] And without the Castle, the Knight's Attack points returned to normal at 1800.**

 **"Let's get this started." Cardin grinned, "Now, my Golem will attack your Curse! And don't forget that he inflicts piercing damage." The Golem raised a fist and slammed the metal into the Curse.**

 **[Ilia – 1800 LP]**

 **"And now my Knight will knock out your last monster." The Knight charged and impaled the Descendant.**

 **[Ilia – 1500 LP]**

"No freaking way." Yang was wide eyed. Cardin actually made a good play. That said, it was a different Cardin, so she couldn't use her version as a standard.

 **Cardin placed a card facedown. "Your turn Nora."**

 **Nora drew her card and steeled her nerves. She had to make a call. She could either knock Ilia out of the duel or challenge Cardin to put herself in a better position overall.**

"That's actually a good question." Ironwood crossed his arms. "Which would be more advantageous? Knocking out one opponent so you can focus on the remaining opponent, or do you keep the enemy in so the third person can't risk focusing on you?"

The audience started to think over what they would do, but the world continued.

 **Nora nodded, "First! I activate my trap, Gleipnir, the Fetters of Fenrir!" The trap activated to show an orange light erupt from the ground. "This lets me add a Nordic monster from my deck to my hand." She grabbed a new card and grinned, "Now, I summon Mara of the Nordic Alfar!" A malicious blue… thing appeared on the field. It's kind of hard to explain how it looks with any specifics. [1000/500] "Best part is, when I Synchro Summon with Mara, I use 2 Nordic monsters FROM MY HAND! Garmr of the Nordic Beasts and Ljosalf of the Nordic Alfar! Tune with Mara!" You know how this works by now. "** ** _I call upon the Nordic Lord of trickery and twisted evil!_** **I Synchro Summon Loki, Lord of the Aesir!"**

 **The monster that appeared looked the part of a mad jester. Adorned in a flowing robe of blues, pinks, yellow, and orange. He was a mad man and seemed out of place next to Odin, but still held that same power. [3300/3000]**

Nora gasped seeing another creature like Odin. "That's so cool~"

 **"Now! Odin! Knock Ilia out of here!"**

 **Ilia sighed, "Crap."**

 **Odin raised his spear and light radiated from the blade. He swung his weapon toward Ilia and a rainbow fell from the sky like a meteor, slamming into her and knocking her out of the competition.**

 **[Ilia – 0 LP]**

 **Cardin sighed. "You forgot this was an Action Duel, didn't you?"**

 **Ilia blinked then facepalmed hard.**

The Ilia in the audience mimicked her counterpart.

 **"Now Loki can knock that Golem out!" Loki grinned with an evil smile and drew a twisted knife from his sleeve.**

 **Cardin huffed. He could stop it but saw no reason right now. His Golem exploded as Loki stuck his knife into the machine.**

 **[Cardin – 3200 LP]**

"Why would he just let it get destroyed?" Yang asked.

Ozpin sighed. "Sometimes it may be best to let your opponent have a moment, but he needs to be careful."

 **Nora placed a facedown before passing the turn.**

 **Cardin drew now that Ilia was knocked out. "First, I play my Ancient Gear Workshop to bring my Golem back to my hand. And now I activate the field spell Mausoleum of the Emperor!" A giant temple rose up from the sand with a flame roaring at the top between two obelisks. "This card lets us pay 1000 life points per tribute if we wanted. And I think I will!"**

 **[Cardin – 1200 LP]**

 **"I summon my Golem back to the field!" The Golem appeared in the fire of the temple and slowly descended the temple to the field. "And I'll use Limiter Removal!" Cardin flipped his facedown card up to show an overclocking speedometer. "This doubles the Attack of all Machine monsters but destroys them at the end of the turn." The Knight boosted to 3600 while the Golem was a gargantuan 6000.**

Ironwood noticed something in the numbers, "He can win this if the Golem attacks Loki."

"NO!" Nora was in panic mode now. "Come on me! You can do it!"

 **"Now! Ancient Gear Golem! Attack Loki!" The Golem lifted its hand and slowly swung its arm back.**

 **Nora ducked to the side and grabbed a card. "I activate the Action spell Sandstorm!" On cue, the sand kicked up and knocked the Golem back a bit. It still connected with Loki and destroyed him, however the scoreboard was different.**

 **[Nora – 1150 LP]**

 **"This might destroy my monster, but it halved the damage."**

Nora kicked up, "YES!"

 **Cardin's other monster wasn't strong enough to challenge Odin. He'd been banking on that win. "I place a card face down and end my turn."**

 **Nora grinned. "Now, I remove Mara from play in my Graveyard to summon Loki back! And I get to grab a trap with him." Loki reappeared with a laugh. "But that's not all! I summon Dverg of the Nordic Alfar!" A little orange thing, similar to Mara, appeared. [100/1000] "When he's normal summoned, I can normal summon another Nordic monster again this turn. I summon Vanadis of the Nordic Ascendant!" A young woman with white wings flew down. She was dressed in a white and dark blue dress with her dark hair tied up into a ponytail. She wielded a scythe with a ruby colored gem set into the base of the blade. [1200/400] "She can be used for any Nordic tuner I need. And when I use Monster Reborn! I can revive my Garmr of the Nordic Beasts." A red wolf dug itself up from the ground and growled. [800/1900]**

 **"Now!" Cardin revealed his facedown, "I activate my Fiendish Chain!"**

 **"Sorry! But I have the quick play spell Mystical Space Typhoon. It doesn't stop your card from activating, but it can't keep that effect without staying on the field." Cardin's card was destroyed by a small windstorm. "Now, Vanadis can activate her ability! I send a Nordic monster from my deck to the graveyard and change her level to that monster's. In this case, Svartalf of the Nordic Alfar, a level 5!"**

Port nodded, "And that's 10 levels~"

 **"Now! I tune my monsters!" The field was soon covered by darkening clouds. A bolt of lightning crashed down as the clouds grew more violent.**

This was getting Nora's attention more than the other two had.

 **"** ** _I call upon the Lord of Earth, Master of Storms! I call down the mighty god of lightning!_** **I summon!" One big bolt fell down behind her as a giant appeared from its form. He was a giant man in black armor with golden bolts of lightning raising up from his shoulders. A long storm blue cape flew behind him as his storms swirled around him. Where fur would classically be placed about his armor and cape, there were clouds instead. He wielded a giant hammer with coursing lightning shooting out from the head. "Thor, Lord of the Aesir!" [3500/2800]**

Nora was wide eyed and amazed. "That… is… so… AWESOME!"

 **"And I'll activate my facedown, Divine Relic Mjollnir!" Thor's hammer seemed to erupt into its new form as the electricity surges grew stronger. "This let's Thor attack twice this turn! Incase you get any ideas about Action Cards."**

 **Cardin knew all the Action Cards could only stop one attack each. Unless he got** ** _extremely_** **lucky, it was not likely to happen. He might stop one, two if he was lucky, but there were three Aesir on the field staring him down and he had no way to stop it.**

 **"THOR! ATTACK! STORMBREAKER!" Thor swung his hammer to the clouds as the storm crashed upon the field, destroying both of Cardin's monsters.**

 **[Cardin – 0 LP]**

 **[Winner – Nora]**

Nora practically leapt out of her chair, "YES!"

Yang was downright amazed by the monsters Nora was able to call on. In one turn each! "I feel bad for whoever has to follow that."

 **The board lit up as the three finally left. A one on one duel between numbers 1 and 2. Weiss Schnee and Jaune Arc.**

Yang laughed, "Welp, good luck with that."

"Hang on." Ruby turned to her friends, "Weiss isn't a student in this version. She came in with her sister. Why was she given a number?"

This actually got people thinking.

 **As the two approached the arena, Port closed his eyes as a flashback played through his head.**

"Looks like we get to find out." Yang sat back, waiting for the answer.

 ** _Port sat at his desk, looking toward a monitor sitting to his left. "I'm sorry, but I'm not quite sure I understand." He was currently in the middle of a video call with Winter, his boss._**

 ** _On the monitor, Winter nodded, "I understand completely. I did just drop this on you and it is_** **very** ** _unconventional."_**

 ** _"Why would you want your sister to participate in a school duel, anyway?"_**

 ** _"Because…" Winter stalled for a moment, a concerned look on her face for a moment before returning to her normal expression. "I wish to test my sister's training and ensure her improvement."_**

 ** _Port raised an eyebrow._**

 ** _Winter groaned. She might be Port's boss, but he could always see through her. "Fine. It is true that I want to test Weiss's training. Though I'm also worried she's becoming too detached from the game. And I have reason to believe that her instructors are going easy on her out of fear I might fire them."_**

Qrow chuckled, "That's a first. I thought the stereotype was the rich had the strictest private teachers."

"But this is also a game." Winter sighed. "It's not uncommon for others to purposefully lose either out of some sense of obligation or because they want something."

Qrow turned toward Winter. "Guess with a life like that, it's no wonder you turned out a an Ice Queen."

Winter huffed and kept her attention on the screen.

 ** _Port nodded. "Then why not just challenge her yourself. That would certainly be a wakeup call."_**

 ** _"It wouldn't work. She needs to face a new challenge. That's why I'm asking you to do this. I want her to face the student by the name of Jaune Arc."_**

 ** _"Pardon? But why Jaune?"_**

 ** _"The boy's reputation, despite being in the lower dorm, has preceded him. And while his record may not be the best in the school, but he's proven himself more often than not. He also possesses the one trait my sister needs to learn again."_**

 **The flashback ended as Jaune and Weiss stood in the center arena.**

Yang groaned, "I hate it when they do that, leaving us hanging on some pretty important stuff."

 **Jaune watched Weiss's demeanor. They way she stood, placed her deck in the disk, and drew her cards. He felt something off about her. He moved to draw his new deck but stopped. It was in that moment that he realized what vibe he was getting from her. She sighed and moved to take a different deck from his belt.**

This got the viewers attention. It built up the deck from before but now he wasn't even going to use it? They wanted to know why not.

 **Port raised his hand as the arena's systems formed their stage. "Welcome to the Metropolis!" The field formed as a cityscape. Jaune and Weiss stood in a massive intersection staring each other down. Port's hand started to fall.**

 **As it reached the end of its arc, Jaune and Weiss shouted, "Duel!"**

 **[Weiss – 4000 LP]**

 **[Jaune – 4000 LP]**

 **Weiss was given the first turn. "I'll start by placing two cards face down and summoning my Mirage Dragon!" The gold-plated long dragon appeared and floated behind Weiss. [1600/600]**

Kali thought back for a moment, "I remember that one! It was in the last version we saw when he faced that one man… Tyrian?"

"That was him, yes." Ozpin confirmed.

 **Now it was Jaune's turn. He looked over his cards and smiled.**

 **This got Weiss to raise an eyebrow. "You really need to work on your dueling face. You're giving away your position."**

 **"You'd think that wouldn't you. Maybe I'm just having fun."**

 **Weiss rolled her eyes. "No wonder you're in Slifer Red."**

 **"What's that supposed to mean?"**

 **"If you bothered to take this seriously, maybe you'd actually make something of yourself."**

 **"Harsh." Jaune picked his play, "I'll also place two cards face down. But I'm summoning my Elemental Hero Sparkman!"**

Jaune was instantly sitting upright and excited.

 **The monster appeared in a small bolt of lightning. A man dressed in a blue body suit and golden armor appeared from within the lightning. He swung his hand and the electricity surged around him before dissipating. [1600/1400]**

Now it was Jaune's turn to gee out. "Awesome."

 **"And I'll equip him with the Spark Blaster." Sparkman now held a gun with a boxy design. "This lets me change the battle position of monsters on the field up to three times. So, put that dragon into defense!" Sparkman fired a shot into the dragon, forcing it from attack to defense mode. "Now! Sparkman attacks!" The Hero charged a bolt and fired his attack to destroy the dragon. It did no damage, but it opened up his trap cards during the battle phase. "Alright. Your move now."**

 **Weiss drew her card and started her turn. "I summon my Alexandrite Dragon!" A large dragon seemingly made of rock and gemstones slammed into the street and roared. [2000/100] "Now… Take a chunk out of that Sparkman." The dragon flew forward and reared back its claw.**

 **Jaune swung his hand to a facedown, "I activate A Hero Emerges!"**

 **"A Hero what?"**

 **"Emerges. Here's how it works. You pick a card in my hand at random. If it's a monster, I get to special summon it. If it's not, I send it to the graveyard." He held both his remaining cards in each hand. "So? Go ahead and pick one."**

 **Weiss huffed, "The card on the left."**

 **Jaune smirked and spun the card to place it on the disk, "I summon Elemental Woodsman!" A green-skinned man grew up from the ground beneath them like a tree; and given half his body was made of wood that was understandable. He rested on one knee with his arms crossed in defense. [1000/2000]**

Jaune, a lifelong fan of comics and superheroes, was amazed by the cards on screen. "This is so much better than the last one."

 **Weiss was unimpressed, "Doesn't matter. My attack still continues." Alexandrite Dragon slammed its claw into Sparkman and destroyed the electrical superhero.**

"Oh come on!" Nora cried out, "I liked that one!"

 **[Jaune – 3400 LP]**

 **"Now for my other facedown, Hero Signal!" Jaune flipped over his other card. "When my monster is destroyed, I can special summon a level 4 or lower Elemental Hero from my deck. And I pick Elemental Ocean!" The Hero arrived in a torrent of water. He had blue skin and silver armor, looking like a stereotypical aquatic superhero, complete with trident-like weapon. [1500/1200]**

 **Weiss sighed. "Fine then. Go on and take your turn."**

 **Jaune's eyes narrowed as he drew his card. "Wow… I saw it was bad, but I didn't think it was that bad."**

 **"What are you going on about?"**

 **"Well, for one thing, you don't exactly look like you're having fun. This duel isn't life or death or anything."**

Some of the audience recoiled in their chairs remembering the display last time. When Tyrian attacked Neo and she disappeared into lights. It was actually pretty haunting seeing through her eyes as she disappeared.

 **Weiss scoffed, "Unlike you, I plan to make something of myself."**

 **Jaune shook his head slowly for a moment. "Okay… Guess I need to get through the hard way. I play Fusion Substitute! This lets me fusion summon using cards already on my field. I use Woodsman and Ocean as material!** ** _From earth and water there is life born and defended by its Hero!_** **I summon Elemental Hero Terra Firma!"**

 **The monster fell from the sky, landing on one knee with both fists on the ground next to him, a superhero landing if you will. He stood over the humans in the arena with a solid white body with blue shoulder and the top of his head. The core of his chest had a red gem embedded in his form. [2500/2000]**

Ruby was starry eyed. "Woah!" It almost reminded her of the heroes from her storybooks growing up. Sure, it was more superhero than fairy tale hero, but there was just something about it that got to her. It was as if the creature was the hope of the entire world.

 **"Now! Terra Firma attacks!" The Hero leapt into the sky and reared a fist back, slamming into the head of the dragon opposite him. Alexandrite Dragon tried to resist the attack, but soon found its jaw square in the pavement.**

 **[Weiss – 3500 LP]**

 **Weiss didn't seem too phased. With Jaune's turn ending, it was her move again. "I play King of Dragons!" A man in dragon-bone armor and a red cape crashed through into play wielding a triple-headed electric guitar with each of the three topped with looked like a dragon's head. [1200/1100] "When he's played, I get to grab my Melody of Awakening Dragon, which I play!" The King of D. (his printed name) played a cord on his guitar. After a moment, he tore into a shredding riff as fire ripped apart the ground around them.**

Yang was just amazed at the scene. "Holy crap! That is metal as hell!"

 **"This let's me add 2 dragons with 3000 attack and 2500 defense to my hand."**

 **Jaune scowled. "I knew it."**

 **"And now I activate Polymerization to fuse three Blue-Eyes White Dragons!"**

Weiss perked up, remembering the first time they saw the cards during their intermission.

 **"I summon my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" A giant three headed dragon blasted through the air and slammed into the street behind Weiss. It was a fairly simple design, just the three dragons put together as a hydra-like creature. [4500/3800]**

This was the strongest monster they'd ever seen. A truly terrifying beast of destructive power.

 **Jaune gave a nervous chuckle. "Oh boy."**

 **"NOW! Attack!" The Ultimate Dragon reared back and fired three bursts of energy toward Terra Firma. The Hero tried to hold back the energy but started to lose ground before being enveloped by the power.**

 **[Jaune – 1600 LP]**

 **"And my King of Dragons will strike as well." The King played a cord that ripped the street apart around Jaune.**

 **[Jaune – 400 LP]**

 **Jaune held on, but barely, shielding his face with crossed arms.**

 **Weiss huffed and crossed her arms. "Why don't you just give up now?"**

 **Jaune let his arms fall and reveal his smile. "Why would I do that? I'm having a blast!"**

 **"What?"**

Tai chuckled, "Kid gets it. It's a game. What's the point if you don't have fun?"

 **Weiss growled, "Just go!"**

 **"Alright! Jeez." Jaune drew his card. "Okay. First I'm going to use Fusion Substitute's second ability to remove it from play and return Terra Firma to the Extra Deck, plus I get to draw a card." After placing the spell back in his deckbox, Jaune looked back up toward Weiss. "I want to ask you something. Why do you play that deck?"**

 **"What do you care?"**

 **"Because I always believed a person's deck is a representation of who they are. Right now, it's like you're using someone else's soul. Everyone knows Winter's deck when we see it."**

This sent a chill up Weiss's spine. She looked up to her sister, sure, but never considered idolizing her quite so much. She still wanted to be her own person rather than following in her sister's footsteps. But this version wasn't doing that. She was deliberately copying her sister, and Jaune was able to see right through it.

Qrow rolled his eyes. "One Ice Queen is enough."

Winter glared at him for that, but couldn't do anything about it.

 **Jaune's look turned deathly serious. "Why not duel with your own cards?"**

 **Weiss was quiet. Her mind flashed back to the first deck she'd ever built on her own. An entire deck of monsters, in no way viable for competition, but as she grew so did the deck. A symphony adding more instruments as time passed. Soon, it became a beautiful melody.**

With Jaune's earlier words in mind, many in the audience felt a warmth in their hearts.

Kali went so far as so outright say what they were felling, "Aw~ That's so precious."

 **But one day… the music stopped. Suddenly ended as dragons fell upon her mind. She wanted to be as strong as her sister, to live up to the Schnee name. One day, the melody died, and she chose to bury it.**

 **Reliving that only made Weiss angrier. "Shut up!"**

 **Jaune's eyes seemed to bore into her soul. Then… "Why did you do it, Weiss? Why would you silence them?'**

 **Weiss's eyes went wide and stepped back in shock.**

As would many of the viewers.

Yang watched in shock, "Uh… what did he mean by that? Or… how did he know? What's going on?!"

 **Jaune took a breath and reached back to the deck box from before, opening it.**

 **Port was about to stand and call this out, being against the rules, but Winter held him back.**

 **Jaune pulled a card out and looked down toward it. "You know, I was challenged to use a completely new deck. And I admit to now quite building the entire thing. I found a bunch of cards around the city. But there was one spot where I found a bunch of cards all in one place, a full deck in fact. He looked back up toward her. "You can see her, can't you?"**

 **The camera moved back to Weiss, a closeup reflecting across her eye as she looked toward Jaune. Then, it moved to show what she saw, an ethereal woman standing beside him, dressed in a large purple dress. Her aqua hair was curled into two rows at the base of her head. The woman looked toward Weiss, sorrow painted on her face.**

Port jumped, "What in the world is that?!"

King returned to explain, "That… is a Duel Spirit."

"A what?" Ruby asked.

"A Duel Spirit. Remember, this world shares its position with a world where these monsters are real. Certain individuals are actually about to see these creatures as they overlap. Said individuals are often the strong willed and form bonds with these Spirits. Or, they grow up thinking they hallucinated the entire thing and toss what was once their friend to the wind."

"That's…" Ruby groaned, "That's terrible."

 **Jaune glanced toward the Spirit. "I heard her singing when I found her. I always wondered who she was singing about. Then," he turned back to Weiss, "she saw you. When I was picked for your opponent, she asked me to reach out to you."**

 **Weiss was shaking, taking another step back, "Shopina…" She shook her head and glowered, "No! I won't fall of it! I'm not going to just let you beat me with that!"**

 **"Weiss…" Jaune sighed. "Fine. Maybe this will get through to you. I activate the field spell Skyscraper!" The city around them seemed to grow dark. Now, it was truly like something out of a comic book. "Now! I activate Polymerization! I fuse Elemental Hero Avian and Elemental Hero Burstinatrix!** ** _Wind and Fire! Combine to become the Hero that shall defend all!_** **I summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!" But nothing formed. At least, not on the ground.**

 **The camera tracked up to show the Hero standing atop the tallest spire of the city. He was more of a mutant than the others. He possessed a single feathered wing and his right hand was like a dragon's head. He was a vision of duality between wind and fire. He dove off the building and flew down before flying into place by Jaune. [2100/1200]**

"But will that be enough?" Yang was actually on the edge of her seat.

 **Shopina flew to the side and revealed an action card resting on the street. She created a small melody forming wind to send the card to Jaune. As he caught the card, he played it instantly, "I play the Action Spell Hero's Journey! This card lets me add a level 4 or lower monster to my hand from the graveyard, letting me grab my Sparkman. But that's not all! If my hand is empty when I activate it, the card also lets me grab a spell card. Now! Polymerization will fuse my monsters together again!** ** _The fire burns brighter with the need for justice!_** **I summon Shining Flare Wingman!" The new version was a man with green skin in glowing white armor. Unlike his counterpart, this version had both wings and appeared as a brilliant Hero, a beacon for justice. [2500/2100]**

"It's not much stronger…" Weiss, despite it all, was actually rooting for Jaune. Just not out loud.

 **"Shining Flare Wingman gains 300 Attack for each Elemental Hero monster in my Graveyard!" The monster's attack points shot up. [4300/2100] "Now! Attack Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon! Shining Flare Storm!" The Hero flew to the air glowing brighter, and brighter, quickly blinding everyone around them.**

 **"Why would you do that?! My monster has more attack points!"**

 **"Exactly. When an Elemental Hero attacks a monster with more attack points, it gains 1000 Attack points!" [5300/2100]**

Nora stood and slammed her foot onto the chair in front of her. "YEAH! Show her who's boss!"

 **As Flare Wingman's attack burst, Weiss tried to shield her eyes from the light. Then, she heard something, "** ** _Why do you not sing with us?_** **" Weiss's eyes shot open to see Shopina standing in front of her. "** ** _We understand your plight, but you never had to face it alone. We want to be there for you, Weiss._** **"**

 **Weiss nearly collapsed on the spot. "I…"**

 **Shopina held out a hand toward her, "** ** _Please…_** **"**

 **The camera moved to show Weiss's profile without showing her eyes. They saw a tear fall and her seem to move forward. Then, reality returned as the light faded and the Ultimate Dragon burst into nothingness.**

 **[Weiss – 2700 LP]**

"It wasn't enough." Ironwood sighed.

Ozpin tapped his chair with a slight smile, "I don't know about that."

 **Weiss was shaken, barely able to remain standing. Soon, for the first time, she cracked a smile. She wiped away a tear and turned back to Jaune. "When this is over… I want my cards back."**

 **Jaune paused a moment but chuckled nervously. "Um… It kind of already is."**

 **Weiss looked to him, confused, "What do you mean?"**

 **Jaune grinned, "When Shining Flare Wingman destroys a monster in battle, you take damage equal to its Attack points."**

 **Weiss blinked. "What?" Shining Flare Wingman was right behind her, a hand over her head, as a beam of light surrounded her and erupted in an explosion.**

 **[Weiss – 0 LP]**

 **[Winner – Jaune Arc]**

Most of the students were celebrating Jaune's big win. Some were gushing over the monsters or the comeback. Many of the adults were just happy Jaune was able to help the alternate Weiss.

 **Winter looked down as Jaune help Weiss to her feet again. Her mind flashed back to her conversation with Port.**

 ** _"I've noticed Weiss trying to copy my cards and strategies. I remember back when she was first learning, when she still smiled playing this game… I haven't even seen her play her Melodious monsters. I want her to face someone that will push her. Not just in dueling, but hopefully to get her out of this phase. To let her be herself again. My hope is that this Jaune Arc can do that._** **"**

 **Winter smiled, more than happy with the results.**

Jaune smiled, finally able to see the Hero monsters he'd about, but also for being able to help. It felt like something he would do. The Spirit thing was a little weird, but it also felt… right to him.


	113. Stand and Fight, RWBY style

**King: Oh boy~! We're having some fun with it now.**

 **Knox: Full track list of references will be added after the story for anyone that wants to look them up.**

 **King: I had so much fun with this, you have no idea. Let's get... Bizarre.**

 **Inspiration: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (RWBY)  
Note: That's right! RWBY world with JoJo powers!**

 **/\**

And now, we get to have a little fun.

 **The screen opened up to a deep forest area. The camera tracked to eventually find a small, abandoned settlement beyond the kingdoms. After a moment, they saw a small explosion of dust erupt from within the walls and an old building collapsing.**

Yang raised an eyebrow at that, "What's going on there?"

 **The camera moved through the dust and soon found Yang digging herself out of the rubble. "Why are we out here again?" She jumped out of the way in time for a giant claw to slam into the rubble. She stood in front of a massive Ursa, with fists ready. "Okay, focus." Yang dug her feet into the dirt and slowed her breathing. Her aura flared around her before her eyes shot open.**

 **As the Ursa tried to lunge at her again, it was met by a golden fist slamming straight into its face. The camera tracked around to show an ethereal standing in front of Yang. She was a golden humanoid with some armor over her chest, fists, and a fringe hanging from her belt.**

Yang slammed her hands into her chair and jumped up with joy, "YES! I have a Stand!" She absolutely loved the world with the Stands, and she wondered what hers would like ever since. Now she knew and she loved it.

 **Yang was standing behind her Stand and smirking, "Get a taste of Ballroom Blitz!" Yang's Stand roared as it started to unleash a flurry of punches. For good measure, she shouted** ** _ORA_** **with each attack.**

Yang was on cloud nine right now and didn't need to say a single word. That said, she did have to add, "Love that name."

 **The scene froze with Ballroom Blitz over Yang's shoulder. The background faded out and the remaining picture of the two moved to the side. Stats started to form down the free side.**

 **[Yang Xiao Long] [Stand: Ballroom Blitz] [Destructive Power – B] [Speed – C] [Range – C] [Persistence – A] [Precision – C] [Potential – B]**

Ruby blinked, "What are those?"

King popped in this time, "Those are the Stand's statistics. Each letter represents the level the stand holds in that category. E is very bad, D is just bad, C is comparable to humans, B is above human, and A is very good. As you see here, Yang's Stand is very durable and powerful, but she lacks in range, maybe reaching a maximum of about a meter (or a little over three feet)."

Yang grinned, "So… It's a very close-range Stand with a lot of power _and_ can take a hit. Sounds like something I'd have."

"Well, she _is_ the manifestation of your soul."

 **The stats had an ability underneath as well. [Ballroom Blitz's power can be increased during battle as Yang takes damage.]**

Tai chuckled, "Some things never change."

 **Ballroom Blitz smacked around the Ursa before punching it through a nearby building. This was used as a transition to show Weiss standing among a series of Grimm covered in ice, their bodies incapable of moving. Behind her, they saw a figure dressed in a snow-patterned dress. The Stand's skin was white as the fallen snow and her 'hair' was formed from ice.**

Weiss sighed. She'd never be able to escape the 'Ice Queen' cracks.

Yang was going to laugh, but the stats got her attention.

 **[Weiss Schnee] [Stand: Cold as Ice] [Destructive Power – B] [Speed – A] [Range – B] [Persistence – C] [Precision – A] [Potential – E]**

 **[Cold as Ice possesses Cryomancy powers along with a rapier.]**

Now Yang had something knew to laugh over, "Well, well, Weiss. Finally got your first E."

"To be fair," King interrupted before Weiss could blow a gasket, "that's an E she might just want since its in Potential. It means she understands all of her Stand's abilities and has nothing more to learn for it."

Weiss felt a certain pride for that now. "That's actually quite interesting."

 **Weiss's Stand drew a rapier and turned all of the iced Grimm into ice shavings.**

 **As another tried to attack her, its head suddenly popped into black mist. The camera tracked back to show Ruby holding a marksmen's rifle.**

Ruby let out a disappointed groan, "Why don't I get a Stand?!"

Knox chuckled, "Wait for it…"

 **The screen morphed again to show Ruby with her gun as the stats appeared.**

 **[Ruby Rose] [Stand: Silver Bullet] [Destructive Power – B] [Speed – C] [Range – A] [Persistence – E] [Precision – B] [Potential – E]**

Qrow took a moment from his drink, "Wait, the _gun_ is this Stand thing?"

Ruby gushed now, "That's so cool~"

 **[Silver Bullet can be called on as Ruby needs it, instantly appearing in her hands. Its bullets can curve and track enemies. Focused attacks can create explosive rounds of silver, particularly effective against Grimm.]**

Ruby grinned, "That would be so helpful."

Nora jumped up. "I want a Stand too!"

 **Ruby fired another shot that tracked around a few Grimm and hitting one away from the pack. The camera angle revealed Blake was hiding in the shadows of a building, her Stand appearing behind her as a humanoid with cat ears similar to hers. The Stand's body was covered by dark cloth like that of a ninja.**

Kali chuckled, "So cute~"

Blake groaned, "Mom…"

 **[Blake Belladonna] [Stand: Sound of Silence] [Destructive Power – C] [Speed – A] [Range – C] [Persistence – D] [Precision – A] [Potential – B]**

 **[Sound of Silence gains power as long as the target is unaware of her presence. Once her target is aware of her, the effect is lost and must build up again.]**

Blake thought for a moment and nodded, "It would actually be rather helpful, given my fighting style."

"Once." Jaune concluded. "Once you attack and they know about you, you lose the advantage."

Ozpin nodded, "An excellent observation, Mr. Arc."

Jaune gave a nervous chuckle and scratched the back of his head.

 **Blake dropped and ran her Stand's blade through a Grimm and the impact from the sneak attack, with the bonus power, ripped through the ground and sent a bunch more Grimm flying around her.**

Yang grinned, "Damn! That was awesome."

 **Blake jumped over to join the group, "Looks like we're almost done."**

 **Yang had Ballroom Blitz punch another Grimm into a group as they all faded. "Actually, that was the last of them."**

 **Ruby walked over and her rifle disappeared. "Alright! Victory for team RWBY!"**

 **Weiss looked around, "It seems too easy. This mission was listed as something more difficult than this."**

Blake's history in the White Fang got her on edge hearing that. "This is a trap."

Weiss nodded, "Pretty obvious, too."

 **Blake's eyes darted around, "I can't shake this feeling we're being watched."**

 **A set of red eyes peaked out from the tree line and tore through the trunks to reveal a giant Deathstalker. Easily twice the size of the one that attacked the viewers during initiation.**

"Holy crap!" Yang jumped up in her chair. The one from initiation was crazy, but that thing was beyond massive.

 **The team recoiled at the massive beast, not truly able to fathom such a giant was possible. Luckily for them, they** ** _were_** **being watched, but by an ally. A figure dropped from above them. Seeing his back, they could tell he was a man with grey hair dressed in a dark green suit.**

This got eyes toward Ozpin and back, interested to see what was happening.

 **Ozpin took his cane and slammed it on the ground. "Yellow Brick Road." The ground beneath himself and his students started to glow a bright gold. "Goodbye." All five disappeared in the blinding light and away from the Deathstalker.**

 **The scene snapped into Ozpin's office, showing the five suddenly appear in the room, falling from just high enough to knock them off balance and into a pile.**

Nora chuckled a bit.

As did Yang. It might have happened to her and her team, but it was at least a little funny.

 **"Well then," Ozpin helped them back up and held his cane against the ground in front of him with both hands resting on top, "I suppose it could be mission accomplished and back home early."**

 **Ruby looked up to Ozpin with wide eyes as she looked at her new surroundings in shock, "What was that?"**

 **"That, Ms. Rose, was the power of my Stand." The scene shifted to the stat screen.**

This got Qrow's interest peaked, "So, we finally get Oz's full name now?"

Glynda, and her coworkers, had always wondered what his full name was. They often debated if Ozpin was his first or last name. This was the time to finally get an answer.

But, as the name appeared, they all groaned.

 **[Headmaster Ozpin]**

Qrow fell back and took a swig from his drink. "Figures."

Ozpin knew about their bets about his full name but chose to ignore it.

 **[Stand: Yellow Brick Road] [Destructive Power – E] [Speed – B] [Range – A] [Persistence – B] [Precision – A] [Potential – E]**

 **[Yellow Brick Road allows Ozpin to teleport others to locations where they feel a sense of belonging. In layman's terms, it sends them home.]**

Glynda thought that one over for a moment, "Odd. I feel that it seems… appropriate. Does that make sense?"

Qrow nodded, "Does to me."

Ironwood had a similar reaction.

 **Ozpin took a seat at his desk, "I must admit, you've all improved a great deal. And, considering I pulled you all back early, you find yourselves with quite a bit of free time."**

 **"But how did… What did…" Team RWBY had never seen Ozpin's Stand in action before, so the moment confused them to no end.**

 **Weiss was the quickest to pick it up, "It's obviously his Stand. But how does it work?"**

 **"A story for another day." Ozpin smirked. "For now, you're free to go, but I expect your mission report on time like anyone else."**

 **Now back at Beacon, team RWBY returned through the halls and toward their dorm. Yang, being Yang, had to suggest a way to spend their time, "Why don't we all go out to Vale? I know a great club we could…"**

 **"Absolutely not." Weiss shot back.**

Yang sighed. "The Ice Queen strikes again."

Weiss huffed, "I'm surprised you'd suggest it. You're always so protective of Ruby and you're offering all the time to go to a club as a team."

"Well yeah. I want us all to have fun."

"We don't all have 'fun' like you do. We've been over this."

 **Yang huffed. "Wow… Wouldn't even let me finish."**

 **"I do, however, agree we go to Vale. We have supplies that need to be replenished."**

 **Yang rolled her eyes but conceded the point in her head. She needed to make a run at some point. "Best I'm going to get at this point…"**

 **It was up to Blake to point something out for them. "Well, if we are, we should get going before any of us get caught up in a Stand Battle."**

 **A small box popped up to explain it. [Stand Battle: A tradition at Beacon Academy wherein the Stand-wielding students are granted a semester to combat one another at any time in any way. This is used as not all Stands are directly combat oriented, giving them the opportunity to show their prowess and growth over the year.]**

Port thought to himself for a moment, "That may actually be quite interesting. A set amount of time wherein the students must focus on their instincts and situational awareness! A skill absolutely necessary to survival, but not one that we can train effectively in a controlled setting like the arena."

Glynda sighed and shook her head, "You want our students to fight one another in your class then?"

"If it's for the greater good of their training, I could allow it. Though, it would be at the expense of their educations, and likely their futures as huntsmen."

 **The camera tracked down to Yang's foot to show a hole appear in the floor underneath her. She tripped over the lack of floor and she fell into the floor, only for the hole to close. Her team was in shock but didn't have the time to let it sink in as the wall beside them burst open, then someone grabbed Weiss and charged through the other wall. Another dropped from the ceiling and kicked Blake through the first open wall before grabbing Ruby and escaping the hallway.**

The moments all happened within a few seconds and all just caught the viewers off guard.

Yang was just in shock and had to say something, "What the hell was that?"

Ren tapped his chair, "If I had to guess, this is one of these Stand Battles they were talking about."

Nora got excited now, "Do we get to see us?!"

 **The camera moved to show Blake flipping her body around to land on her feet. She looked around for the person responsible, only to find Ren sitting in the middle of the room, meditating.**

Ren watched more intently now, interested to see what his ability would be.

 **Blake stood up straight again, seeing him there. "So it's a Stand Battle. Your team versus mine?"**

 **Ren nodded, "That would be the idea, yes."**

 **"Alright then." Blake's eyes narrowed as her Stand formed behind her.**

 **"Be careful, Blake." Ren opened his eyes to look toward her, "You're already trapped." Ren's Stand formed next to him, appearing like a man with a green body and pink armor. He was seated similarly to Ren however he had an extra set of arms. One pair was placed together in a prayer while the other two were holding a lotus flower and a crystal sphere.**

This got Ren's attention. A part of him appreciated the design, but he was more interested in the power. His other self seemed to think he had control of the situation.

 **Blake growled, well aware of Ren's power.**

 **Cue the stats.**

 **[Lie Ren] [Stand: Nirvana] [Destructive Power – E] [Speed – D] [Range – E] [Persistence – A] [Precision – C] [Potential – D]**

 **[Nirvana allows Ren the ability to become ethereal and gain omni-directional awareness. However, when using this power, he is unable to interact with the physical world.]**

Ren nodded, "That's why I was her opponent. She won't be able to hide from my ability, so her attacks will be less likely to increase in power."

"But can't she just run away?" Ruby asked. "He made it sound like she's trapped."

 **Blake growled. If she tried to run and help her team, Ren would just follow her and give away her position, making her Stand's power useless.**

"Oh." Ruby sat a little lower in her chair. "Never mind."

 **Blake moved slightly to the side. Seeing Ren's eyes track her, she was aware he wasn't using his ability yet. His ability was perfect to keep her attack power low, but it wasn't an instant effect. If she could attack fast enough, his Stand wouldn't matter. That goes both ways, as well. In order to attack her, he has to plan ahead of time to release his power.**

Blake nodded. She was actually enjoying this world's power system. They had defined powers, strengths, and weaknesses. There were ways around each weakness and even ways to exploit the power itself against your opponent. It was actually really interesting and she was curious to see how this plays out.

 **Ren watched her as she moved around him. Once she was out of sight, Blake knew he would start to activate his power. She needed to move quickly just before leaving eyeline. Just before she moved out of sight, she lunged toward him with her Stand's blade ready. The camera moved toward the blade as it approached, only for it phase through. "What?!"**

Jaune nodded, "He already had his ability active. He used his eyes to trick her."

Port nodded with a smile, "An excellent maneuver."

 **Ren smirked, "I know myself as I know my enemy." He phased back into reality as her Stand passed through, allowing him to grab Blake from between the two, "So I will never fear the outcome of a hundred battles." Ren tripped Blake back and slammed the back of her head into the ground beneath them.**

Blake recoiled at the sudden impact. She was aware that, out of her team, she had the weakest power output and physical durability of her team. It was why her fighting style focused so much on keeping her opponent at range and dodging attacks. Her counterpart seemed similar, so it was likely that hurt quite a bit.

 **Ren jumped off his position a bit and kicked Blake away from himself again. Blake used her Stand and acrobatic ability to land on her feet again, though she had to do so on all fours to decelerate from the momentum. Se stood upright again to see Ren sitting down again. She clenched her teeth, knowing this was another play to mess with her. Either this was a ploy to get her to hold back even though he was solid, or this was a play to make her think that and charge him despite being ethereal.**

Ren nodded, "This is actually quite tense."

Blake certainly agreed. "I have to admit, this _is_ very interesting. When we get back, I'll need to see if there are stories with power systems like these."

 **Blake's Stand held her blade close to her chest in a stance for a counterattack. It was hard to tell how Ren would attack. Or even if he would. Ren could go the entire match without outright attacking her. She needed to be careful. Her foot slid forward a bit and she thought her next course of action through. If she set up a rush, he could just sit there and wait it out until she tired herself out. If she just stayed back, he would get inside her head and win the battle of the mind. She had to think this over, and fast.**

 **But Ren wouldn't give her that time. "You know Blake…"**

 **This got her attention and gave her a moment of pause.**

 **"… I've recently discovered my Stand's power is ever improving." Ren's Stand moved his praying hands apart with palms showing small pink lotus symbols on each palm.**

 **Blake wasn't sure what he meant, but then she felt her face burn slightly. The camera moved to show the same mark on the Stand's hand was now on her cheek.**

This got people interested now. They wanted to know more about what that did.

 **Ren smirked, "This is Nirvana: Stain."**

 **Blake touched her cheek and decided it was best to attack. As she charged, she tried to attack, only for her to phase through. She slid across the ground and turned to him, cursing to herself "Damn it… He was phased."**

 **"On the contrary." Ren smirked. "I haven't. Right now, I am physical.** ** _You_** **are the one turned ethereal. This is the power of Nirvana Stain. So long as that mark remains on your cheek, we two shall never occupy the same plain."**

Blake took in a sharp breath, "Which means I can't beat him. I can't even touch him. I wonder how fair that actually is…"

"Maybe it only works on one person." Ruby offered, "That's the usual downside for something like that."

Weiss shook her head, "He can't hit her either."

"True." Blake nodded. That made the most sense to her.

 **The Blake on screen, who couldn't hear them, sighed. "I concede. I can't touch you, so I can't attack you or even defend."**

 **Ren smiled. "Thank you, Blake. But you realize I can't hit you either?"**

 **Blake's eyes went a bit wider before she fell to her knees and groaned.**

This got a few of the people in the audience to snicker.

 **The camera tracked through the walls and to another battle scene, a 'meanwhile' scenario showing Weiss as she was tackled through the wall. Weiss kicked herself free of her attacker and readied her Stand. "Obviously a Battle. Who's my opponent this time." Then she felt a jolt go through her body, and that gave her all the answer she needed. "Nora…"**

Nora bounced in her chair, "YES~! Bring it on! What do I have?!"

 **They saw Nora skid to a halt in front of Weiss. Her body was covered by a full body set of armor. Naturally, it was bright pink with blue bolts on her gauntlets and boots. She also had her hammer and lightning symbol on her chest.**

"Oooh~!" Nora _HAD_ to know what this was.

 **[Nora Valkyrie] [Stand: Thunderstruck] [Destructive Power – A] [Speed – C] [Range – D] [Persistence – A] [Precision – C] [Potential – C]**

 **[As Nora moves her body, she builds electrical power. Said power can be used to charge her physical attacks or channeled through her opponent to disrupt their movements.]**

Nora grinned from ear to ear, "I love that~"

 **Nora grinned and bounced around a bit. This allowed her to charge a bit of power as she hopped from foot to foot. "You ready Weiss?"**

 **Weiss smirked. "I think you might regret facing me." She placed a hand on the floor and ice covered the area around them, as a solid sheet.**

 **This caused Nora to trip up and fall onto her rear.**

Nora did not take that well. "NO! I know I can win this!"

Weiss shook her head, "If you require movement, that will be difficult on a sheet of ice."

 **Nora roared out in frustration and punched the ground, causing the ice to crack apart, forced to release the energy she had stored up. Now no longer solid, she had enough traction to stand up normally and charge toward Weiss.**

 **Weiss smirked, creating a pillar of ice between her and Nora, causing the Valkyrie to slam into the ice. However, she was smirking. She placed both hands on the pillar and electricity coursed through the ice, causing the power to shatter the pillar and making it explode. Her armor protected her. However, Weiss did not have similar defenses, so she was pelted by shards of ice.**

Nora cheered, "YES! KICK HER BUTT!"

 **It was a small sacrifice to make to allow her Stand to get behind Nora. Cold as Ice used this position to place a hand on Nora's back and causing her armor to grow brittle from the cold. This way, when Weiss stood tall and smacked Nora, it caused the armor to crack and the power behind the attack to grow more effective.**

Yang whistled, "Damn, Ice Queen. Look at you go."

Nora was not so happy about that. "Come on! That was nothing!"

 **Nora flew through the air, causing Weiss to pause. She was** ** _not_** **that strong. That was deliberate. The camera moved to show Nora's armor fading off, showing her grin. That was when Weiss's body shook and shivered visibly. She fell to her knees, unable to stand up anymore. Nora had used her Stand's ability to transfer her energy into Weiss's body, causing her nervous system to go haywire.**

Weiss shivered a bit, "That's a scary thought."

 **Nora fell onto the ice, standing up slowly. "What's wrong Weiss? Having trouble standing?"**

 **Weiss knew that the effects only last as long as the energy she built up. However, considering she emptied the energy, Nora lost her armor. She just had to keep Nora from moving. She raised a hand to hold Nora down, but the shaking caused her to miss by a few feet.**

 **This gave Nora the chance to stand and started to run in place. The ice underneath her had melted and made it so it was difficult to run. However, Nora chose to use this to her advantage. This running in place was moving her body and charging energy. She started to run in place faster and soon her armor was back on.**

 **However, Weiss smirked and held her hand toward Nora. Nora's body locked up, the color fading from her armor to reveal it was actually made of ice. Nora had to discharge too much energy before channeling it into Weiss, so the effects didn't last very long.**

Nora shouted, "NOOOOOOO!" She fell to her knees and cried a little.

Ren placed a comforting hand on her back to help calm her.

 **Nora shook and tried to free herself, but it wasn't happening. "DANG IT!"**

 **Weiss was breathing heavily, happy her plan worked. If it didn't, there was every reason to believe she would have lost. As she sat back, the scene moved to another fight.**

 **It showed Ruby shaking free of her attacker.**

Yang chuckled, "10 Lien says she's fighting Jaune. You know, leader versus leader."

Qrow smirked, "I'll do you one better. 50 says _you're_ fighting him."

Tai turned to his teammate with a glare, "Qrow!"

"Calm down. If I'm wrong, I pay her. If I'm not, she doesn't need to pay me."

Yang, however, took that as a challenge. "You think you're _so_ sure?"

"Call it a hunch."

"Fine. Deal!"

 **Ruby summoned her stand and looked around for her opponent. She found herself in the main arena, a flat area that was perfect for her ranged Stand. If her opponent dragger her here, they had to have a similar Stand. Or they're** ** _very_** **confident in their abilities. So, obviously, her opponent just had to be…**

 **Pyrrha cracked her neck and summoned spear and rounded shield.**

Qrow tapped his chair and smirked. "Would you look at that."

Yang groaned a bit, but at least she wasn't out 50 Lien.

 **The stats appeared once again with Pyrrha holding both items.**

 **[Pyrrha Nikos] [Stand: Sabaton] [Destructive Power – B] [Speed – A] [Range – C] [Persistence – A] [Precision – B] [Potential – D]**

 **[Pyrrha can call upon a spear and shield at any time. These weapons can be thrown and return to her at will.]**

Pyrrha felt it was rather appropriate given her _actua_ l Semblance allowed her to do something similar. Granted, it was more focused in this reality as opposed to full magnetic control.

 **Ruby lowered her gun slightly. "Pyrrha…"**

 **"Hello, Ruby. Sorry about before, but I couldn't think of a better way to split you up from your team."**

The Beacon students, minus Nora who was still sulking, had to chuckle at how Pyrrha always had a habit to apologizing.

 **Ruby nodded and raised her weapon again, "So, it's a Stand Battle."**

 **Pyrrha grinned and raised both items into place. Her spear rested in an indent in her shield. "Sorry."**

 **Ruby sighed, "Alright."**

 **Ruby fired a shot, but the bullet ricocheted off Pyrrha's angled shield. Pyrrha used this moment to throw her spear, which Ruby shot out of the sky. Pyrrha used this distraction to charge and tackle into Ruby with her shield. Compared to all of the previous fights, this was considerably normal for the viewers.**

Coco grinned a little, "This is more like our life than anything else at this point."

Pyrrha gave a nervous smile, her 'I'm sorry' kind of smile.

 **Ruby kicked at Pyrrha to get some distance, firing against her shield. Ruby ran back and spun around to duck under Pyrrha's thrown shield. Ruby leveled her gun toward Pyrrha, but the nature of both of their Stands allowed Pyrrha to simply reform her shield on her arm. Ruby tried to fire a bullet that curved around her defenses, but Pyrrha swung her spear to knock the bullet out of the air.**

Coco sighed, "This stuff is amazing, but watching our Pyrrha in the arena so often just makes it… normal."

Many of the students nodded. It was almost like they were just watching their own world again, just with a few extras.

 **Ruby spun her weapon and tapped the ground with the butt of the gun. Her gun turned silver as she returned the weapon to its usual stance. "Silver Bullet: Heavy Music." When she fired her weapon this time, it burst into a silver explosion on impact and pushed Pyrrha back.**

 **Pyrrha responded by tossing her spear toward Ruby again. This time, Ruby dodged the attack and fired another explosive toward Pyrrha. Pyrrha jumped to the side, tossing her shield as her spear reformed. Ruby dodged again, keeping her eye on her opponent. Unfortunately for her, Pyrrha planned for this as her shield bounced off the ground, off the wall, and then smacking Ruby on the back of her head. Ruby's shell fired, the recoil causing her to miss spectacularly. Pyrrha was running up to her and swung her spear like a bat to knock Ruby away. She kicked up her shield and started to charge again.**

 **Ruby fired another bullet of silver toward Pyrrha, only for her to knock it away. Rather, she attempted. Ruby's bullets were now silver explosives, causing the bullet to explode her face. Pyrrha was pushed off balance and fell to the side. Ruby kicked her onto her back, placed a foot on Pyrrha's stomach, and leveled her gun toward her opponent. Pyrrha sighed and let her head fall back in defeat.**

Coco blinked in shock and removed her glasses, "Well… that's different."

Ruby cheered. "Yes! 2-1 team RWBY!"

Nora groaned, "Oh man! Now we can only tie…"

Ren had to remind her, "Jaune would need to fight Yang."

Nora growled. "Dang it…"

Pyrrha saw Jaune deflate a bit, so she had to try to make him feel better. "Maybe his Stand is more powerful. You never know."

 **Finally, they saw Yang fall from the hole in the ceiling. However, rather than hitting the round, she landed in the arms of a very colorful Stand. It resembled Jaune with stark white skin and a long sky-blue coat decorated with various medals and cording, resembling a marching band uniform.**

 **Yang blinked in surprise before a small smile formed on her face. "Of course, it would be you."**

 **Jaune was standing on the ground as his Stand lowered her to the ground, letting her stand again. "Best chance we had was splitting you all up." His Stand jumped back to him as he spoke.**

"Okay." Yang smiled. "Let's see those stats."

 **[Jaune Arc] [Sgt. Pepper] [Destructive Power – C] [Speed – C] [Range – A] [Persistence – C] [Precision – C] [Potential – E]**

Jaune sighed. They weren't great stats, but his only good stat being Range.

 **Yang grinned, as her Stand appeared, "Dangerous to pick me, though. I know all your Stand's tricks." That said, Yang was actually** ** _very_** **worried.**

 **Her Stand was simple to an almost comical level; get hurt, hit harder. In contrast, Jaune's Stand was comically complicated, having multiple powers.**

Jaune perked up a bit. "That's a thing?"

Yang frowned, "It wouldn't surprise me…"

 **She knew three versions of the Stand. Each power being rather specific and ultimately unable to hurt others. She also knew each one had a tell for when they were active.**

 **Jaune grinned, "I'm aware you know all my Stand's abilities."**

 **As Sgt. Pepper's coat turned a bright, lime green and Yang's vision skewed slightly. Seeing through her eyes, it was as if the world was leaning to the side. It was just enough to make her feel off balance despite being firmly planted on the ground.**

Yang felt her head spin a bit, "Oh, that would suck."

 **Jaune nodded, "I'm aware you know about Northern Song, and his ability to skew your senses."**

 **The coat changed again, putting Yang's vision back to normal. The Stand's coat was now a bright red. It pulled a small black disk out of his pocket and expanded it as if he was showing it off. Yang knew this was the ability that dragged her down here.**

Yang started to snicker, getting everyone's attention in confusion. Then she laughed, "He's got a hole in his pocket!"

Cue the groans and high five from her father.

 **"And I know you're aware of Nowhere Man, and his ability to create a hole between any two sides of an object."**

"How would he see the other side?" Ruby questioned. "The hole opened perfectly underneath Yang. So how did he see her?"

Jaune actually had the answer. "I didn't. Ren's ability would let him know you were there, and he could tell me where to create the hole."

"But how would he do that? He couldn't interact with a radio."

"Nora was in the same room. He could tell her and she could tell me through the radio."

Ruby thought it over and nodded. "Yeah. That would probably work."

 **Yang adopted her fighting stance, only for her eyes to go wide in confusion. Sgt. Pepper's coat was now a bright pink, a version she'd never seen before.**

Sun sat back, "Okay, so what does this one do?"

 **Jaune smirked. "This is the power you've never seen before. This is Love Me Do, my Stand at its most powerful. However, I'll let you in on a secret, how this power works."**

 **Yang blinked in surprise. You only really have the advantage when your opponent** ** _doesn't_** **know your power and how it works. Telling her would give her the advantage.**

Qrow chuckled, "Boy's got _some_ stones to think he can tell her then."

Tai nodded, "That, or it's a very powerful ability."

This made Yang a little nervous.

 **Jaune smiled. "Love Me Do makes my Stand completely invincible."**

Yang growled, about to argue about its not fair. Everyone else seemed perfectly fair, but this didn't seem to fit the mold.

 **Jaune held up one finger, "With one major caveat."**

Yang stopped just before she spoke, willing to hear him out.

 **Jaune continued, "If I feel** ** _any_** **sense of negativity toward my opponent, the ability is completely useless to me. If I have even the smallest sense of anger, sadness, embarrassment, pain, anything! Then I can't use it."**

 **Yang was piecing it together. She knew Jaune's tells, so she could tell he wasn't lying. "So, it's an ability you can only use on your friends."**

 **"That's the idea, yes. And its incredibly easy to break. One insult, one comment to tear me down, and I'd be vulnerable again."**

Yang lightly hit her fist on her chair, "That explains why he dragged me down there. I might make a joke or a quip, but I don't outright insult people in a fight. And I don't think any of my usual material would make him made at me."

Jaune nodded. He remembered Yang's fights in Glynda's combat class and how she would make little jokes and jabs toward her opponents.

 **Yang sighed. "So, all it takes is one insult to render your ability useless?"**

 **Jaune nodded, "In a simplified sense, yes."**

 **Yang was silent. It wasn't her style to go around intentionally insulting people. She sighed and released her fists, clapping as her Stand faded behind her.**

Tai recoiled a bit. "Wait, she just gave up?"

Yang was smart enough to tell where this was going. "Not much of a choice." When people turned to her for an explanation, she just said, "Wait for it."

 **Yang looked back toward Jaune. "The reason I never saw this is because you can't bring yourself to hurt your opponent in order to activate it."**

 **Jaune nodded with a grin.**

"But, wouldn't that make a stalemate?" Neptune asked.

Yang pointed back to the screen.

 **"But you know I hate it when people hold back. So, in order to not piss me off, you** ** _have_** **to fight me. And you know I wouldn't hold losing against you."**

Yang gestured to the screen. "And that's why. I hate people holding back on me."

"So," Nora thought it through, "To not hurt your feelings, he would have to hurt you physically?"

"That makes it sound pretty bad, but pretty much."

 **Jaune's Stand faded and he walked up toward her, holding his hand out to shake. It was customary for the battle to end with shaking hands.**

 **Yang sighed. "You got me fair and square." Yang brought her hand to meet with his and shook. "Damn you, Jaune Arc." She smiled, "Damn you and your stupid, beautiful mind."**

 **As the handshake ended, Jaune replied with, "Love you too babe~"**

This got the viewers to jolt a bit.

Sun started to chuckle, "Well then. That's interesting~"

Yang sighed. She saw every reason to believe her counterpart was similar to her, likely with a similar backstory. If she ever _did_ get a boyfriend, she would probably turn. She had issues with commitment, a side effect picked up from her mother abandoning her. She had a good example in Summer, and she was thankful for that, but she was always too paranoid about getting close to others romantically. As such, if she gets a boyfriend, she would likely try to act more like Summer: loving, caring, maybe even vulnerable emotionally. So, even if it was to win a fight, she likely wouldn't shout out insults or anything negative. She sighed and sank back in her chair. _No wonder he dragged me down to fight him._

 **As they released their grips, Yang placed her arms on her waist and looked up. "Guess we should get back upstairs."**

 **Jaune thought for a moment. "Maybe. Or, we can get there the fun way?"**

 **Yang looked back toward him with a raised brow and a smirk, "Oh? And what's the fun way?"**

 **"Well…" Sgt. Pepper, in his red coat, appeared again as Jaune reached into his pocket. Jaune pulled out a flat, black circle. "I** ** _do_** **have a hole in my pocket~"**

Yang laughed, _so_ happy they actually made the joke.

 **The Yang on screen chuckled a bit and shook her head. "I fucking love you."**

 **"I know." Jaune tossed the hole against the ceiling as Yang's Stand formed again.**

 **Yang grabbed Jaune as her Stand infused her with its power, allowing her to jump up through the hole while carrying Jaune.**

 **The screen went black as a small box appeared.**

 **[RWBY vs JNPR Stand Battle Results: 2-2]**

Yang laughed a bit, "But, let's be honest, Jaune was the real winner. Dating me is the biggest win he's had."

Blake shook her head, whispering to her partner, "You really want to pull that?" She gestured back to Pyrrha and Velvet, who both looked like they were ready to fight.

Yang chuckled. "Calm down. They should know me better than that."

Blake sighed, knowing there was no stopping Yang at this point.

Yang laughed it off, waving back to the two who seemed to calm as they remembered who was talking. That said, even she could admit Jaune had his charms, in a dorky kind of way. It wasn't a case of not seeing what they do. Hell, she knew everyone could see it. Only difference between them all was whether it worked for them or not. Yang could admit seeing it might work if he worked on that self esteem issue and grew a funny bone.

Jaune tapped his foot in thought. "Hey King."

The fire ball floated down to him, "What's up?"

"Those Stands. I can't help but think they were named after something."

"Good catch. How did you guess?"

"Well, if Yang got to name her Stand, it would probably be a pun of some kind."

Yang thought that over, "Hey, yeah! I didn't even think of that. Then, who named the Stand?"

King spun a bit to address both of them, "You see, all Stands, at least these days, are named after songs, albums, or musical artists. Not from your world, but rather the world I call home. To your counterparts, they name themselves."

Jaune tapped his chair before nodding, "That explains it. It was hard to shake that they didn't have some kind of through line."

Nora got a little excited hearing that, "Does that mean there's a song actually called Thunderstruck?!"

King nodded, in his sentient fire ball kind of way, "In my world, yes. If you all want, I can leave you some recordings in the library of your specific songs and artists."

"Do it!"

"Alright then. And I'll add the ones for the people we didn't see on screen for good measure. Just in case you're curious."

A few of them were making a note to visit the library on their next intermission.

/\

 **Playlist:**

 **Ballroom Blitz - A song by the band Sweet**

 **Cold as Ice - A song by the band Foreigner**

 **Silver Bullet - A reference to Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band**

 **Sound of Silence - A song by Simon and Garfunkel**

 **Yellow Brick Road - Derived from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John**

 **Nirvana - American grunge band made famous in the 1990s**

 **Stain - A song by the band Nirvana**

 **Thunderstruck - A song by the band AC/DC**

 **Sabaton - Swedish metal band famous for historical-based music**

 **Heavy Music - A song by the Silver Bullet Band**

 **Sgt. Pepper - Derived from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, a song by the Beatles**

 **Northern Song - Derived from Only a Northern Song, a song by the Beatles**

 **Nowhere Man - A song by the Beatles**

 **Love Me Do - A song by the Beatles**


	114. Fresh out of Mercy

**Knox: That was fast.**

 **King: Been in my head a while. Besides, it's not supposed to be a long one. Just a little bit of fun.**

 **Knox: I can see that. And you call me the twisted one.**

 **King: You got it from somewhere. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the chapter.**

 **Inspiration: Ghost Rider (RWBY)**

 **/\**

King shook a little, _Oh… this will be interesting._

 **The screen opened to the new reality. The scene before them showed Jaune propped up against a brick wall. His body was bruised and bloody, clear signs of broken bones and skin. The right side of his face was covered in his blood, a very nasty slash over his eye and forcing it closed. It was very likely he had lost the eye altogether.**

This put everyone on edge. It caused too many questions to be asked in their minds and too many painful thoughts coming to mind.

 **Jaune was breathing heavily, his good eye cast down to the ground. He heard someone approach and looked up toward his new visitor.**

 **Standing above him was a man with dark hair and a set of green eyes that seemed to glow. He was dressed rather smartly for the area, definitely looking out of place outside the kingdoms.**

Ren sighed, "This sadly explains his state more."

Blake nodded, "Living outside the kingdoms is notorious for being very harsh."

 **Jaune coughed, causing a bit of blood to fall on the man's pantleg. "Sorry about that… Uh…"**

 **"My name is Ozymandias."**

Ozpin went stiff as a board hearing that name. He had thought the man looked familiar, but having the name confirmed it. This was a previous host of Ozma's cursed reincarnation cycle. The unnerving part was that this man was more than 200 years old.

 **Jaune tried to chuckle, "Your parents must have hated you."**

 **Ozymandias looked over the injuries. "It's clear a Grimm did not cause this. Who has done this to you?"**

 **Jaune shook his head slightly, "Doesn't matter. I'm going to bleed out soon anyway. Wouldn't even make it to the hospital."**

This got each of his friends and even his teachers to feel a sense of pain. It was always hard to see moments like this. Hearing the person just give up, accepting nothing could be done was just painful.

 **Ozymandias's eyes narrowed a moment, looking into Jaune's good eye. "What if you still had a chance?"**

 **Jaune was silent, looking away. It was as if he refused to let this man get his hopes up.**

 **"I can see it in your eyes. You still have some fight in you. What would you do if you survive? Would you use it as a second chance of life? Or will you avenge yourself?"**

 **Jaune's eye told everything he needed to know. Jaune had been attacked by men that made a habit of causing pain, making people disappear, and destroying families. He spoke up against them, leading to his current situation. He wanted to knock them down a peg.**

Roman tapped his chair. "That's what happens when you go in without a way to cover your ass. Especially outside the kingdoms, you'll get yourself roughed up."

 **"You want justice?"**

 **Jaune was still, but soon nodded.**

 **"Justice may be beyond you, but I can offer you your revenge." Ozymandias held a hand down toward Jaune. "If you take it." A small spark of fire flickered around his hand.**

"What was that?" Jaune was a little worried about the way this was going.

 **Jaune slowly lifted his hand. He let hope in just enough to take this man's offer. The seen went bright white before transitioning to a new location.**

 **The screen now showed Vale at night. The angle showed a motorcycle wheel roll into frame and stopping, a slight vision of frame poking to the side.**

Yang laughed a bit to herself. "So, there's my bike." She recognized the paint and style of the bike, even if it was only a little.

"Unless someone else has the bike instead." Blake reminded her. There was every possibility that Yang's bike was owned by someone other than her.

 **But, Yang was correct in her base assumption as the camera panned up to show her removed her helmet, placing it on her bike. "Now, let's see if this guy Junior really does know everything."**

Yang now recognized the moment at hand. This was when she first went to Junior's bar to ask about her mother. There were a few little differences, but so far they were minor and didn't change anything.

 **Yang made her way inside and looked around, hoping to find Junior and get this over with. Eventually, she found the man in question at the bar and moved across the dance floor. She moved next to him and played it off that she was just ordering a drink from the bartender, "Strawberry Sunrise. No ice. And one of those little umbrellas if you have them."**

 **Junior turned to her and raised an eyebrow, "Aren't you a little young to be in a place like this?"**

 **"Aren't you a little old to have name like Junior?"**

 **"So, you know who I am. But I don't know who you are."**

Yang recoiled remembering what was about to happen. She knew it wouldn't look good and likely cause her to get an ear full from her dad.

 **Yang didn't get the chance to answer as a man ran in from the back. "Boss! You have a visitor."**

 **"I told you to not bother me today. I'm not working…"**

 **"It's the Rider, sir."**

 **Junior nearly jumped in his chair, "What?!"**

 **Yang looked around Junior to the interrupter. "What's going on?" It was partially a way to remind them she was there.**

 **Then, the door to the back burst open. A man dressed in black leather biking attire, complete with face obscuring helmet, walked out to meet them. His shoulders, gloves, and boots were covered in silver spikes. A long chain wrapped over his left should and across his chest to his right side, wrapping around a little over three times.**

Ren tapped one heel as he sat. "He looks like the stereotypical biker from a movie. The kind you find in violent gangs."

Yang raised an eyebrow, "The Rider, huh? Wonder what he's about."

 **Junior was on his feet and looking very nervous. "Rider… Why are you here?"**

 **The Rider turned his head toward him, but said nothing.**

 **"Right…"**

 **Yang moved to the side to get a better look at this Rider. "So… who's your friend, Junior?"**

 **The Rider turned to Yang, causing a chill to run up her spine. Something about him felt unnatural. Almost… unholy.**

"Damn. Can't see him and he scares you?" Coco chuckled. "I get he looks like a gang biker or something, but is that any different to the crazy stuff you've all done?"

Blake shrugged, thinking back to their fighting Torchwick and the White Fang, "She has a point."

 **The Rider turned his head back to Junior who shook his head, telling the man she wasn't associated with him. Then, he turned back to Yang.**

 **Yang shook, but pushed passed it. She was here for a reason, damn it. "Look, I need to borrow Junior a second." She held up her scroll with an old picture of Raven on the screen. "I just want to know where I can find her."**

Tai's fist clenched tighter on his chair. He knew about Yang's quest to get answers, but he never saw this go too far or fast. She seemed to have it under a sense of control.

 **Junior was about to tell her off, but the Rider reached out and grabbed the scroll to get a better look at the woman on the screen. The Rider was quiet, but soon returned the device to her. He started to walk toward the door to the front.**

 **Yang watched him, confused. "Um… where's he going?"**

 **Junior's eyes narrowed. "To hunt her down, if I had to guess. If you're hoping to ask questions, I suggest you find her first."**

 **"Wait, what?!" Yang scrambled to the door in time to see the man mount his motorcycle, a black metal copper, and start to peel out of the parking lot. Yang jumped on her bike and pursued him.**

Roman chuckled, "So, it looks like this Rider is either a rogue huntsman or a bounty hunter."

Ozpin sighed. No matter how often he tried, some huntsmen always appear to fall upon a more violent path and planning to take justice into their own hands.

 **The Rider saw her in his mirror but chose to ignore her, until his attention was needed elsewhere. He heard a loud explosion on the street to the east and he quickly changed direction.**

 **Yang followed close behind, her motorcycle being better designed for sharper turns than his chopper. She wasn't sure what he was up to, but she needed to make something clear to him.**

 **As they arrived on the street in question, the Rider skid his bike to a halt in front of a robbery in progress, and a big one. There had to be at least ten armed attackers hitting one of Vale's largest banks.**

Roman huffed and chuckled a bit, "Amateurs. Bank hits are too easy to track and too obvious a hit. Plus the money itself would be useless."

Mercury turned back to the accomplished criminal, "How the hell does that work?"

"Well, people will notice your influx of cash for one. For another, banks can track the Lien's numbers. You ever go in and se them scan any Lien before taking or giving? That's them putting the numbers into the system. Anything you grab, they'll blacklist after a while and make it useless."

 **The Rider seemed to silently growl before standing up from his bike and walking up to the bank.**

 **Yang arrived soon after but was caught off guard seeing the heist. "What the heck?" She planned to go and get answers, she hadn't plan to find a heist in progress.**

 **One of the criminals noticed the Rider and leveled his rifle toward the biker, "HEY! You just keep moving and get lost! You hear me?"**

 **The Rider grabbed his chain and removed it from his chest, snapping it against the ground like a whip.**

 **"You want to get killed, tough guy?!" The lookout spotted Yang still on her bike behind the Rider. "And you too, blondie! Get lost or else!"**

 **The camera zoomed down to his hand as the chain seemed to glow between his fingers. He snapped the chair forward and smacking the man's wrist. The criminal fired in a panic, but far off target. The Rider snapped his wrist around again, his chain following his motion and wrapping around the man's neck. The Rider started to pull on the chain and squeeze the air out of his neck.**

Emerald felt a certain appreciation seeing this man's fighting style. Her kusarigama fighting style used a similar principle of tangling up her enemies and keeping her opponent from fighting back effectively.

Sienna felt a stronger kinship, having a fighting style far more identical to the version on screen.

 **The Rider's hand seemed to smoke before he snapped the chain again. A bright orange glow flowed down the chain, reaching the end and igniting the man's head in flame.**

This caused many in the audience to jump in shock at the suddenness of the fire.

Now it was Cinder's turn to appreciate the moment.

That wouldn't last.

 **The criminal screamed in pain and fell to the ground as the Rider's chain flew back to him. The heist team heard the commotion and sent three out to deal with the issue. One fired a heavy shotgun slug at the Rider and cracked his helmet's faceplate. The Rider had to take a step back to keep his balance. One of the men tried to douse the fire but found it to be impossible. Whatever was fueling the fire, nothing was putting it out.**

Now Cinder was invested.

 **The Rider found his helmet useless now, the armored faceplate cracked. He removed the helmet to reveal his face. The Rider was shown to be Jaune Arc, complete with a scar down the right side of his face and reaching his lower jaw. Surprisingly, his eye was spared the damage.**

Some of the audience was taking about Jaune's powers or his look. However, Ozpin focused on something else. Ozymandias, who was over 200 years old, had met Jaune in this reality. Yet the Jaune on screen seemed to have not aged very much in all this time. The most likely answer to Ozpin was that he and this old soul had swapped places in the timeline. The other option unnerved him, however. Was it possible that the old life had given Jaune some form of magic that kept him alive all this time? And if so, what had been given to the young man?

 **Jaune glared at the men and started to raise his free hand. He pointed toward the three currently not burning. "You and your cohorts have wrought pain and destruction in your wake."**

 **One of the men laughed, "And let me guess. You're going to bring us in? You think you're some kind of superhero?"**

This got Jaune hopeful.

 **Jaune slowly shook his head. "No."**

Cue deflated, but also confused Jaune Arc.

 **Jaune's chain started to glow again as he swung it at the three. One was hit square in the jaw, causing a serious burn across his face, while the other two were knocked off balance with their associate being thrown into them. Jaune swung the chain back and over his head before slamming it onto the ground beneath them, each link creating a burst of fire as it hit the ground before erupting at the end and knocking all three to the ground.**

 **The remaining six members of the heist bust out of the bank to find four of their associates on the ground burning and/or broken. The lead looked over to Jaune, "You the one responsible for this?" He didn't exactly seen broken up about it, all things considered.**

"Wow…" Yang huffed. "That guy sounds like a real ass."

"On the contrary," Roman took a puff from his cigar before continuing, "he's likely only connected to those goons by pay. It's common for small crime groups to gather freelance talent to fill out their ranks for a job. Probably doesn't even know his name."

 **Jaune snapped his chain back an spun it to return to a resting placement in his hand.**

 **"Neat trick. But I wonder what good it'll really do you now."**

 **Jaune swung the chain back over his shoulder and his foot dug into the ground. He turned slightly and pointed to the leader of the heist, causing the group to pause a moment. "Carmine Ignis. The blood of innocence soaks your hands and your aura is tainted by your deeds. Your sins have been counted, and I am here to wreak vengeance upon your soul!"**

Those in the audience with any sense of guilt or an extensive amount of sins felt a chill run up their spines. Something about what he just said scared them. There was no rationality behind why. Just the words, his inflection, something! It scared them all.

 **Carmine was silent for a moment before bursting out laughing. "Seriously? What? You some kind of dark and edgy hero from the old comics? Get real. You knocked the shit out of four goons, but I'll warn you to be fair. I've got an aura and a semblance. You want to risk fighting that?!"**

 **Jaune cracked his neck, unimpressed.**

 **This just pissed off Carmine. "Fine. OPEN FIRE BOYS!"**

 **The six standing criminals all fired their weapons toward Jaune. The scene slowed as the first of the bullets started to approach, only for his chain to fly off his body and surround his body, catching the larger bullets between the links and knocking the small pellets away. The chain started to glow around each bullet as Jaune grabbed the chain and swung it fast enough to send the bullets flying back and knocking the five other goons down with a set of burning bullets ripping through them.**

Yang jumped at the scene, "Holy crap that was badass!"

"But how is he doing that?" Ruby asked, to no avail. How would anyone know?

Cinder was mentally taking notes. For the first time in a while, she was enjoying this.

 **Carmine looked to his former goons in shock, allowing Jaune to get in close and grab his jacket before lifting him into the air. Jaune's glare showed just how pissed he was, "Carmine Ignis! Vengeance shall be…"**

 **Before he could finish, Carmine fired a Dust-boosted short barrel shotgun at point blank into Jaune's face. The power behind that kind of weapon would rip Jaune's head apart into a bloody mist.**

"Oh, come on!" Yang groaned. "He was too badass to go out like that."

 **Jaune's strength faded and Carmine was returned to the ground, his grip following soon after. Carmine laughed and turned to see the stunned Yang still nearby. "What have we here? You best get out of here, blondie." He pointed his gun toward her, "Or else."**

 **Yang's instincts kicked in and she adopted her fighting stance with her gauntlets forming over her arms. However, seeing a man decapitated in front of her shook her a little more than she'd prefer.**

"I'm surprised she can even work on instinct seeing that." Winter shuddered. She remembered old video messages the White Fang would send out after executing Schnee board or family members. It was something she actively tried to repress in her mind.

 **Carmine laughed and started to walk toward Yang. "Last chance blondie! Unless you want to die too!"**

 **A chain suddenly swung around Carmine's neck and snapped against his skin. Carmine, in shock, tried to fight off the chain but each time he tried to grab it, it would heat up and burn him.**

"Wait… But how?!" Yang's eyes were wide in shock.

No one was really sure what was going on.

 **Carmine was dragged back and spun around to see the headless body of Jaune Arc still moving. Jaune pulled the chain harder and grabbed Carmine's head from either side, squeezing against his skull.**

How do you rationalize what they were seeing? A headless man was not only still alive, but still fighting the man that blew his head off!

 **A spark formed at the base of Jaune's neck before erupting in a pillar of fire. Small structures of bone formed at this neck before creating the missing pieces of the spine. As it reached where his skull would be, the bone spread out and reformed his skeletal head and jaw. All the while, flames crackled around his head and, once fully formed, flames sparked to life within his eye sockets to take the eyes' place.**

 **Carmine was too terrified to scream at this point.**

As were many in the audience. Especially those with more tainted souls.

 **"Carmine Ignis! Look into my eyes!" Jaune squeezed down harder, forcing the criminal's eyes open in pain and shock.**

 **Carmine began to relive moments in his life. Every theft, every beating, every kill. The only differences were that he was on the receiving end and that it was happening at once. The pain of broken legs, lost kneecaps, bullets ripping through flesh, blades digging into muscle and scraping bone, everything he'd ever done was being repaid onto his soul. He felt it all, and so he did all he could. He screamed in agony, horror, and pain.**

Cinder's notes went silent. This… this scared her again. Everything she'd ever done forced upon her? She started to count out everything she'd ever done. The power that would hold over her was staggering. Emerald and Mercury had similar reactions, though likely having a smaller sin count.

 **Carmine's screams stopped soon after, his very soul destroyed by the amount of pain he had endured in less than a second.**

Safe to say, the viewers were scared shitless.

 **Jaune unwrapped his chain and tossed Carmine onto the ground. Jaune turned to Yang, who flinched in fear at the flaming skeleton staring right at her. Jaune held his hand up and pointed toward Yang.**

Yang felt a shiver run up her spine. She had gone on more than a few rampages when people messed with her hair, even if they weren't necessarily bad guys.

 **Yang shook, a similar thought running through her mind.**

 **Jaune finally spoke, "Yang Xiao Long. Your fists are shaped in the crucible of human pain. However, though your soul is stained by this pain, your sins are few. You shall be spared."**

Yang fell back in her chair, relief flooding over her.

 **The Yang on screen was still in shock at everything happening to the point that she was silent.**

 **Jaune returned to his bike, which transformed with him sitting atop the seat again. The front of the bike reformed as a demonic skull and the wheels seemed to smoke before bursting into flames.**

Mercury chuckled a bit, "Damn, that's cool."

 **The engine revving snapped Yang out of her shock. She called to him before he could leave. "Hang on! I need to say something!"**

 **Jaune turned toward her, one foot on the ground to signal he wasn't leaving yet.**

 **"The woman in the picture you saw before. I need see her. If you're going to do…" she looked over to Carmine's body, "that… to her, I…"**

 **Jaune interrupted her. "You're going to ask me to spare her?"**

 **Yang tried to steel her nerves before the burning skeleton man. "She owes me answers. Why she left… So much she needs to answer for."**

 **"I see…" Jaune was silent a moment. "Know this, for I am the Spirit of Vengeance. If your target's sins prove too great, I will wreak vengeance upon her as any other."**

Qrow sighed. "Well, she's doomed."

 **"Such is the mission given to me by Ozymandias. And if you get in my way, count your sins and pray that your soul will be shown mercy in the next life." A hellish tire screech later and Jaune was tearing across downtown Vale at top speed.**

 **The camera tracked him as he moved through the city at night. Soon it showed him approach a sheer cliff at the edge of the city. He leaned back and his bike leaned with him. Once the front wheel hit the cliff, his bike ran up the sheer, 90-degree face of rock as though it weren't affected by petty things like gravity.**

Considering what they'd seen in this reality, this wasn't even registering on the too out there to keep quiet scale.

 **Soon, Jaune flew over the side of the cliff and onto the court of Beacon Academy. The camera remained in position, but his fire showed as he drove to the building and scaled its walls to the tallest tower.**

 **The camera now moved into the building to show Ozpin working late in his office.**

Ruby shrunk in her chair a bit, "Is Professor Ozpin in trouble?" She remembered him saying he'd made more mistakes than anyone on Remnant, so this worried her.

 **Ozpin looked up from a paper to find Jaune standing on the other side of his desk, flaming skull and all. "So… the Rider finally arrives."**

 **Jaune nodded. "What mission do you have for me, Ozymandias?"**

Ruby blinked once in confusion, "What?"

Many did. All but two, to be exact. Ozpin and Oscar knew what was going on, though Oscar more about the process than the actual reason why it was happening.

 **"I told you, my name is Ozpin."**

 **"Your body is a reincarnate. Your soul, though morphed with your new lives, remains within."**

 **Ozpin sighed. "I can't persuade you to call me by my own name… Fine." Ozpin stood and turned to the window. "Though I hate to ask this of you, I need you to remain close by. I have reason to believe an as of yet unknown group plans to attack Vale. Do what you do best, Jaune."**

 **The screen went black, a loud roaring engine screaming through the darkness.**

Chills ran up their spines in fear. This unyielding force of vengeance and hellfire would likely haunt the dreams of any that saw him this screen. But to all of the viewers, it was just another world on this road of the multiverse. They were thankful their world didn't have _that_.


	115. The Day the Hero Died

**King: And we're back and its a crazy one.**

 **Knox: CoD Zombies, right? Because of the Element 115?**

 **King: Sorry. I tried, but I couldn't come up with a good way to do that. It was so bad, I needed to look up Element 115 just to see what anyone was talking about. Sure, it would be interesting to see Jaune as say... Richtofen (which was the plan) would be cool, I couldn't really get a good story going for it. So, this one is here. This has been asked for since... Chapter 5, holy crap!**

 **Knox: Damn! Took you long enough then.**

 **King: Don't start. Anyway, here we go people. Hope you enjoy.**

 **Inspiration: Borderlands 2**

 **/\**

And so began a new world. King felt a chill go up his spine. _Oh! Oh shit._

 **The world opened to show Ozpin, dressed in dark green military fatigues, and Glynda, dressed in ragged clothes with her sleeve ripped away to show her blue, siren tattoos.**

Nora groaned, "Oh come on! I want the space magic again!"

Glynda rolled her eyes and sighed. That said, she did like the idea of possessing actual magic. While Ozpin offered some power to her, she chose against it at the time. But, with things progressing as they were, she might have to talk to him about it again.

 **Between them was a young woman, similar tattoos spread across her arm. Her pale blonde hair was set to one side, slumped with her head. She sat against a large device, having died a moment before.**

Ruby looked around the room, not finding a counterpart, "Who is that?"

Ren tapped his chair in thought, "She doesn't look familiar."

Nora was fuming at her continued lack of 'Magic Space Powers.'

 **Glynda shook her head. "What kind of person does this to his own daughter?"**

 **Ozpin's eyes narrowed. "The kind that deserves to die."**

 **A third figure walked up next to the other two. It was revealed to be Ruby, dressed in a very punk rock style, complete with hair in pigtails. One of her arms was robotic to top it off. She held a sleek, Maliwan submachine gun.**

Yang chuckled a bit, "That's a pretty cute look, sis."

Ruby huffed but admitted in her head that she agreed. She especially liked the gun, now knowing what Maliwan weapons were like. Although, she did have a question, "What happened to my arm?"

Ironwood sighed, "It could be any number of things. But I can say that it is rather well put together."

 **Ruby looked down toward the dead woman. "It still feels kind of… messed up." Her glance moved toward the three-sectioned item lying nearby in the chamber the woman once held. The Vault Key, the item that would give the Hyperion Corporation the power to raze and control Pandora. In order to keep it from being charged and used against them, they had to kill the girl lying there.**

Ruby shook slightly, not liking this world already. She knew that tough decisions were going to be prevalent in her life, but this felt wrong.

 **Glynda placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "This isn't on you. She was dead long before we got here. The only one to blame is Jack."**

"Who?" Yang asked. "Do we know a Jack?"

No one gave her an affirmative answer. This was a new one.

Weiss, however, thought for a moment, "Well… My father's name is Jacque. It's fairly similar."

"It's possible…" Jaune explained. "Jacque is another version of Jack, like how Jaune is another version of John."

Yang chuckled, "So, we can call you John?"

"No." Jaune deadpanned toward Yang, "My name is Jaune."

"Touchy subject?"

"It was a problem growing up, yes."

 **Ozpin knelt next to the girl and shook his head in sorrow for her. "Even with what we learned… She didn't deserve this." He stood and turned back to the other two, "No time to rest, though. We need to get the key out of here and finally deal with Jack. Glynda, take the Key to Oobleck and keep it under lock and key. Ruby, you and I are going after Jack."**

 **A small, concentrated flash of light formed behind Ozpin.**

 **"It's time to finish this."**

 **A loud gunshot rang out around the room, accompanied by a hole in Ozpin's chest.**

This caused everyone to jump at how abrupt it was, along with how well timed. It was unnerving and they had reason to believe that this 'Jack' had appeared.

Glynda's hand clenched in anger and pain. She never liked seeing people die, least of all someone so close to her.

 **"OZPIN!" Glynda screamed, seeing her long-time friend die in front of her.**

 **As Ozpin fell, the viewers saw Jaune standing behind him with a wrist mounted gun. "Sup?" He sounded angry beyond anger. He dressed in a tailed suit jacket with the sleeves rolled up, jeans, a yellow shirt and a brown vest. A mask covered his face, distinguishable from his actual face only by the lighter tone and latches. This was the man who became known as Handsome Jack.**

This shook everyone again.

Jaune in particular. He'd seen twisted versions before on this screen, but this felt wrong. It was something in this version's eyes that felt off compared to the others.

Mercury, however, chuckled a bit. "What's with that stupid mask? What's the point?"

 **Glynda charged toward Jaune with her Siren powers activated. "You bastard! I'm going to…!"**

 **Before she could finish, Jaune slapped a heavy collar around her neck, forcing her body to go limp and her powers to betray her. "Language…" Ozpin turned back to Ruby, his mismatched blue and green eyes filled pure rage.** **"What's that old saying? 'Don't pick a fight with a man with nothing left to lose?' Well, I'm going to show you how much** ** _you_** **have to lose! And I've got the most powerful Siren on Pandora to do it!" He pulled Glynda up in front of him by the collar. "Now, Glynda. Kill the Vault Hunter. We have a date to keep with the Warrior."**

 **Glynda's body moved against her will, but not without a fight. She screamed in pain and her tattoos glowed a bright purple in place of her usual orange. Ruby was surrounded by a bubble of energy before blinking away.**

Ruby panicked, "Am I dead?! What just happened?!"

 **Jaune growled. "You phaseshifted her… I told you to kill her! Not teleport her away!" Jaune tossed Glynda against the ground.**

Ruby sighed in relief, but it was short lived.

Sun's sigh was not so relieved, "Another Psycho-Jaune…"

Neptune nodded, "It was going to happen again eventually."

"I know, but still."

 **Jaune growled and walked over to the Key, picking it off the ground. "I still need to charge the Key…" He turned back to Glynda, "And now I have the most powerful Siren on Pandora to do it."**

 **Glynda's breathing was heavy from the collar's effect on her powers, "Fuck you. You try to act all high and mighty, but you're just a manipulative bastard that turned his own daughter into a battery."**

This shook Jaune more anything so far. The Arc family was always a close-knit group and the idea of someone genuinely doing that to a family member was completely foreign to him.

 **Jaune's eye twitched before he kicked Glynda in the side. "You shut your mouth! You don't know anything!"**

 **"I know plenty…"**

 **"Do you?! Did you know I had a wife?"**

 **"I heard that in an Echo…"**

 **"Yeah. But you killed my girlfriend earlier. How do you suppose that happened?"**

Yang felt her body fuel with anger. She hated cheating more than most, a side effect of her abandonment issues.

 **"I always figured you were just a scumbag." Glynda smirked.**

 **"My wife died. Torn apart by atoms when Angel's powers first manifested."**

Yang's anger shattered into shock.

 **Jaune continued, "Everything I did was to keep her safe!"**

 **"By locking her up in that chair?"**

 **"You think she'd have been better off out there?! On Pandora! Where everyone is a bloodthirsty bandit that would rather shoot you than say hello?! She accidently killed someone that cared about her! How do you think she'll handle people** ** _actually_** **trying to kill her, or worse?! I wasn't going to subject her to that hell! I had to keep her here for her own safety!" Jaune's anger subsided. "What's the point? A bandit like you could never understand."**

This got the parents, and parental figures, in the audience to feel a chill. A part of them could feel understanding for that sentiment. Though, they also realized they shouldn't go _that_ far.

 **Jaune put the Key in a digitized bubble and dragged Glynda with him to a transport at the top of the bunker. "When I wake the Warrior, I'll finally fix that. I'll have the power to finally bring order to this planet." He tossed Glynda onto a hexagonal pad and she disappeared into digital bits, with Jaune following soon after.**

 **Glynda fell out onto a ground of hot stone. Jaune dragged her toward a system nearby with a large archway. He hooked Glynda to a makeshift device similar to the one from the bunker. Glynda started to float up as her powers were funneled between a deposit of Eridium, through her body, and into the Key.**

 **Jaune flipped a couple of switches on his console. "There. Now, just get to charging that Key, 'kay?"**

 **Glynda screamed in pain, but had enough power to turn slightly toward him. "Go fuck yourself, you monster!"**

 **"Monster?" Jaune stopped his work. "Monster? Tell me Glynda, who's the monster here? Is it man that did everything in his power to keep his daughter safe on this shitty planet?! The man that wants to bring order and make this planet safe?! So people don't have to worry about getting stabbed or shot whenever they so much as peak outside?!"**

Sun sighed, "I'm all for freedoms and personal autonomy, obviously, but _that's_ a little too overboard."

Ilia scoffed, "Assuming he's telling the truth. We've all heard it before."

Blake shook her head. "Considering what we've seen of this planet in other versions, I don't think he's wrong."

Ironwood nodded, "An entire planet of anarchy."

 **Jaune's shouting continued, "Or, Glynda, is the monster here the one that cut a bloody path across Pandora for her own personal fortune?! The one who killed people for looking at her funny! The one who I came to on Elpis!" He pointed up to the sky, toward the large moon with his company's satellite hoovering over the surface. "The one I asked for help to save that damn moon and everyone on it?! The one who stabbed me in the back despite our only conversations being about saving lives?! Which one of us is the monster here, Glynda?!"**

The image of the Psycho-Jaune fell away to show a desperate man. They saw a man who lost everything that was important to him. And what's more, they saw a through line. It was as if they saw everything Jaune had experienced to turn him into what they saw. Betrayals and pain on a planet designed to break you down to your most basic.

 **Glynda groaned from the Eridium flowing through her, "You're a fascistic prick that just wants to control the planet! Yang was right, you do have control issues."**

 **Jaune shot Glynda's torso, to the lower left side and away from vital organs, the effects healing her as quickly as he shot her. "You shut your damn mouth! Just charge the Key and…"**

 **A loud explosion forced his attention away. Ruby had arrived with a giant skeptical. She leapt down onto the stone, the new angle showing the viewers that they were surrounded by lava. Ruby glared toward Jaune. "Jack… It's time to finish this."**

 **Jaune turned away from Glynda, pure hate in his eyes but a smile on his face. "You're a little late. That Key will charge, and the Warrior is going to wake up. I'll use its power to fix this shithole of a world. But first, I'm going to avenge my daughter." He disappeared and three copies appeared after a moment, two of them being hard light holograms that could help him fight.**

Ruby gushed over the weapons, but still felt bad. "I don't like this one…"

 **Ruby raised her mechanical arm and a large robot digitized into form. A large torso with bladed arms floating in front of her, a death bot she designed and built herself. A small series of letters labeled it as [C-ROSE].**

Ruby's gushing overriding her previous statement, "That's Crescent Rose?! That's so cool!"

 **Ruby fired her weapon while her bot put work into the clones. Jaune was putting up a decent fight, but Ruby was hardened by Pandora's hellscape. Even with his technological advantage, Jaune was being pushed back. Ruby and her robot soon broke down his shields and knocking him back, covered in his own blood.**

 **He struggled to stand, looking up to the Key. It had reconnected, a sigh that it was complete. "I'm not going to die here! Not after all this!" He slammed the Key into place and Glynda fell next to him, a bubble forming around them.**

 **The earth around them shook and lava shot up from its resting place. A giant claw of stone grabbed onto the archway and pulled up the massive body. It was a giant reptilian creature made of rock and magma, towering over everything else on the planet. As it roared out, lava slipped between its stone fangs onto the stone.**

"Is that the Warrior thing?" Ruby shook in her chair.

 **Jaune got up onto his knees, shouting out to the beast, "WARRIOR!" With its attention on him, he gave it its command. "Kill."**

Ozpin's eyes narrowed, "It seems so."

 **The Warrior roared and rose a claw into the air before slamming it onto the stone, causing the lava around it to rise up in a burst. Ruby dodged the falling molten rock and fired a few rounds up toward the Warrior, only for the bullets to bounce off its armored body. The Warrior swung its tail toward Ruby, knocking her into the air. Her robot flew up to catch her and found the tail knocking them both down to the ground again.**

 **Ruby growled and swapped her weapon with a large rocket launcher. She fired a shell and knocked the armor on its chest loose, giving her an idea. "Crescent Rose! Attack the chest!"**

 **The robot reared its arms up and charged a wave of energy before firing it out in a massive bolt of energy, knocking the Warrior off balance.**

Ruby jumped up and cheered, "Yes! Show that thing who's boss!"

 **Jaune roared, "What are you doing, Warrior! Don't let them get to you like that! Duck and weave!"**

 **The Warrior roared and slammed its tail into a stone pillar, knocking large stones toward Ruby. With her distracted, it lowered itself back into the lava around it. When it reappeared, its chest had reformed to normal. Rearing back one large attack, however, Ruby capitalized by breaking the chest stone again. This allowed Crescent Rose to charge up toward the Warrior's exposed weakness and slam a set of energy claws into the beast. The Warrior was knocked back and swung its body around to get the robot off its chest. As it did, Ruby grabbed a sniper rifle from her Echo's digitized storage and leveled the gun toward the giant. After a moment to line up her shot, she fired the first bullet in the chamber toward the beast, over Crescent Rose's shoulder, and straight into the Warrior's chest. The bullet ricocheted off the stone body within and tore up the Warrior from the inside.**

Ruby jumped up in her chair, "YES!" A shot like that was too awesome not to celebrate.

 **As it roared in pain, Jaune slammed his fists on the energy bubble protecting him. "NO! NO! THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!"**

 **Glynda had to laugh, if a bit weakly. "Then you haven't been paying attention. Vault Hunters have a knack for doing the impossible."**

Ruby was still celebrating the shot.

Yang sat back and grinned, "That's pretty cool. Maybe we're Vault Hunters." She looked over to her team. They did do a lot of things that most students didn't dare to in their year.

 **The Warrior fell onto the stone, its body dissipating slowly. Ruby was breathing heavily before she smirked.**

 **The bubble fell away and Jaune fell onto the stone beneath him. "No… This can't be happening! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!"**

 **As Crescent Rose disappeared, Ruby walked up toward Jaune and Glynda. "It's over, Jack."**

 **Jaune coughed, blood falling onto the stone. "I can't die like this… Not on this damned planet!"**

 **A memory flashed on the screen. It showed a very young Jaune hiding away inside a home of some sort. The wall opened next to him to show another room, a large shadow formed across the far side. The shadow was that of his grandmother, holding her favorite disciplinary weapon, her buzzax.**

Glynda stiffened remembering the buzzaxes they'd seen, "Why would she…"

Port sighed. "It would seem this version of Mr. Arc was an abused child. A regrettable phenomenon of life."

Oobleck nodded, "It would explain his demeanor as well. Without any sense of control as a child, he would likely try to force it upon others."

Salem clutched onto her chair in anger that anyone would treat a child like that.

 **"I've lost too much!"**

 **A new memory showed Jaune's wife disintegrating from their daughter's powers. Jaune was reaching out to her, only to find empty air.**

Tai felt that one. A little too much. He knew the pain of losing a loved one, though he knew it would hurt even more having to see it.

 **"I've come too far!"**

 **The memory for this was an old, rotund man (not Port) standing behind a desk. This man, who called himself the Meriff (mayor and sheriff put together)…**

Cue a chuckle at how dumb that is.

 **… had just tried to shoot Jaune in the back. Jaune had tracked him down as a betrayer that sold out Hyperion's moon base. Despite it, Jaune was going to let him live. A flash and the Meriff was against the glass window behind him with blood splattering ouward.**

 **"I can't die here!"**

 **The next memory showed Jaune standing in a control room on Hyperion's moon base as Yang, Ozpin, and Glynda sabotaged his work, causing massive destruction and damage to the base. Everything destroyed in the pursuit of his death. This was before the era of Jack, when he was just a Hyperion programmer trying to save the moon from destruction at the hands of the militaristic Dahl corporation.**

Qrow groaned, "I think I see what's going on… What turned him into that."

Roman nodded, his hat obscuring his eyes, "No sense of trust because everyone around him was trying to kill him."

 **"I saw the end! I'm suppose to wake the Warrior and bring order!"**

 **The memory showed Jaune sitting in a throne in another vault. It showed him the future, the Vault Key, even the Warrior. To him, it was his destiny. However, Glynda had appeared and seared the symbol of the Vaults, the arch, into his face, scaring him for life.**

Mercury nodded, "That explains the mask then."

 **The memories faded and showed Jaune again. "Not at the hands of some bandit! I could have saved this planet. I could have restored order! And I wasn't supposed to die to some CHILD KILLING PSYCHOPATH!"**

 **Ruby held up a Jakobs revolver, a powerful hand cannon designed for massive damage dealt.**

 **Jaune swayed, his blood loss creeping up on him, "** ** _You're_** **a savage…** ** _You_** **are a maniac!" His voice became more pained, rage filling him. "YOU ARE A BANDIT! AND I! AM THE GODDAMN HERO!" He silenced as a bullet flew through his body and ripped apart what life he had left.**

Everyone heard a ringing in their ears with this. But none more so that Jaune. All it took was five words. Five words that shook him to his core. _I am the goddamn hero._ Jaune always wanted to be a hero, to live up to his family name, to protect people. This, however, forced him to fear what would happen if he ever took it too far. If he ever formed a hero complex and a need to force peace on others. He thought he'd seen everything that could haunt him on that screen. Then, he heard those five words.

 **Ruby placed her weapon away. Qrow and Raven ran into the area, slowing from shock at what they saw. As they ran over to help Glynda walk, Ruby looked down toward Jaune's dead body.**

 **Glynda called back to her, "Hey! You coming, Killer?"**

 **Ruby shook her head. "I'll be back later. I have something I need to do first."**

 **"Don't take too long." Glynda was walked off by her old comrades, leaving Ruby alone.**

 **Ruby walked over to Jaune's body and knelt down next to him. She was silent, looking down toward Jaune's blank eyes.**

Ozpin took a slow breath, "A moment of introspection then?"

 **Ruby huffed and stood again. "I hope you burn in Hell,** ** _hero_** **," she said mockingly. She kicked him down onto a lower surface of stone as the lava started to rise.**

Ironwood sighed, "Or not."

 **Jaune's pocket watch was knocked open, showing a hologram of Jaune before he became Jack. Before Pandora, before Sirens, before it all. He had his daughter on his shoulders with his wife by his side. It was the last time he could genuinely smile.**

This… this hurt. It reminded them all that _anyone_ could become a monster. Anyone could be broken down and anyone can fall if they weren't careful.

 **The lava rose, slowly enveloping Jaune's body. As the flames licked at the watch, the image started to short out, the image shaking before shattering. This was end of an era on Pandora. Pain led Jaune to Hyperion, betrayal turned him into Jack, and death was the result of it all.**

The screen went black again, ending the viewing.

Jaune shook in his chair, needing deep breaths to keep it together. A hand placed on his shoulder made him jump. He looked over to see his team, looking toward him in concern. Something about them calmed him better than anything else on Remnant. He let out a breath and smiled. He would make sure he never turned out like that, and an Arc never goes back on his word.


	116. Sins of the Diamond Passed upon the Ruby

**King: Sweet shit! This took forever!**

 **Knox: No kidding. You have fun?**

 **King: I did, yes. Word of warning, though, I did cut it down by a lot. Only two songs made it in because they were my favorites and important to the story overall. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter. Let's do this!**

 **Inspiration: Steven Universe Movie**

 **/\**

The screen started to glow again, getting all of their attentions back after last time.

Nora bounced a bit in her chair, because she's Nora, "I wonder what we'll get this time."

Yang sat back with a grin, "Guess we're about to find out."

 **The screen started black for a moment before lighting up a bright, gem-like blue. A silhouette appeared after a moment to reveal Ruby Rose as she hopped down from a small platform. She was dressed in an old bomber jacket along with her shirt and shorts. A large star was emblazoned on the front of her shirt as well.**

Yang's eyes narrowed a second before going wide, "Wait a sec… Is that the gem world?"

Jaune wasn't there, so he was confused, "What?"

Knox appeared after a moment to address Yang, "Good eye. This is the world with the Gems. For those who weren't there, it's a world with extra-terrestrial lifeforms called Gems. They appear as humanoid beings identified by the gemstones embedded in their bodies."

Jaune winced a bit, "Sounds painful."

"By Remnant logic, it would."

 **Ruby stretched and walked along to an old beach house. As she approached, she noticed her team, The Crystal Gems, standing nearby. The first member of the team was Weiss, a graceful pearl who grew passed her old life of servitude to give her the power to live her way. Though a bit taller than the version in the one in the stands, she wore a more casual outfit with capri pants, a blouse, and short jacket. Her gem was set at the base of her neck, like a pendant from a necklace.**

Weiss felt a certain kinship with her counterpart. Though she never lived a life in real servitude, she did know what it was like to have to break away from the life that was forced upon her.

She didn't realize it, but she was hitting the nail on the head with her analogy.

Nora groaned, though, "Aw… I thought we'd get to see Seraph."

This just confused Jaune even more.

 **The second looked similar to Yang, long hair and all. However, she was stunted a bit in height, being similar height to Ruby. She was dressed in a sport shirt and shorts, giving off a more punk vibe than the others. Her gem was set under her bust and shown off through a torn section of her shirt.**

Yang chuckled, "That's different. Looks pretty cool though."

Ruby was celebrating to herself for being a similar height to her sister for once.

 **The final member of the group towered over all of them. She was a woman that exuded power and a calm visage. Dressed in what looked like a full leotard that somehow also covered her feet like boots. Her sleeves formed together and wrapped around the middle finger on each hand. Both her ring fingers also wore metal bands of green and pink. Her dark hair was tipped by a light orange. This was the Garnet calling herself Lyn, a fusion of the two gems that named themselves Nora and Ren, a ruby and a sapphire respectively.**

Yang snickered before her laughter escaped, "So, Ruby isn't a ruby, but Ren is?"

Tai had to laugh a little too, "It _is_ pretty funny."

 **It's been years since they last had to fight the forces of the gem Home World. It was years since Ruby was taken to the world of gems to confront the Diamonds, the three surviving leaders of the Gems as a race and empire. Years since Ruby learned these Diamonds were once four in number. As they were listed, each version appeared on the screen.**

 **White. A giant woman dressed in a long white dress. Everything about her seem immaculate and bright. To those that knew her, she appeared as Glynda Goodwitch.**

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. It was a little odd seeing Glynda as what could only be described as an imperial leader, possibly tyrant.

 **Yellow. A large, but not was tall as White, version of Raven sat upon a golden throne. She radiated a sense of power and strength.**

Yang shook her head, a little annoyed.

 **Blue. A large woman resembling one Willow Schnee in a blue dress reaching to the floor. Her hair wrapped around over her bust as she seemed… tired? No, that wasn't it. It was a sorrowed face, one that knew anguish and empathy.**

Weiss blinked in surprise before letting out a slight sigh. Her home life wasn't great for anyone there, especially her mother who retreated into a bottle of wine.

 **And finally, Pink. The visage of Summer Rose appeared for a moment. She still had her cape and silver like eyes, but she dressed in something more akin to the others.**

Ruby blinked in surprise. "Right. Okay, another version," She had to remind herself. "She's not the Rose Quartz."

 **Pink Diamond chose to protect the life on Earth from the other Gems by masking herself as Rose Quartz and becoming a revolution leader.**

"Or… she is?"

 **But Ruby was able to return the hope they felt they lost when they believed Pink Diamond was shattered. She brought peace to the Gems and even helped them learn more about simple things like please and thank you. In time, they were able to break down the militaristic society. Since then, the Crystal Gems lived in peace for so long on their little blue planet in the milky way galaxy. Their own little happily ever after.**

 **But that was about to change again. As they climbed up a cliff overlooking the ocean (** which made the Neptune in the viewing seats seize up in fear **) something that resembled a giant, gem-corked potion bottle appeared through the clouds and descended to the ground.**

Jaune recoiled in surprise, "What the heck it that thing?"

Nora shrugged, "We didn't see anything like that before. Just the giant hand ship."

"The what?"

Weiss felt her eye twitch, "A spaceship in the shape of a giant hand. That _somehow_ still worked!" She wasn't happy about that because it made no sense to her.

 **A set of three mechanical legs took position in the ground of the sloping land. Something on top of the device stepped forward. They couldn't tell much about it, only that it held up a horn of some kind and let the tone flow over the area. The bottom of the giant bottle opened and a large drill head impaled the ground, the glowing pinkish-purple liquid starting to drain into the earth.**

"That can't be good." Qrow sighed.

 **The figure jumped down from the top of the bottle, landing on the mechanical base holding the container. They could now see the details and appearance of the person. He wore a black shirt, dark pink pants, and gloves. His brighter pink shoes curled up like that of a jester's. A white cape flowed off his pointed shoulder armor. His blonde hair was disheveled and wild. His heart-shaped gem was placed in the center of his chest, upside down. He looked down upon the Crystal Gems with a mad grin.**

Ruby shrunk a bit in her chair, "That's Jaune?"

Jaune felt there was something about that mask he couldn't place yet. He didn't have all the pieces, after all.

 **Jaune stood, the proportions of his body finally unveiled. His limbs were more noddle-like than actual limbs. To some, he looked like a magician straight out of the rubber-hose cartoons. "Well, well, well, well~" Jaune clapped his hands together and spread them apart to reveal a telescope. He brought the item to his eye, "What have we here?" The camera moved to show the group as he spoke, "You must be the one going by Yang."**

 **Yang's eyes narrowed. She didn't like the way he was acting.**

 **"That makes you the Garnet. What was it again? Lyn?"**

 **Lyn clenched her fists and got ready for a fight.**

 **Jaune continued, "Oh! And what's this? Why, if it isn't Weiss, Summer's personal Pearl."**

Weiss raised an eyebrow hearing that. "Okay, so I worked for Ruby's mother in this reality?"

Blake chuckled a bit, "Looks like it."

 **They could hear frustration building in Jaune's voice. "I see she brought** ** _you_** **along! Isn't that just… swell." He said that last bit through a clenched smile.**

Yang crossed her arms and sat back, "So, he knew mom in this one as well?"

Ruby felt a pang of pain, though. Something about the way he said that was concerning to her.

 **Weiss was wide eyed, as though she'd seen a ghost. "It can't be…"**

 **Jaune chuckled. "Oh, but it can be, and it is!" Jaune's body seemed to stretch and contort with each movement, very reminiscent of the cartoons his body seemed to suggest.**

Ozpin felt a certain nostalgia. His past life, Oliver (yes, he saw the pattern), had been there for the rise of these animations. It was a way to distract the people from the Grimm threats and help them cope. In the end, it proved to be very effective and quite helpful. These old cartoons brought enough joy into their lives that the Grimm weren't as drawn to the larger settlements.

 **Jaune grinned and ran his hand through his wild hair, "I got a new style," he moved his hand to tap the thick glass of the bottle, "and a few new toys to put an end to your happily ever after! Once and for all!" His anger grew as he started to shout.**

 **Ruby moved forward to try to dissolve the situation, "Woah, woah, woah. Let's all calm down. I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding. I don't know if you heard, but I was able to settle peace in…"**

 **Jaune interrupted her, "Oh! I heard." Jaune's anger was boiling over, causing the telescope in his hands to bend into a curve. "I've had your little message to the universe… ON LOOP!" Jaune had turned the metal item into a ring, which he through at Ruby, knocking her down and back toward her friends.**

Yang appreciated the pun. Not so much the hitting Ruby.

 **The Gems all drew their weapons, now knowing this was truly a threat that needed to be faced. Lyn drew a pair of short axes, Yang had her gauntlets, and Weiss drew her rapier. Music was starting to well in the background as well.**

 **Jaune drew back with a small laugh. "I love that part~ Where the mighty Summer, Pink Diamond, spends the rest of her days on this nowhere planet!" His arms drew back before curling around into a pair of springs.**

This caused a few in wince at the implication, but it passed quickly since he didn't seem to be affected by it.

 **Jaune jumped and turned his arms to the ground to jump off the platform, "with a bunch of nobodies!" He leapt into the air, and his song began.**

 **The music seemed to swap to a jazzier tune, following his theme with the old cartoons.**

 **"** ** _That's right I heard the story! Over and over again!_** **"**

 **Jaune bounced along the ground, his body bending to move toward Ruby without using his legs. Jaune stopped directly in front of Ruby, bouncing in place and swing his arms. Again, think old animation.**

 **"** ** _Gee, it's swell to finally meet her other friends~!_** **"**

Tai was tapping his heel on the ground in anxious thought. "So, he knew Summer, he didn't know most of them, and only Weiss knew him. I feel like there's something else going on."

"He seems kind of crazy, if you ask me." Winter didn't see anything else it could be.

 **Jaune moved next to Lyn, who tried to attack him only to find him bending his body around the attacks.**

 **"** ** _That's right! I heard the story, don't really like how it ends._** **"**

 **He bent around a confused Weiss before flicking her nose and bouncing away.**

This got a chuckle out of her team.

 **Jaune swung around behind Yang, grabbed her hair and pulled it over her head to cover her eyes and disorient her.**

 **"** ** _Gee, it's swell to finally meet her other friends._** **"**

The scene made Yang angry, but she also knew it was a fight. So long as her hair was undamaged, she was fine.

 **Jaune's arms stretched out and grabbed Weiss before jumping up to wrap his rubbery body around one of the base's legs. He held her up by her feet and toyed with her like an upside-down puppet. His neck stretched out to address his captive face to face as he did so.**

 **"** ** _What did she say about me, what did she say?_** **"**

Coco winced a little, "The way he's moving is actually kind of creepy."

 **Jaune dropped Weiss and flipped over to Yang. He slinked underneath and between her legs, knocking onto her back as he slid to the side with his feet remaining beneath her and juggling her like a pair of trampolines.**

 **"** ** _What did you do without me, what did you do?_** **"**

 **Jaune jumped off again and grabbed Lyn before wrapping her in a pair of white and gold ribbons. Jaune spun her around to disorient her and knock her back onto his wavy arms, lightly bouncing her about without letting her get her bearings.**

 **"** ** _Did you play games without me, what did you play?_** **"**

Tai's eyes narrowed a little, "It sounds like he got left behind."

"It seems unreasonable so far." Ironwood crossed his arms and sat back in his chair. "Their society was said to be militaristic. If she was one of these leaders, I doubt she'd have the time to keep track of everything."

 **Jaune slinked off and snaked across the ground extremely quickly toward Ruby. When he reached her, he popped up off the ground, his limbs stretched out to seem larger and more imposing than his cartoonish body seemed normally.**

 **"** ** _Did you think after all this time I wouldn't find out about you?!_** **"**

 **Jaune's limbed spread apart again between the four. His legs wrapped around two while he directly grabbed the other two. He twisted his body to pull the four together and slam their heads together. He then released them and used his coiled form to propel him over to the nearby lighthouse and perch atop the roof, looking down toward them on all fours.**

 **"** ** _Oh! That's right I heard the story over and over again. Gee, it's swell to finally meet her other friends._** **"**

 **Lyn shook off the attack and got back up to a knee, "He's running circles around us."**

 **Yang got up just a little slower, "I'm rusty. Give me a break."**

Tai shook his head, "Even if they were at peace, they should always be prepared. At the very least training."

Everyone that used to training regimens all nodded in understanding.

 **Weiss picked herself off the ground, still in shock, "It really is him… But he can't be serious."**

 **Ruby noticed what Weiss was saying and turned to her and back to Jaune, "You know him? Can you tell us who he is?"**

 **Hearing that just seemed to anger Jaune even further. His eyes, at least the one they could see, turned to pinpricks and he shook in rage.**

 **"** ** _Who am I? Who am I?! What are you even saying? I'm the loser of the game you didn't know you were playing!_** **"**

Ruby was just confused even more, "What does that even mean?"

 **"** ** _Let's play another game! This time I get to win!_** **"**

 **A small handle-like object appeared from within Jaune's gem. He held it and snapped a button to cause the top to extend upward into a full staff.**

 **"** ** _Lives on the line! Winner takes all! Ready or not let's begin!_** **"**

 **The crystal at the end of the staff emitted glowing pink energy that crackled into the shape of a scythe blade on one side and the counter balance on the other.**

Now Ruby got to gush again. "Oh my gosh! That's so cool! Can we make something like that?! Concentrated hard light dust, maybe? But how much would I need?" Ruby was lost to her own mind at this point, trying to figure out how such a weapon could be made real.

 **Jaune jumped off the lighthouse and into the middle of the group, twirling the blade around to force them all apart again.**

 **"** ** _Oh! I heard the story over and over again! Gee, it's swell to finally beat her other friends!_** **"**

Mercury nodded, "Nice progression from the beginning."

 **Jaune kicked Ruby away and swung at the other three who were able to keep their distance. The way he twirled the scythe reminded many of them of the way Ruby would, though his weapon was significantly smaller than hers.**

 **"** ** _That's right! I heard the story, don't really like how it ends._** **"**

 **Jaune jumped forward toward the drill, his boots hooking on the surface to allow him to bend around the drill and back toward the three. Weiss was just able to duck the attack as he continued to fly forward. His legs stretched all the way to the lighthouse and allowed him to wrap around the building three times to reach the top.**

 **"** ** _Gee, its swell to finally beat her other…_** **"**

 **The tension in his legs began to snap his body back around his course.**

Blake, whose weapon utilized a similar elastic property in her ribbon, could see where this was going, "Oh… that can't be good."

 **"** ** _Other… Other Friends!_** **"**

 **All three had tried to gather to challenge him, but his movements were too fast. One slash was all it took to bisect all three. The world slowed a bit to show their bodies splitting in half before bursting into smoke.**

Jaune didn't know about the Gem's characteristics, so he panicked a bit. "Oh my gosh!"

Yang waved him back down, "It's fine. The Gem's bodies are the actual gemstones. The rest is like a light construct or something. As long as the gem is okay, they can come back."

 **Four gemstones fell in front of Ruby, who was still from shock for a moment. She snapped back to reality in time for Jaune to close the gap and run the blade down her body to seemingly no effect.**

Jaune blinked in confusion, "Wait, why did nothing happen?"

Blake tapped her seat a bit, "Must be like the other Gem things. They were designed to work on their own race rather than humans. And this Ruby is half human, so it might not work very well."

Gira gave a single nod of his head in understanding, "Meaning the weapon is likely for either discipline or fighting dissidents. Since their bodies are actually the gems instead of what we see."

Kali thought it through a moment to reach the same conclusion as her husband. "Like forcing a timeout."

Yang winced at the thought of that, "Heck of a timeout."

 **Jaune was caught off guard, but started to swing the weapon wildly into Ruby, all to no effect. Ruby grabbed the weapon with both hands, leaving the two in a clash of will over who will control the weapon. Jaune's mad smile never faltered, however, "So, you don't go poof. That's interesting."**

 **Ruby hoped he could be reasoned with, "Why are you doing this?! It doesn't make any sense! Gem space is at peace!"**

 **Jaune laughed in her face, "I know all about it! You're this great hero to all of Gem kind! But I wonder, did you start out as a hero?!"**

 **Ruby knew she had to poof him and get her friends back to somewhere safe. Given the situation, there was only one way to do that. She pushed the weapon forward, bashing Jaune's chest and wrestling the weapon out of his hands. She swung the scythe and cut Jaune from his waist to the opposite shoulder. But his face… His face was stuck in his knowing and malicious grin. His body poofed soon after as his pink heart-shaped gemstone fell to the ground.**

Blake felt a chill run up her body. "Did… did he want that to happen?"

"Why would he want that to happen?" Ruby racked her brain to make any sense of that.

 **Ruby walked over, her breathing heavy, and kneeled next to the gem. "Better put you in a bubble so you can't cause any more trouble." She held out her hand and a pink bubble formed around Jaune's gem, only to pop soon after. "What?" She tried to force it again, but to the same effect. "What in the world?"**

Weiss's face soured a bit, "It must disrupt powers. Causing them to lose their forms."

Blake nodded in agreement, "It would explain why she's okay, but her powers aren't working."

 **Ruby growled but knew she couldn't things like this. "Guess I'm doing this the old-fashioned way." She walked around, picking up each of the gems, including Jaune's, and made her way to her beachside home. She placed each gem on the table and sighed.**

 **The door swung open to show a panting Taiyang. "Ruby! What happened?! Are you okay?!"**

 **"I'm fine dad."**

 **Tai, despite being a normal human, had become accustomed to the life of the Gems. He did everything he could to be supportive and help in any way he could. He didn't have the powers or the crazy experience the ageless Gems did, but he did what he could.**

Tai nodded with a smile, "Sometimes, that's all you _can_ do as a dad."

Gira nodded as well in understanding, "Just being there for your children."

 **Tai walked over to the table and looked toward the heart-shaped gem. "Is that the one behind that big thing on the cliff?"**

 **"Yeah. That's him." Ruby sulked by the table. Her friends were all poofed and her powers were acting wonky. She wasn't sure what to think at that moment.**

 **Tai placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Hey, cheer up. Just you watch, they'll do that thing where they pop back to us in no time." He picked up Weiss's pearl as if to help his point.**

 **This then led to Weiss's gem to start to glow.**

Roman chuckled, "That was fast. Seemed like the kind of thing that would take longer."

 **The gem floated up, surrounded by an ethereal shell. Her voice carried though the gem with a glow effect, "** ** _Hello. Please input preferred customization preferences._** **" She sounded almost robotic and lacking in the emotion she'd had previously.**

Weiss felt her body go cold, "I have a bad feeling about this."

 **Tai was taken aback. "Okay… that's new."**

 **"** ** _Please state preferred customization preferences._** **"**

 **"Uh… I don't know."**

 **"** ** _Default customization selected. What may I call you?_** **"**

 **Tai looked to Ruby, who just shrugged. This had never happened before, so it was hard to make any sense of what was happening. Tai turned back to the gem, "Tai…?"**

 **"** ** _Understood. Standby._** **" The gem floated to the ground with the clam shell opening as her form returned to her body. Her attire and style all took on a more formal appearance with tinges of pink throughout. Ruby recognized it from an old memory Weiss held. It was her clothing when she was in service to her mother as Pink Diamond.**

"Makes sense for the time…" Ironwood looked it over like a uniform. "Not good for combat by our measures, but I can see it for someone working a civilian job."

"But why does she have that particular attire?" Winter couldn't shake the feeling something was wrong.

 **Ruby was too excited to have her friend back to care about her clothes, though. "Weiss! You're okay!" She ran over to her and hugged the Pearl, but the embrace went unreturned.**

 **Weiss's head tilted slightly, "My apologies, but I am unfamiliar with that name."**

Cue the chill and uncertainty.

 **Ruby's eyes shot open and she held Weiss at arm's length, "What are you…"**

 **Weiss smiled as though nothing was wrong, "I am the Pearl formed in service to the one called Tai."**

 **Tai had to have heard that wrong, "What? What are you talking about? What's going on?"**

 **"I can explain it if you wish." Weiss stepped away from Ruby and bowed lightly toward Tai, "I am a Pearl, a Gem born for the purpose to serve."**

"Wait, what?" Ruby's head tilted a bit in confusion, "What does that mean? No one's _born_ to do anything. That's not how it works."

"For humans and faunas, you would be correct." Ozpin took a somber sip from his mug. However, they are neither. They're living gemstones. And I doubt that they go through the stages of infancy and childhood."

Glynda turned to the headmaster to ask, "You think they're born fully formed?"

"Given their biology…"

"Or geology," Yang snickered.

Ozpin sighed, but continued, "It's unlikely they go through something akin to our physical growth. It wouldn't be a stretch to think that each of these Gems is created with a specific purpose in mind. Perhaps they are even preprogramed."

"Then…" Qrow placed his flask away, the moment washing over him, "She lost her memories and defaulted to her original state?"

 **Tai shook his head, "I'm still lost. Weiss, what are you talking about?"**

 **Weiss blinked before releasing he was talking to her, "Oh. Is that the name you wish to address me as? I will recognize myself as such now." Another gem, a red ruby, started to glow. Weiss smiled, "Oh! I see other Gems are also here."**

 **The ruby formed into the shape of the one they call Nora. She snapped to attention and saluted, "Ruby warrior, cut 7-Nova-0-Ray-Alfa!" She was dressed in old combat attire that matched her gemstone.**

Ironwood tapped his chair, thinking that one over. "Must be similar to the military alphabet. So, it's 7-N-0-R-A."

Nora's head tilted back a bit, "Oh! I get it now."

 **Weiss turned to Tai, gesturing toward Nora behind her, "The ruby is designed as a foot soldier and/or a bodyguard." She turned her head around to glance toward the returned Nora, "It's odd though, rubies often work in teams of three or more. It's so strange to see one on its own."**

 **The sapphire started to glow as well. Ren formed soon after, dressed as though he was something similar to a prince or a high official. Like Nora, his clothing was the same color of his gemstone.**

 **Weiss nodded in understanding, "I see. A sapphire would explain why the ruby is nearby. You see, sapphires are quite helpful thanks to their ability to see the future. No doubt the one the ruby is duty bound to protect."**

Nora gasped, "He can see the future?!"

Ren blinked in surprise. "But… how?"

 **Nora swung her body around to face Ren and saluted, "That is correct! I vow to defend you with my very gem! I will do whatever is necessary to do so."**

 **Ren nodded, rather cold in his demeanor. "I know you will. And that's why you won't last the day."**

Yang winced in an exaggerated way, "Damn! That's cold. Ice Queen might have to give up her title."

Weiss felt her eye twitch.

 **The Amethyst gem started to float up before revealing Yang, who fell onto the couch nearby. Her eyes seemed blank, without any experience or even the programing of the others. Everything, including her attire, seemed less developed than the other Gems in the room.**

 **Weiss recoiled a bit and leaned to examine Yang, "Peculiar. Amethysts are supposed to be much larger. Something clearly went wrong with this one."**

 **Yang didn't seem offended. She just sat there, as if she could just barely understand what was happening.**

"So, what's up with me then?" Yang sat forward, a little insulted for her counterpart.

 **The last gem on the table started to glow now.**

This got the viewers on edge. The only Gem left on that table was Jaune, and he didn't exactly seem friendly.

 **The body formed as a bright pink silhouette, his heart-shaped gem slowly turning right side up again. Jaune's body solidified soon after. His rougher edges had smoothed out and his body seemed brighter. His shirt turned white and his pinks lightened up compared to his previous appearance. His mask had filled out over his entire face, showing a more jovial smile similar to that of laughter. Jaune brought his hand to his mask before removing it to show his smiling face. There was no sense of malus or hate, for once he had an earnest smile.**

 **Weiss chuckled a bit, turning to Ruby, "And lucky you. A spinel. They're quite rare these days, and a perfect cut no less~ A special Gem designed as the perfect playmate and friend."**

 **Jaune gave a thumbs up with a big grin.**

"So, he got set back and became happy again?" Nora sat back down and tilted her head from side to side.

"He lost his memories as well…" Ren's eyes fell slightly, "It means that something caused him to become what we saw before. But what?"

 **Ruby, who hadn't figured out they'd all been reset, turned hostile, "You! What did you do to everyone?! Why aren't my powers working?!" She grabbed Jaune by the collar and tried to lift him up, but he was already taller than her.**

 **Jaune just tilted his head, "What do you mean?"**

 **Ruby growled and pulled the laser scythe from her pocket, "What is this thing?! What did it do?!"**

 **Jaune just shrugged. "I don't know."**

 **Ruby growled, pushing him away. His cartoony body made it so he didn't really notice, but she didn't care enough right now. "Dang it." She returned the item to her pocket. "Let's try asking Coco and the others. Maybe they know what happened… Come on, guys."**

Coco raised an eyebrow from behind her glasses, "Oh? So I'm a Gem too, huh? Wonder what kind."

 **As Ruby started to leave, only Nora, Ren, and Jaune were following her. "Weiss? Yang?"**

 **Weiss was following after Tai, much to his annoyance. She was trying to do everything for him and he was trying to tell her to stop, to no avail. Meanwhile, Yang was just sitting on the couch, not realizing what was happening.**

 **Ruby sighed in defeat and realized it might be better to leave them somewhere safe at least. She continued off again, the shine in the door acting to transition her travel to a town under construction, complete with unfinished tower. Ruby was now standing in front of Coco as she examined Nora and Ren.**

 **Coco was dressed in a full set of forge gear, which makes sense because she was the Crystal Gems' resident forge master.**

Coco raised her eyebrow, "Well, that's different. I figured Ruby for the one that would work forges. Seems more her alley than mine."

"In our world, at least." Velvet nodded. "But this isn't ours."

"I know. But still."

 **Coco stood up again, showing she was easily the same height as the now separated Lyn. "They really don't remember us?"**

 **Ruby shook her head. "Ever since they got poofed by this thing." Ruby handed Coco the collapsed scythe.**

 **Coco, however, didn't take it, taking in a sharp breath. "Ooh…"**

 **"You know what it is?"**

 **"Nasty, that's what. It's a weapon designed to erase memories and force Gems to start from the beginning again. It was supposed to be an anti-rebellion weapon designed to turn dissident Gems back to their most basic programing, robbing them of all their memories of fighting back."**

Cinder felt that would actually be rather handy, though she had to lament she'd never have that kind of power. Her underlings also knew she'd love to have that kind of power. However, unlike her, they didn't like the idea.

 **Emerald took the weapon from Ruby. She was dressed in attire of full green and black with a yellow visor over her eyes. "Coco is correct about everything but one. The item was never put into larger practice. This is a custom device that had to have been made thousands of years ago." No one questioned her logic as Emerald was a former engineer in the Gem's empire structure. She tended to know a lot when it came to Home World technology.**

 **Neptune walked up behind her, looking over her shoulder, "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Mercury was dressed in a deep-sea blue, standard fare for a Lapis.**

Mercury chuckled, "So, Emerald _is_ an emerald?"

Emerald just rolled her eyes choosing to start ignoring him again.

 **Jaune tried to amuse Ruby to help get her mind off of what was stressing her, but she just pushed him away. "How can we fix them?"**

 **Jaune was trying his hardest to be the best friend, as was his programming, and this led him to end up helping. "Why not just put them back together?"**

 **Ruby turned to Jaune, a concerned look on her face, but one that had some level of hope. "What?"**

 **"Well, if they're broken, why not put them back together? Like a puzzle. You know, put the little pieces together so they get the picture!"**

 **Ruby let what he just said wash over before responding, "That… might actually work. If we get them to relive their lives until now, they might snap back to normal."**

 **Emerald popped up between the two to get Ruby back down to reality, "Are you nuts?! We're thousands of years old! That'll take forever!"**

Qrow couldn't help but laugh. "Kids look pretty good for being at least quadruple digits."

 **Ruby didn't let that get to her though, "Then we better start now." She glanced toward Nora and Ren, having Nora move in front of Ren to defend. Ruby turned back to the group that still remembered her, "I'm betting that we don't need to go over everything, but that we just need to go over the important bits. If we can get them to fuse again, maybe that'll jolt them back to normal."**

 **"Easier said than done. Right now, they see each other in separate stations. If want them to relive it, it'll need to be under similar circumstances."**

 **Emerald thought for a moment, "If I remember the story…" she walked over to a large container, holding various items she'd collected or built, "then they need be put under threat. If we can threaten them, then it should subconsciously return their instincts to fuse."**

 **Ruby did not like that idea, "What?!"**

The people in the audience didn't like the idea either.

Glynda huffed and sat back in her chair, "I can't imagine that actually working."

Port disagreed, however, "On the contrary, I can see the principle in question. I don't condone the action, but I can see the logic. It's about exploiting the instincts they possess, something that wouldn't be erased with memories.

 **Emerald tossed a knife away before finding a large industrial saw, "Here we go!" She pushes the saw into Ruby's hands.**

 **Ruby remained indignant, though, "I'm not going to threaten them with this!"**

 **Emerald looked over the item, "Good point. We need to turn it on." She pressed the button to start the item, causing it to start to spin. "That should do it! Plenty threatening."**

 **Coco placed a hand on the shaking Ruby, the weapon being a little more powerful than she'd expected, "Ruby, we're not asking you to actually hurt them. It just needs to be convincing."**

 **"Yeah!" Emerald gave Ruby an encouraging slap on the shoulder, causing her to drop the saw.**

Ruby was mad now, "That's a terrible weapon grip! You shouldn't have such a weak grip with a mechanical weapon!"

 **The saw blade embedded into the ground before gliding across the ground and into the tower's wall. The blade soon began to ascend the wall and cut into the scaffolding.**

Ruby felt every bone in her body, "It doesn't even have a dead man's switch?!"

Jaune turned to Ruby, a little concerned now, "A what?"

Ruby was fuming, but she still explained, "A button or a lever you have to hold to hold down in order to have something work. The idea being that if you lose your strength or let go, the machinery would stop to avoid accidents! Like what's happening right now!"

 **Nora got in front of Ren, but he tapped her shoulder, "I have no fear of this. The rubble will never strike me."**

 **Nora turned him, "What do you mean?"**

 **"The closest I will come to damage will be the iron rod that will bend and fly toward me, missing my head by a minor margin."**

 **As he spoke, one of the iron bars snapped and a piece flew passed his head only to miss by a hair or two. He didn't flinch, however, knowing it would never cause him harm.**

Nora gasped, "That was awesome! To be able to see the future and just stay still without flinching like that! Badass!"

 **Nora watched on, amazed, "Wow… That's amazing!"**

 **The previously cold Ren cracked a smile, deciding to show off now. "The barrels on the scaffolding will fall and the Bismuth will be able to catch two of the three."**

 **The large metal barrels fell as he said they would and showed Coco catching two before the third rolled away.**

Most of the room was genuinely amazed that someone could ever truly see the future.

 **Ren looked up toward the rest of the tower. "But this is where we will part ways. A large crack is forming in the scaffolding and a massive anvil will fall on top of you, shattering your gem."**

 **Cue the giant crack and the anvil leaning toward the edge.**

 **Nora looked up toward the anvil and saw that it wasn't leaning toward falling on her, but rather on Ren. Her eyes went wide and she spun to run toward him, pushing him away. The anvil was directly over him, with no hope of survival.**

Weiss had to take in a sharp breath, "So that's why he said she wouldn't last a day if she pledged to protect him."

Nora felt a certain pained emotion. On one hand, she was happy that she could get to protect him, but wasn't happy it would cost her everything.

 **Ren, as a sapphire, was supposed to be cold and focus on the good of the whole. This ruby was supposed to protect him and that's exactly what she did. Her purpose should he complete. But his hand reached out on instinct, pulling her away from her fate. He tried to save her no matter the means necessary. This caused the two to begin to glow before merging together into Lyn again.**

"Oh hey! It worked! And we both live~!" Nora giggled happily.

 **Lyn, as the reset version, looked more like a Hodgepodge of the two Gems that formed her. Everything about her was mismatched and clashing, a visual representation of her inner confusion at this new emotion. What could it be called? Perhaps it's love. However, even now, she wasn't quite whole.**

 **"Lyn!" Ruby shouted before she felt herself deflate a little. "Even after all that… It's obviously still not enough."**

Ren nodded with arms crossed, "That's actually a rather interesting way to tell, and it makes sense. If I remember from last time, the fused Gems combine into a new form with a distinct personality. If I had to guess, when her emotions are finally understood, the two colors and forms will truly merge into the version we saw before."

 **Ruby took a breath before steeling her resolve. "Okay… Maybe we can get Yang's memories first. I know her pretty well so it might be easier. Can you guys look after Lyn for now?"**

 **Coco sighed, but with a grin, "Don't worry about it. We got this. Good luck with Yang."**

 **Ruby nodded and walked off, followed closely by Jaune. A montage followed soon after of Ruby and Yang going through the city and surrounding area to recover her memories. Favorite foods, old hangouts, familiar faces. Until eventually, they return to the place where she was born from the rockface, a land called the Kindergarten.**

Port started to snicker before bursting out laughing. "Oh my goodness! Kindergarten?! They literally grow more of their species?"

Yang started to laugh as well. "Okay, that's funny."

 **Yang seemed to slowly grow with each as more pieces were added to her mind. Finally, with everything in place, her form started to glow before returning to her normal self. As she returned to the ground, she took a breath and placed a hand on her chest. "Good to be back!"**

 **"Yang!" Ruby ran forward to hug her friend.**

 **Yang grinned and her eyes were drawn off to the pink and white figure nearby, "What the… You!" She pulled Ruby to the side and drew her weapons.**

 **Ruby moved between the two to stop her, "Hang on, Yang! He doesn't remember anything that happened. That weird weapon scrambled everyone's memories. He's harmless right now."**

 **Jaune bounced up next to Ruby, "That's right! I'm Jaune! Ruby's best friend~"**

Ozpin tapped his finger on the table, "There's more going on here. Though it is a little unnerving that his sense of friendship is preprogrammed."

Penny nodded, "I am thankful such programming does not exist in my coding."

 **Yang paused a moment, her weapons disappearing. "Best friend, huh? That was a quick turnaround. I remember it took Emerald a month to stop trying to kill us."**

Mercury laughed a little.

 **Ruby sighed, "Right now, we need to focus on… the others…" Ruby trailed off, distracted by what she saw.**

 **In the distance, the large device Jaune had brought sat on the hillside. The area around it seemed to have grown dark, a miasma of death rising from the land. Everything about the area was twisted and unnatural.**

Cinder let out a breath, silently acknowledging she'd seen a place like that before. It reminded her of what many dubbed the Grimmlands. Though she didn't think there was an actual name to it.

 **The scene transitioned to Coco, Neptune, and Emerald working in the area near the device. Ruby ran up toward Emerald beside a console, "Emerald! What's going on?!"**

 **Emerald turned to them, a small smile cracking, "Oh hey! You got Yang back. Neat. You're all just in time for the end of the world."**

 **"What are you talking about?"**

 **Emerald handed Neptune a small orb with what looked like a visor. Neptune flew off on wings of water and toward the device again.**

Neptune tensed up. It was hard not to, given the entire thing took place by the ocean. Contrary to popular belief, he wasn't afraid of water. He had a deep-seeded fear of the ocean. Ever since he was a young child and he nearly drowned. He never got over it.

 **Coco handed Emerald a chunk of the ground, which put into a scanner. Paper with formulas and stats rolled out the side, which Emerald tore after a moment. She groaned a bit when she saw the results. "Just as I thought… Bio-toxin, and it's the pure stuff on top of that. It's a powerful terraforming tool designed to kill all organic life on a planet."**

 **Cue Ruby's panic, "** ** _All_** **organic life?!"**

 **"Yeah, you know. The plants, animals, insects… people." Emerald used a tablet to show them the diagram of the drill and what was happening. "At its current rate of injection, I deduce we have 41 hours before total planetary devastation and the death of all organic life."**

 **Ruby glared toward the device, "Then we need to get that thing out of the ground!"**

 **"We tried that! But any attempt to forcibly remove the device will result in an increase in the injection process. We need to figure how to shut it down without touching it."**

Jaune sighed, "Which means they need me to figure it out."

Ruby nodded somberly. "Since he turned it on, he has to know how to turn it off. But to do it, they need to get his memories back."

Ozpin nodded as well, a bit in praise for the two being so observant, "However, they are unaware of Mr. Arc's life before this."

 **The Ruby on screen knew this as well, "Which means we need Jaune to remember it…"**

 **Yang shrugged with a grin, "Hey, whatever you did for me, just do with him."**

 **"That's different! I know you. I don't know the first thing about him!" She paused, looking toward him as his first appearance played back in her mind. "But Weiss did…"**

"Oh yeah!" Nora perked up, "She did know him!"

Weiss tapped her heel, "So, they need to get my memories back first in order to get his."

 **Ruby grabbed Yang's shoulders and shook her as she spoke, "Weiss knew who he was! If we can get her back, we might be able to get him back!"**

 **Yang grabbed her wrists to pull her hands off, "But won't he just try to kill you again?"**

 **"It's either that, or everyone dies to the injector. It's the best option we've got."**

Sun sat up in his chair with his legs crossed together, "That's a good point, actually. Two bad options with a small hope that they can work things out…"

 **The scene moved up to transition to Tai finishing preparations for a rock concert being held later that day. Or at least, he was trying to. Weiss was driving him up the wall with her constant** ** _help_** **. He keeps trying to tell her that she doesn't need to, but nothing he say will stop her.**

 **Ruby ran up to her father, with new best friend Jaune following nearby, shouting, "Dad! Where's Weiss?"**

 **"Where do you think…" He pointed to the Gem currently rummaging through his things to prepare everything for him.**

Tai felt his body go cold a bit. "I hate when people go through my stuff… Even when they think they're helping, something always ends up out of place."

Qrow chuckled, "I remember back on the team when Summer went through this whole spring-cleaning thing and tried to get everyone to clean up in pairs. You looked like you were going to bite her head off when she got near your trunk."

Tai huffed and sat back, "I just like to know where my things are. If someone else goes through my stuff, something usually ends up lost."

 **Tai sighed, and fell into a foldable chair, "I can't get her to stop trying to** ** _help_** **me."**

 **Ruby grabbed her father's shoulders, shaking him lightly, "Listen, we need to get Weiss's memories back now!"**

 **"Oh thank goodness. So, how do we do that?" Tai's grin fell one he really took in his daughter's face, "Why the look? That's your 'we're all in serious danger' look. Why the look?!"**

 **As Ruby recounted the danger at hand, the camera moved to show Weiss moving items to prepare, with Jaune walking over to help her soon after arriving. Weiss was acting as a servant to Tai while Jaune was trying to be a good friend to help Ruby's father.**

"Jaune's such a nice guy in this." Nora clutched her chair a little tighter, "What turned him into what he was at the beginning?"

"Hmm…" Oobleck rubbed his chin in thought.

Port turned to his old friend, "What is it, Bart?"

"I think I have a hypothesis. As we have seen, he was born to be a friend of some kind. And his song earlier denoted a sense of being left behind. I believe he feels a sense of abandonment, thus leading to a subconscious desire to follow Ms. Rose and be quote 'the best friend' to avoid being left behind again."

 **Ruby started to pace in front of her sitting father, "And now we need to get Weiss's memories back. We just need a big display! A large rebellious moment that should jolt her back to normal, like how she rebelled against Home World with mom. Think! Where can get a big display of rebellion?"**

 **Tai raised an eyebrow and held up a poster of the rock concert he'd been planning for the better part of a month.**

 **"Oh. Right."**

Tai chuckled a little, "I'd almost call that perfect timing."

"A little cliché, but I guess it works." Qrow takes another swig, pretty sure he'd seen it all by now.

 **The camera hung on the poster, transitioning to the concert that night. Tai was standing in the audience, taking in his hard work and grinning. Once, he was Taiyang Xiao Long, the Great Golden Dragon, a performer and a minor rock star around the area. Though he gave it all up when he had to choose between his career, with a manipulative manager that tried to use him to get famous by proxy, or Summer, and later to raise Ruby. He never regretted his choice. Now, he put his time and money, which had a serious influx thanks to recent events, into public works and local performers.**

Port chuckled a bit, "Quite interesting! Truly a wonderful use of time and resources, and very Tai. Using his knowledge to prop up the next generation!"

Tai grinned and let out a slight chuckle, "Yeah, I guess if you look at it like that."

 **However, Weiss refused to leave him alone. She even went so far as to clap for him after performances.**

Yang laughed, "Dang! That's overboard."

Weiss just sighed, happy she didn't know anyone that bad in real life.

 **This finally got Tai to snap, "Weiss! Please, stop. What would it take to get you to stop serving me?"**

 **Weiss didn't skip a beat, "So long as you exist, I shall always be here to serve you." She bowed lightly as she finished her statement.**

 **Ruby was nearby, hearing what Weiss had just said. "As long as you exist…" she whispered to herself. After a moment of realization, she took her father's arm and pulled him to the side, just far enough that Weiss didn't register she needed to follow. "Dad! I've got an idea!"**

 **Tai turned to her after making sure Weiss was focusing elsewhere, "What's up?"**

 **"Okay! Hear me out. Weiss went through her epiphanies** ** _after_** **mom disappeared. That's the last piece of her puzzle. We need to make it seem like you disappeared."**

 **"And how do you propose we do that? If you haven't noticed, we can't exactly go too far without her following me."**

 **Ruby knew that, obviously, but she hadn't gotten far enough in her plans to figure out** ** _how_** **to actually do that.**

Yang laughed, "Sounds like Ruby, alright."

Ruby turned to her sister with a glare, "Hey! I'm not _that_ bad."

Weiss nodded, "She can actually be very proactive in creating plans. Even if it involves stealing my binder…"

Ruby chuckled nervously.

 **As she stalled slightly to come up with an answer, she saw Lyn in the crowd. Ruby's eyes went wide and she grabbed her father's arm, pulling him close to whisper her plan in order to keep Weiss in the dark as best as possible.**

 **Tai's eyes went wide when he heard the suggestion, "Are you nuts? Would that even work?"**

 **"It's worth a shot right?"**

 **Tai sighed. "Alright… Let's try it. What've we got to lose?"**

"What do you think they're talking about?" Nora's head tilted.

Ruby shrugged. "I guess we're about to find out."

 **Ruby and Tai moved around the crowd, this time making sure Weiss saw them. As they approached the stage, Ruby tossed Tai a decorated red guitar with a metallic golden dragon painted from base and up the neck beneath the strings. This was the Dragon's Fire, Tai's custom model guitar. Tai brought his hands to place and let the guitar sing.**

Everyone in the audience felt a shiver run up their spines. It was a beautiful sound that was on another level. Make no mistake, this wasn't a slow beautiful you'd think of with ballads or anything like that. This was pure, grade-A classic rock and roll. A few in the audience may even have a new favorite genre if they find it back home.

Qrow closed his eyes and let out a satisfied breath, "Damn. You don't hear this kind of stuff these days."

 **And, when you grow up the daughter of a rock star, you pick up a few things. Ruby had her own guitar, a black face with a red rose petal pattern. When her father paused, she let her own instrument sing in response. After a moment of pause, the two began to play in unison. It started as two similar yet distinct riffs before forming into a harmony between the two.**

Tai sat back, slight concern painted on his face, "Okay, it sounds nice, but I don't see how this will help."

Nora perked up then looked back to the screen, "Hey, yeah! What would that do _make him disappear_? That's what they need right?"

Ruby tried to think everything through first, "Maybe a trap door?"

Jaune tapped his chair arm in thought. "But why would Lyn get her to think of that?"

Nora turned to her leader, "You think they can fuse? It _would_ make him disappear."

Velvet leaned forward to join the conversation again, " _Can_ they do that? I thought it was only between the two Gems."

Coco thought for a moment before replying, "But Ruby isn't just a Gem. She's also half human. Maybe that means she can fuse with other humans?"

 **The two began to move closer, soon back to back as their duet hit a high note. With one last cord, the stage beneath them erupted with smoke and concert pyrotechnics.**

 **Weiss's body jerked up in shock. Since she saw Tai in the role of her master, and her programmed loyalty to him, she started freaking out.**

 **Jaune didn't fair any better, but more from a scared friend side.**

 **In the place of the two stood a man easily over 7 feet tall, a side effect of fusion being greater height. His blonde hair was cut shorter, but they could still see the red formed at the tips of his hair. He wore a black vest, dark jeans, and boots. His right arm was adorned with a sliver scaled dragon with a golden mane wrapping around with rose petals seeming to fly around it in the wind. Opening his eyes, they saw a gleaming blue-tinted silver.**

Nora gasped, "Oh my gosh, it does work!"

"But what do we call him?" Coco asked.

Pyrrha tapped her cheek in thought. "That is a good question, actually."

However, there was one issue they had to think about. Yang looked up toward King, "Um… Considering the fusions we've seen…"

King cut her off with the answer, "No. Fusion is a technique that requires trust and the two to remain on the same page, but it isn't exclusively for couples, let's say."

Yang sighed in relief. "Okay good."

 **The guitar the two once held had morphed together with them into a bright red and gold guitar. The new figure turned back to the audience, who had become accustomed to Ruby and the Gem's powers and antics. He smirked raised a hand, pointing to the night sky. "The name's Xing Long! The great dragon of the stars!"**

Nora chuckled, "I guess that's what we call him."

King nodded, "Quite. And before anyone asks, a fusion isn't just a combination of the two. Unlike in other realities with similar abilities, this fusion is inherently a separate personality."

Ren heard that and started to piece something together, "That must be why the fusion between myself and Nora wasn't enough to get us back to normal. It's because there isn't two of us, but three. And the third individual still needs to be reminded of their memories."

King nodded, "That's what I think, anyway."

 **Xing brought his hand down with a cord echoing around the area. Weiss felt her body go stiff from the sound. It was unlike anything the Gem race could create. With Tai gone, her panic was starting to fade as her old instincts took over. His song was fading into the background as the music flowed around her. Her open hand formed a fist in what felt like the first time, though it really wasn't. Her body shook as memories of rebellion played back in her mind. Though, throughout it all, she was always too dependent. As a Pearl, she was always dependent on others. Be it Pink Diamond, her later life as Summer Rose, or even her team. When Summer disappeared and Ruby took her place, she started her way to something she never had before, and the missing piece of her story; independence.**

Weiss felt that sentiment to her core. She was always at the mercy of her father's whims. It was part of the reason she selected to leave Atlas and attend Beacon. Ever since, she felt like she was finally allowed to be herself instead of her father's puppet.

 **Xing's song continued as he started to glow. With a leap into the air, he started to float, using powers known to belong to Ruby. Weiss looked up, her form shifting back to normal. Soon, she felt Yang's hand on her shoulder and pushing her up to the stage. Weiss started to float as Xing's powers affected her, soon followed by Yang and the still new Lyn. The team flew, dancing through the air to Xing's song.**

Nora was bouncing in her chair, "That's so cool!"

 **All but one. Jaune looked up, expecting to join them. After all, he was Ruby's friend too. Right? But no powers flowed over him. All he could do was watch on as he was left behind.**

"Aw…" Nora's smile instantly faded.

 **Something inside Jaune stung. His hand raised to his heart-shaped gem with slightly widened eyes. He shook and his breathing was heavy and pained, though he didn't actually breath but let's ignore that for a moment. As their song came to an end, Xing separated back into Tai and Ruby. As he saw them all celebrating, it only made his feeling worse. Everything was ringing before he ducked out from the crowd and ran off.**

Yang clutched onto her chair, "I… think I know what happened…"

Port sighed, "It's more than being left behind. It's a sense of abandonment. And to him, it seems to be happening all over again."

 **Ruby smiled, but soon started to fall forward, thankfully caught by Weiss. "Thanks…"**

 **Weiss helped her stand, concern painted on her face, "Ruby, it would be best for you to rest now. That fusion seems to have taken a lot of energy out of you."**

 **Ruby brushed it off, "I'm fine. We don't have time to rest. We need to get Jaune's memories back to shut off the drill. What do you remember about him?"**

 **"Remember? Honestly, there isn't much** ** _to_** **remember. I rarely met him, what with he and Summer's constant visits to the garden."**

 **"Garden?"**

 **The camera moved upward and transitioned back to the home base of the Crystal Gems. Ruby walked up the outside stairs to reach the transport room they saw from the beginning when she returned. Jaune was kneeling on the surface of the teleporter, hunched over in a torment no physical pain cold replicate. But even now, he was still the basic form, his memories remaining clouded. But the pain in his chest wouldn't go away.**

 **Ruby walked up behind him, "Jaune…? Are you okay?"**

Ozpin took a long sip from his coffee. He knew she was making the right choice by asking that, but also knew it could easily backfire on the emotionally unstable. Something that may well describe this version of Jaune at the moment.

 **Thankfully, Jaune was stable enough not to take offense to her question, "I don't know… When I saw you with everyone, I felt this pain in my chest. Some kind of hurt that I've felt before…"**

 **"Then, do you remember? Things like the Garden?"**

 **Jaune's eyes went wide. "The…" He clenched his teeth and slammed his fists into the warp pad, causing them both to get caught up into the teleportation.**

 **Ruby wasn't prepared for this and had a moment of disorientation as they flew through space. "Where are we going?!"**

 **Jaune was looking straight ahead, "To the place… I never left."**

"So, we get the exact situation that caused this." Yang was a little scared to see it. Because if it was true, that would mean Summer was the one to abandon him.

 **They landed on an old warp pad, vines wrapping around the form with some broken plants showing it once covered the top as well. Ruby fell slightly but looked on in awe at what she was seeing. Well, perhaps awe wasn't quite right. It was a large overgrown area with vines, grass, and flowers taking over a crumbling Gem structure in space. It all looked extremely old, older than anything he'd ever seen on her own planet.**

 **Jaune was clearly less than happy, but he still walked down from the high platform to the garden proper, or rather what was left of it. He walked down the steps to a small pyramid holding the warp.**

 **Ruby followed him after a moment, "What… what is this place?"**

 **Jaune looked around, a certain level of nostalgia forming on his face. "This… was our Garden. Where Pink Diamond and I would spend most of our days. Where we would play so many games and enjoy ourselves." His hand tightened into a fist. "At least… that's what I believed at the time."**

Blake's fist tightened. "I feel this will be… heavy."

Yang nodded, "Agreed."

 ** _The world seemed to show them the Garden as it was, events playing out as Jaune spoke. It showed Summer, as Pink Diamond, looking around the Garden. A finger tapped her left shoulder and Jaune popped up on her right side with a giant grin. When she looked back toward him, he released a popper and made Summer jump before laughing._**

Kali gushed at the scene, "Aw~ That's so cute."

 **Jaune walked passed the past event as he continued, "I always thought this was as good as it could ever be. But, Pink… Summer, wanted her own colony, like the other Diamonds. One day, she finally got her wish."**

 ** _Summer was standing before a communication device showing Yellow Diamond (Raven) and Blue Diamond (Willow) speaking to her silently. Summer looked excited, but soon showed a level of irritation as Jaune started to celebrate in his own cartoony way._**

 **** **Jaune turned back to the pyramid as the scenes shifted.**

 ** _Summer was walking passed old pillars and toward the warp, only to have Jaune following her. He seemed excited, even though he wasn't entirely sure what it meant that she was given a colony. He assumed she'd still have the time for them to play now and then._**

 ** _Summer suddenly stopped, aware of Jaune's presence behind her. She took an exasperated breath and turned back toward him. He was just smiling and waiting to hear what she wanted to say._**

 **Music started to pay soon after. A song sung by Jaune as the events played out.**

 ** _Summer knelt down, being considerably taller than Jaune. Even though they saw her lips moving to the song, it was still Jaune singing, recounting the events._**

 ** _"Here in in the Garden. Let's play a game. I'll show you how it's down._** **"**

 **It was slow. Much slower than his last song.**

Ruby blinked in surprise, but she soon felt the realization wash over her. " _The game you didn't know you were playing._ "

Yang turned to her sister, "What?"

"From Jaune's first song. He said he was the loser of the game I didn't know I was playing."

 **"** ** _Here in the garden, stand perfectly still."_**

 ** _The past Jaune smiled, unknowing, "This'll be so much fun!_** **"**

 **"** ** _And then she smiled. That's what I'm after. A smile in her eyes, the sound of her laughter. Happy to listen. Happy to play…_** **"**

 ** _Summer stood again and turned, walking to the warp pad and disappearing into space._**

 **** **"** ** _Happily watching her drift… away._** **"**

Tai took in a sharp breath, "Yikes…"

The sentiment flowed through most of the room. It was one thing to drift apart from friends, another thing to simply split apart from an argument, but it was something entirely twisted to leave someone behind the way this version of Summer had done to Jaune.

 ** _The past Jaune was still standing there, a smile on his face that said he would play this game that his best friend had suggested to the best of his ability. A smile butterfly flew up and onto his head for a moment, getting him to react with a wider grin._**

 **** **"** ** _Happily waiting, all on my own, under the endless sky._** **"**

 **The sky above started to rotate, stars becoming blurring lines to represent the passage of time. A leave flew over the camera and showed Jaune still standing in that one spot, covered in vines and overgrown vegetation. The Garden around him wasn't any better off, resembling the shambled mess of the present.**

 **"** ** _Counting the seconds, standing alone, as thousands of years go by._** **"**

 ** _The past Jaune was now more disheveled, but still resembled his happier self._**

 **"** ** _Happily wondering, night after night, 'Is this how is works? Am I doing it right?' Happy to listen. Happy to stay. Happily watching her drift away._** **"**

Yang was feeling her temper boiling over. She hated the idea of people abandoning others. But she also felt a certain instinct trying to keep her in check. It _was_ Summer, even if she wasn't the Summer they actually knew. Some people would think that reaction would be reserved for Raven because she was her mother. However! Her father told her something as a kid that stuck with her. Anyone can be a mother, but it takes someone special to be a mom. As a result, Yang started to see Raven less and less like someone worth knowing, even if she still wanted answers.

 **The Jaune singing, the one in the present, went through a small crisis on his face. It only flashed for half a second before he shook his head lightly and replaced it with a sense of contempt. He walked off, this time followed by Ruby, as he continued.**

 **"** ** _You keep on turning pages… for people who don't care. People who don't care about you._** **"**

 **Jaune produced a small book from his sleeve, opening it to let the pages fall before tossing it in a nearby pond.**

 **"** ** _And still it takes you ages! To see that no one's there. Everyone's gone on without you…_** **"**

 ** _The past Jaune was still standing in that same spot, covered in vines twisting around his feet. But something got his attention behind him. The communication device in the Garden was blinking with a pink light._**

 **** **"** ** _Finally something, finally news, about how the story ends. She doesn't exist now, survived by her child, and all of her brand new friends._** **"**

Port's eyes clenched a bit tighter. "That's… quite the jump. Left alone for thousands of years…"

Ren was trying to focus on something else though, "I doubt it would distract you… but this song actually fills in the gaps from the first one. Why he was 'the loser of the game,' and now, why he didn't like the end of the story."

 ** _The past Jaune pulled himself from the vegetation to run to the communicator._**

 **** **"** ** _Isn't that lovely? Isn't that cool? Isn't that cruel, and aren't I a fool?_** **"**

 ** _The past Jaune fell to his knees as the communication ended. His face said it all: anguish, pain, sorrow, a sense of betrayal. His eyes welled and tears fell._**

The people in the audience, most of them anyway, all felt a tinge in their hearts for this. even in such a short moment, so much was conveyed in his face. A pain only capable by betrayal and anger but soaked in true sorrow. Thousands of years of trust, shattered.

 **"** ** _Happily watching… Happy to stay. Happily watching her drift… drift… away._** **"**

 **Jaune's body was glowing as his memories all returned, not that he had many to recover. He now stood as he was when he arrived on Earth.**

 **Ruby tried to diffuse the moment with a slight smile, but one holding empathic sorrow, "I… see you got your memories back."**

 **Jaune nodded. "Yeah… I did."**

Nora frowned, "He doesn't sound happy about it…"

Yang clutched her chair a bit tighter, "Be honest, if that was your memory, would you?"

 **Ruby took a step closer, "I'm sorry that happened to you…"**

 **"Too little too late." Jaune seethed. "I was left behind! I stood there for SIX THOUSAND YEARS!" Jaune turned back to Ruby with pure hate in his eyes. "I trusted her! For thousands of years, I never questioned her! I questioned myself! Do you know what that's like?! Can you even begin to imagine that?!"**

 **Ruby's face turned to shock, but as he ranted her expression hardened again. "I wouldn't know. Because I never knew her. I had to grow up with just stories about her. I grew up hearing the stories about Summer Rose, the freedom fighter. Then, I learned she was also Pink Diamond, the naïve Tyrant. The more I learned, the less I liked. Truth be told, your situation doesn't surprise me anymore."**

Tai frowned hearing that. "Well… that's certainly different."

 **Jaune swung around, his eyes still filled with anger. His arm was raised, about to swing at her, only to spin around with a roar and destroying the pedestal holding the communication device. Jaune let out a breath and fell to his knees again.**

 **Ruby slowly stepped closer before reaching to place a hand on his shoulder. "Listen… I know it hurts and I can begin to imagine how badly… But she's gone. You don't have to let this hold you back. You can move passed this. I don't know how long it'll take, but you can love again."**

 **Jaune hitched in surprise but turned to her. There was a warmth in her statement, someone who truly believed it could be better for him. That alone made him feel something so new to him; hope. Hope that it really can get better for him, that he can, as she said, love again.**

Ozpin knew many people, himself included, who had gone through something similar. It was always painful, but once he'd learned this lesson it felt less so. He nodded knowing this lesson was all too important to learn for all involved.

 **Jaune stood slowly. He knew it wouldn't be easy, maybe not even happen any time soon, but that hope let him feel like he** ** _could_** **. And that's all that mattered right now.**

 **The screen changed again to show Ruby and Jaune returning to the injector. Jaune clasped his hands together and produced a horn from seemingly nowhere. With a loud tone, the injector pulled itself from the ground and sealed itself again.**

The student group all celebrated quietly to themselves. It was good to have things work out now and then. This lasted until they realized it was still going.

 **Ruby grinned and nodded, "Thanks Jaune. Now, we just need to get Lyn's memories back and we can get everything back to normal." Ruby turned and started to walk back toward her friends.**

 **Jaune's face sank a bit as he turned toward her. "Back to normal? What about me?" He wasn't exactly part of Ruby's normal and a part of him got worried hearing that.**

 **Ruby turned back to him, "What? Well I mean, we can just move on, you know? Forget this never happened."**

Ozpin took in a sharp breath, "That was a poor choice of words."

 **"Forget? How am I supposed to forget all of this?! Everything Pink Diamond did to me! I almost destroyed your planet!" Jaune grabbed Ruby by her shoulders and shook her enough to cause the collapsed scythe to fall out of her pocket. Jaune froze up seeing it and how she scrambled to pick it up again. "Why… why do you have that?"**

Ironwood followed Ozpin's lead with a sigh, "And that made it worse."

 **Ruby could tell this was a bad look, "Wait! I just needed to keep it somewhere and I didn't have anywhere else to…"**

 **Jaune cut her off with bitter laughter. "So that's it?! You get me to turn off the injector and then we** ** _forget this ever happened_** **? You mean** ** _I_** **forget this ever happened, didn't you?! You use me and toss me aside when you're done with me!"**

 **"No! I…"**

 **"SHUT UP!" Jaune punched Ruby back and jumped back atop the injector. "You think you can use me like that and get away with it?! Your stupid speech about being able to** ** _love again_** **actually got to me. Gave me hope… But apparently it was all a lie!" Jaune blew into the horn again and the injector impaled the ground once more, this time tearing up the ground around them.**

 **Ruby scrambled to try to stand again, only for Jaune to slam a foot into her gut and holding her to the ground. Ruby tried to force him up but enough weight was placed on her to keep her in place, "Jaune! Please, this is all a misunderstanding!" Unfortunately, she still had the scythe in hand.**

 **"You know… In a twisted kind of way, I'm actually kind of flattered that you find my old self so much better. Happy, loyal, carefree… stupid. Well it looks like it backfired on you."**

 **"Stop it, Jaune! That's not true!" Ruby, to prove her point, extended the weapon and broke it over her knee, hoping that would make him see she was being honest.**

Ruby cried for the awesome weapon. But at the same time, she knew it was for the best.

 **Jaune was too lost to his anger, but her words did reach someone. Lyn was nearby, Ruby's words reaching something within. It was more than just love that she felt in her fusion, it was a deeper sensation. A deeper** ** _truth._**

 **When Jaune swung his hands to produce a giant mallet, Lyn moved to defend Ruby. The hammer slammed down onto them creating a dust cloud. But Lyn stood with a hand extended into the hammer, her body a glowing silhouette. Soon, she reformed into the Lyn they had met at the beginning of this version. Lyn smirked and lightly tossed off the hammer before punching it away and into the air.**

Nora jumped up in celebration, "YES! That was so cool! Go us!"

Ren nodded, but remained his usual stoic self.

 **Yang and Weiss jumped down to surround Jaune on all sides as the battle began in earnest. Without his weapon, and with them knowing how he moves, the battle moved from one-sided slaughter to an even brawl between the two sides.**

Port watched and narrowed his eyes a little, "Quite impressive. Despite them now having the advantage, it seems fairly even."

"Likely a result of Mr. Arc's unorthodox fighting style." Oobleck pointed up to the screen.

 **Jaune swung his arm and threw a series of razor-edged playing cards, some of which popped like distracting balloons on impact. The Gems were able to see through the false attacks and knock away the true threats. Jaune leapt to strike at Lyn, only for Weiss and Yang to grab his legs as he flew and stretched. Lyn grabbed his arms as the two others ran off in the other direction. Jaune could see what they were up to, but it was too late as Lyn released him and made him fly like a rubber band into a large outcropping of stone.**

"Excellent maneuver!" Port laughed, "Using an enemy's strengths against him!"

 **Jaune shook his head and growled. He leapt back up to the top of the injector and produced a giant horn before blowing into it. The injector beneath him and it forced the rest of its contents into the ground. The area, and town nearby, was torn apart as the Bio-Poison tore the land asunder like a glowing purple river of lava. The town they called home now more resembled an apocalypse.**

The scene made everyone feel a chill run up their spines. The idea of such an event terrified them. After all, they didn't really have anywhere else to go. The Kingdoms were the only haven against the threat of the Grimm. If it ever toppled, they would have nowhere truly safe to live.

 **Ruby saw this and spun around to the others, "Guys! You need to get to town and save everyone! I'll handle Jaune!"**

 **Yang wasn't so sure, "Are you crazy!"**

 **Lyn cut her off with a hand on Yang's shoulder, nodding, "We got it. Let's go." Lyn ran off with a less certain Yang and Weiss following soon after.**

"If I had to guess," Gira folded his arms and sat up in his chair, "the poison doesn't affect them given that they're presumably nonorganic."

 **Ruby looked back up to the injector and took a deep breath. "Okay… Come on powers…" Ruby focused and used her abilities to leap into the air. She reached about as far as the upper lip of the injector before starting to fall again. She was barely able to grab said lip before falling too far. Letting out a sigh, she climbed back up to the top of the pink top of the injector. The camera zoomed away to show the top 'cork' was a dark pink gem shaped to form a heart, similar to Jaune's gem. Reaching the top, she looked up toward the only other person atop the gem, "Jaune, please listen to me…"**

 **Jaune was standing with his back to her, looking around at the devastation he had wrought. He shook his head, "I don't want to play anymore…" There was true sorrow and hopelessness in his words.**

And that sense broke their hearts. Well, most of them anyway.

 **"Jaune! This isn't a game!"**

"That's not the point…" Yang's head hung a little lower than normal, eyes obscured by her hair. "He was abandoned in the guise of a game. He thinks Ruby was going to do the same thing to him again."

 **Jaune took a breath and slowly turned to her. "You're right. It's not." He swung a punch into Ruby's jaw, knocking her to her back and causing her to bleed from her nose. He ran forward and kicked her in the side and toward the edge, only to catch her with an extended arm by her sleeve. "I'm tired of games! I'm not going to let you hurt me like she did!" His grip loosened just that little bit to cause Ruby to jerk downward a bit while remaining hanging over the edge.**

 **Ruby was panicking. Her powers had been failing her, and if she fell from this height, she was sure she was going to die. She tried to grab at something but found nothing that could save her. She glanced out to the world around her, her mind racing.** ** _I don't get it. What am I missing? Everyone got their memories back by remembering something important and reliving their lives. So why aren't my powers back? Everyone is in danger, my powers aren't working right, and I'm forced to deal with some crazy thing my mom did before. So, what am I missing?! What changed?!_** **Ruby's eyes shot open in shock. "Changed…"**

 **Jaune raised an eyebrow.**

 **"That's it… That's what I'm missing!" Ruby grinned. "All this time, I forgot my greatest power of all! That I can change!"**

Ozpin blinked in surprise before letting himself smile, "That's actually a rather pertinent lesson for life. That we aren't set in stone, that we grow and learn from our experiences. A lesson many still have trouble learning."

This gave the younger viewers something to think about. For some, though, it was a lesson they new very well despite their age.

 **Jaune tried to toss her off but Ruby stopped herself midair, with her powers returning. Ruby grinned and created her pink shield on one arm before creating another on the other arm. She morphed them together into a pink bubble around her shifting to have spikes, then to a crystalline form, then bursting outward and knocking Jaune back.**

Blake nodded with a grin. "Definitely an improvement from the first time we saw a Gem version."

 **Ruby landed back on the injector and turned to Jaune. "Jaune, please, I don't want to hurt you. I didn't want to hurt you! This is just a bad misunderstanding! Jaune…" Ruby's tone fell to a more somber note, "there's still time to fix this. To change."**

 **Jaune roared and let a fist fly toward Ruby, only for her to block it with a bubble-covered fist. Jaune let the attacks fly as he shouted, "Easy for you to say! When you change, you change for the better! When I change, I become… THIS!" Jaune brought his hands together and slammed them down on top of Ruby.**

 **Ruby shifted her bubbles to a full shield and held back the force from Jaune's attack. "Jaune! Nothing says you need to stay like this if you don't like it! You can still change again!"**

Blake thought to herself for a moment. It made her question something important, can _anyone_ really change again? To change once is one thing, she'd seen it happen to Adam as he fell from freedom fighter defending Faunas to an extremist madman that sees Humanity as lesser. She wondered if it was possible for him to change back into what he used to be. She sighed and shook her head, knowing it might be too late for her old mentor.

 **Jaune roared and swung a punch under the shield and into Ruby's jaw, sending her into the sky. Ruby was forced to look up as Jaune jumped up over her with his fist reared back, "You can't solve everything with a stupid speech!" Jaune slammed his fist into Ruby and sent her falling like a meteor into the injector's top. The gem top sent cracks through the entire form with Ruby sitting in the center of a large crater in the crystal.**

 **Ruby shook her head, her Gem physiology allowing her to get away with a lot more damage than her human half should. She looked up just in time to see Jaune falling after with a hammer reared back. She brought up her bubble shield in time to snap the hammer and keep Jaune at bay.**

 **Jaune reared back a fist and slammed it into the shield again. He unleashed a flurry of attacks over a few seconds before he started to slow. "I won't be hurt anymore!" Another strike echoed through the bubble. "I don't want to be left behind!" Another strike. "I didn't want to…" Tears began to fall from Jaune's eyes as he slammed his fist into the bubble. He fell to his knees as he let out a bitter laugh, "I didn't want this… What am I doing? I'm supposed to be a friend, and here I am trying to kill you…"**

 **Ruby lowered her shield slowly and stood up again. "Jaune…" She was about to reach out before the gem around them started to glow.**

 **After a moment, the erupted in a large explosion, taking the injector and hillside with it.**

Everyone jumped at the sudden explosion and watched in concern.

 **The camera showed Ruby falling to the ground in her bubble with Jaune lying behind her.**

Those with good hearts let out a sigh of relief.

 **Once they hit the ground, the bubble popped and dropped the two to the ground. Ruby groaned and shook off the shock. "Well… guess we don't have to worry about that anymore."**

 **Jaune silently stood with his back to her. He took a breath and let out a sigh before starting to walk away.**

 **"Where are you going?"**

 **Ruby's question caused him to stop. Jaune couldn't bring himself to face her. "Anywhere… I ruined your home, attacked your friends, destroyed your happily ever after."**

 **Ruby shook her head, "There's no such thing as happily ever after. There will always be something we'll need to face…"**

Glynda nodded and turned her eyes toward the students, "Remember this, students. We all imagine a happy ending, but things are never so simple. Even as we grow older, new threats will emerge with time. We must always be ready."

The students, to their credit, all understood and nodded.

 **Jaune still kept his gaze away from her. "But I…"**

 **"Jaune, when I first met Emerald, she tried to kill us all with a cluster of Gem fragments in the planet's core, Coco tried to shatter my gem with a giant point weapon, and Neptune stole the oceans, nearly drowned me, and gave up my friends to Home World."**

"Wow…" Blake chuckled a bit, "They are a _very_ forgiving bunch."

 **Jaune saw them earlier and turned to her in surprise. They all seemed like good friends with Ruby so hearing that shocked him.**

 **"What I'm saying is that you can turn things around. If you take the chance." Ruby held out a hand toward Jaune.**

 **He was skeptical but also apprehensive. He didn't want to be hurt the same way he had, but something in Ruby's voice made him hopeful again. Soon, his hand reached hers and a new chapter began for them all.**

Jaune let out a breath with a small smile. This ending felt very hopeful, and he was happy for such endings. Even some happy endings can feel bitter. He smiled, happy to see things turn around for his counterpart.


	117. Flood Warning

**King: You knew what this was going to be, don't lie.**

 **Knox: You didn't do that for Chapters 66 or 115.**

 **King: One was your fault if memory serves and the other I just couldn't get to work at the time. Either way, here we are again. First, I want to say Happy Halloween. This feels so much more appropriate now~ Also, we passed 5 million views a few chapters ago, but I forgot to say anything.**

 **Knox: Seriously? You're usually so excited by that.**

 **King: I'm excited, don't get me wrong. This was fun~ Anyway, hope you enjoy.**

 **Inspiration: Halo**

 **/\**

Everyone mulled over the last reality, feeling a sense of hope, but the screen made to begin a new world.

 **The new reality opened to the vast void of space, stars dotting the area around as the only light they see.**

To the viewers, they weren't sure if it was just the night sky or not. They didn't have anything to say otherwise at the moment, and the screen has tricked them plenty of times.

 **A shadow fell over the area as the camera fell back. Soon, a large mass of metal took over the entire screen. As the chunk of metal moved passed, they could see the large mass formed a large ring floating in space. The inner section of the ring resembled a planet's surface.**

The sight amazed many in the audience, but others were left wondering if such a thing was even possible and why such a thing would exist.

 **They saw something on the ring's interior, a miniscule dot moving across what they could see. The camera snapped to the surface of the ring to show a full sky with a dropship flying through the artificial atmosphere.**

Now that everyone saw the size of the ship, they could finally truly have a scale for the ring and that left them floored again.

"That's…" Weiss would have been floored if not for her being seated in a chair, "That ring has be as large as a planet!"

Yang chuckled, "Must have been one crazy engagement."

 **The craft set down and a landing ramp opened from the back of the ship. A series of men in military armor ran down the ramp and set up a perimeter. With everything clear, half the group moved to unload some equipment. They slammed barricades into the ground and set up a small armory for them to utilize at any time.**

Ironwood sat back with a bit of a grin. He appreciated the efficiency and even the idea of these mobile cover sets and armory.

 **With everything set, the men gathered at set posts. The camera moved between two of them and toward the ship. They heard someone's steps in the ship before seeing an armored boot fall onto the ramp. The figure moved down into frame to reveal a tall man in futuristic, fading white armor. His helmet covered his entire head with a golden plate over his face.**

"Guessing that's Jaune." Yang smirked a bit to herself.

"Most likely." Blake nodded. A part of her felt there was more going on, given his armor compared to the others they'd seen.

 **He stepped onto the ground, revealing he towered over the men as a 7-foot 2-inch bulk of armor. This man is the United Nations Space Command's most famous solder and most powerful weapon, the Master Chief Petty Officer Jaune-117 of the Spartan-II program.**

Yang's grin turned downward a little, "Master what officer?"

Winter was the one to explain it for her, "A Master Chief Petty Officer. It can be equated to the Army's Sergeant classes. It's most comparable to the Sergeant Major."

Yang turned toward the oldest Schnee sister, "Where's that compared to your rank, exactly?"

Winter clammed up, but there was no saving her.

Roman knew the answer, "He'd outrank her by 7 ranks with five pay grade steps over her. Specialist is the last stage of ranks before attaining the non-commissioned officer status."

Winter turned to him, more shocked than anything, "How do you know that?"

"I make it my business to know lots of things." Roman smirked and sat back in his chair with an aura of satisfied smug, "I know more than you'd prefer," he held a hand toward Neo as she handed him a small set of notes. "Atlas Army Specialist Winter Schnee, age 22, weight 174 pounds…"

Eyes turned to Winter, but she didn't seem bothered. "I'm a Specialist and officer of the Atlas Military. Such measurements are hardly that difficult to find."

Roman raised an eyebrow and turn a note page, "Ambidextrous. Weapon type: twin swords. Formerly heiress to the Schnee Dust company."

Winter rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, we all know this. You're not as smart or resourceful as you seem to think you are."

Roman grinned, "Favorite color: off-white-blue, oddly specific. You had three bunkmates bail on you in the Academy because you were quote-unquote 'too demanding and bitchy.'"

Winter felt her complexion pale. "What? What are you…?"

"You were forced into 'punitive service' a total of 39 times in your first semester. Someone was a bad girl back then, huh? So, that enough to prove how, 'smart and resourceful I am, _Specialist Ice Queen_?

Winter was more in shock than anything, only the sound of Qrow's incessant laughter knocking her to her senses.

 **Jaune stepped onto the ground and looked around.**

 **"Hell of a sight, isn't it?" Jaune turned to see the UNSC Marine Sergeant Sun Wukong walking down the ramp, dressed more in line with the other men. He grinned to the Spartan as he reached the ground, "Feels weird, doesn't it?"**

Sun blinked before laughing a little. He never imagined himself as a military man, so it was interesting to see.

 **Sun turned to his men, "Alright! We're on a schedule! We got energy signals to the south and a target just passed that! Means we got Covies in the way!"**

Nora snickered a bit, "Covies? What's that supposed to be?"

Ironwood tapped his chin a bit, "I think it's a shortened version of whatever the actual name is. Helps keep things quick."

Sienna raised an interested brow, "What do you call the White Fang?"

Ironwood deadpanned, "Terrorists."

Sienna sighed, "Should have seen that coming."

 **Sun grabbed one of the guns from the mobile armory. "Our job is to get the data and fuel, then get off this thing as soon as possible. Covies chased us down and into a corner. Now! Let's show those ugly bastards what they're messing with!"**

 **The soldiers didn't even flinch from their positions but shouted, "OORAH!"**

Ironwood and Winter couldn't help but crack a smile at how professional and poised the soldiers were being. It was common for at least one person to be either too much or too little when it came to such moments, often due to a lack of experience. However, these men were acting more like proper soldiers.

 **Sun turned back to Jaune and handed him a sleek assault rifle, "You, on the other hand, are heading north to grab the data, and I got money saying you're going to have plenty of Covies of your own. We sent a recon unit out that way and they haven't reported in. Be careful out there, alright Chief?"**

 **Jaune took the weapon with a chuckle, "I'll see what I can do." He sounded older than the Jaune they knew and definitely more experienced in war. However, he still sounded very human; like despite everything he's been through, he retained himself rather than falling into some kind of destructive outlook or apathy.**

That got Ironwood and Winter's smiles to become a little somber. They knew too many soldiers that had been through so much that they gave up on everything. Some lost brothers-in-arms, some actual brothers, and many would lose limbs in combat, be it against the Grimm threat or terroristic attacks by the White Fang. Ironwood in particular knew what it was like to lose himself. He was lucky enough to be able to move passed the horror to become what he was now.

 **Jaune took a glance at the setup, "You sure you don't me to stick around?"**

 **Sun laughed it off, "My marines are plenty for what we have in store. Now, get moving and get the job done!"**

 **Jaune nodded and turned, walking to the side of the makeshift base to a waiting vehicle that looked awfully familiar.**

Nora gasped, "Wait! That's the puma car!" Despite how long ago it was, it was hard for her to forget the world with Velvet as the Meta, given what happened (see Chapter 16: You Think You Know Someone). Seeing the same type of car appearing was a little weird.

Ruby jumped a bit in her chair, "Is it a similar world to that one?"

King popped in, "Yes and no. It's hard to explain. Same idea but the terms and uses are all different. You'll see soon enough."

 **Jaune took the driver's seat and ignited the engine.**

 **Sun laughed, "You want someone to take the gun?"**

 **"You'll need all the help you can get. I'll be fine." Jaune hit the pedal and peeled out heading north. The M12 Light Reconnaissance Vehicle, more commonly called the Warthog, didn't have the best handling but it was good for what it was.**

Nora crossed her arms and tilted her head, "Why is it called the Warthog?"

Ironwood decided to have a little fun with that one, "Because M12-LRV is too difficult to say in conversation."

Nora either didn't get the joke or ignored it, "No, I mean, why 'warthog' specifically? It doesn't look like a pig. It's like a puma."

Ironwood rolled his eyes and sighed, "And I suppose the Atlassian Firefly actually resembles an insect with a glowing rear?"

"The what?" Nora was confused until Ren pulled out his scroll and showed her the low light reconnaissance fighter. "Oh… Military names are weird."

 **Jaune drove off along the hills and toward a large alien structure in the distance.**

 **The camera transitioned to the structure and rose up to show two strange, dinosaur-like aliens with other worldly rifles. They hunched slightly as they looked out over the area, a pair of scouts for the Covenant Forces on the ring. These beings are called the Kig-Yar or, for those that don't speak the alien languages, Jackals.**

Winter nodded with a realization, "Okay, they're called Covenant, hence the shortened Covies."

 **One of them turned to his troopmate, speaking in their shared language. Subtitles beneath them allowed the viewers to know what was going on, [Hey.]**

 **His partner turned toward him as well, [Yeah?]**

 **[You ever wonder why we're here?]**

Neptune picked that one up and really ran with it, "That's quite the sentiment. Is there a greater force binding our fates, or is everything simply a cosmic coincidence?"

Sun sighed, "Great… he's in nerd mode."

Neptune gave his team leader a light punch, "Intellectual."

 **The friend just blinked, [Do you dare question the word of our mighty profits?!] He raised his weapon toward the supposed heretic.**

Ozpin nodded, seeing the signs, "A theocratic group. If the first Jackal isn't careful, he might find himself in deep trouble."

 **The first Jackal scrambled to justify himself, [What?! No! I mean why here, specifically! We're snipers. Shouldn't we be on higher ground than this?]**

 **The second Jackal blinked before lowering his weapon again, [I guess you have a point.]**

 **A small device fell at their feet, causing them both to jump to a start and aim toward the device, finding a round grenade. They both looked toward each other before the explosive went off, killing them both.**

 **Jaune leapt over the ledge with his rifle ready as he ran along the wall. As more aliens, mostly smaller Grunts, ran out in force to find Jaune in an attempt to stop him. Jaune, however, was a force of nature, mowing down the alien forces with ease. One of the Grunts saw no way out, choosing to kill the devil of a human by any means. It grabbed two sticky plasma grenades, armed them, and ran toward Jaune intent to die for his cause.**

Blake groaned. She'd seen some in the White Fang that seemed to be taking steps to end up like that.

 **Jaune shot the Grunt's leg and kicked him back into a group before the grenades exploded.**

Yang whistled, "Damn! Look at him go."

 **As his weapon ran out of ammunition, Jaune slammed the butt of his rifle into a Grunt and took his plasma pistol. It wasn't the best weapon for direct combat but felt it he would need it. Placing it on his hip, he drew his own weapon caliber magnum and fired kill shots without wasting a single round.**

Ruby started to drool over this new weapon, "Oh my gosh! That thing is crazy! It seems _way_ too powerful for a pistol!"

 **When everything calmed a little, Jaune relaxed and rummaged for better weapons. Being a Spartan specializing in solo shock and awe missions meant that he often had to scavenge weaponry rather than using the same weapon throughout the entire mission.**

"Smart." Ilia smirked, "Scavenging weapons in a state like that is more efficient and ensures you're less likely to run out of ammo away from supplies."

 **Tossing his assault rifle to the side, he grabbed one of the Jackal's plasma carbine. Once he was set, he ran into the instillation. A few larger aliens (the Elites) were inside and spun around as he stormed inside. Jaune fired a few shots out, but the Elites' shields were too strong for that to be enough.**

Nora gasped, "They have aura?!"

Penny wasn't as sure, "It seems less like aura and more like a full body force field."

 **Jaune ducked behind a wall as the Elite's opened fire. Jaune sighed and thought about how to best get out of this. After a moment, he heard them stop firing and knew enough about Elites to know where this was going. He dived to the side as a pair of energy blades slammed into the wall. The Elites were wielding their energy swords in what they believed was honorable combat.**

Ruby nodded, "Okay, that's the 'sword' from the world with the AI Jaune."

King nodded, "Right. In that world, it's a powerful weapon that imprints on a single wielder. In this reality, it's a simple tool for war."

 **Jaune fired a few shots, enough to kill one of them, but at a heavy ammo cost. Another Elite charged to find Jaune ducking the blade and snapping his grenade to life and running back to avoid the explosion. He could kick a Grunt with no problem, but Elites were too much of a risk to attempt the same thing. He fired bolts at a few more, aimed for the grenades. After a few kills, the Elites figured out what he was up to and ditched their explosives.**

 **Jaune knew this wasn't great for him, but he'd figure something out. As the Elites returned to their rifles, Jaune found his opportunity. He fired a bolt into their rifles, causing a few to explode and drain the shields. This allowed Jaune to level the Elites with well-placed headshots.**

 **Jaune relaxed again, finding himself alone again. "Alright. That looks like the last of them. For now anyway." Jaune walked to a nearby console and took a small device from the back of his head. He placed the device into the console. "Anything we need to know?"**

Jaune thought back over the previous worlds with similar situations. "I'm guessing that device has an AI."

 **A hologram appeared on the console, showing a small human female. Her body was covered in circuitry and seemed like she was wearing a full bodysuit of some kind. Everything from her hair to her skin and circuits therein was some shade of red. As for appearance, it was hard not to see the visage of Ruby Rose. "Give me a minute. I just got here."**

Ruby blinked before her face showed all the confusion she could muster, "Why the heck does my AI form look like that? Jaune's other version had a full set of armor!"

Penny tapped her friend's shoulder, "If I may, it may be a representation of the AI's age. Your AI is likely older and thus doesn't have the same cosmetic capacity."

Ruby felt a bit better now, "I mean, that makes sense… I think."

 **Jaune chuckled, "Don't give me that. I know you're already done."**

 **"Can't put one over on you, can I?"**

 **"You were literally just in my head."**

 **"Good point. Anyway, I found plenty, but nothing important. I wasn't actually kidding before, there's a lot in here to process. It'll take a second. You, in the meanwhile, need to get down to the lower levels. Covenant Forces are hiding something down here."**

 **"You sure you'll be alright on your own?"**

 **"I think I can handle a few spreadsheets and dead aliens. Get moving."**

 **Jaune nodded and ran off to the lower levels.**

 **A group of Elites were waiting below, unaware of the battle that happened above. As they walked through, they heard something in the distance, a green glow seeming to hang in the hallway. A large bolt of green energy struck one of them, knocking his shields out with an EMP effect. Jaune charged in and punched the alien before stealing his sword and running another through with his partner's weapon. Jaune fired his magnum, expending the full eight rounds and dropping a few of the smaller aliens before snapping the neck of the Elite under his knee.**

Cinder felt a certain appreciation for the efficiency and brutality of his actions. It was in the same vein as her appreciation toward Adam's actions. Quick, brutal, with a clear message in mind. The largest fault Cinder could find in his actions, however, was what caused the White Fang to become what it was seen as now. If his actions and power were used only in self/group defense, the White Fang wouldn't be seen as a terrorist group. Instead, he went out of his way to attack humans believing it to be the only way they'll understand. Cinder chuckled to herself every time he brought that up. After all, human or faunas, they'd all be under her heel.

 **Jaune stood and ran through the halls again. "Ruby, check in."**

 **"** ** _All quiet here. Where you are, on the other hand, is getting pretty loud. Hang on a second, I think I found the recon unit. Sending a feed to your HUD._** **"**

"HUD?" Oscar turned to someone that might know what that means.

Ozpin explained it, which was surreal for the young man because it wasn't the Ozpin in his head, "Heads Up Display. Often used to display important information in front of one's eyes through a visor or screen on a ship."

Oscar nodded slowly at first, "Okay. I think I get it."

 **Jaune took up a safe position with a motion alarm set. This allowed him to focus on the video feed.**

 **The video showed the recon unit arriving in a large empty room in the lower levels. He could see them clearing the area and starting to relax. After a moment, something made them jump to attention and look around in a panic. Soon, small strange creatures crawled out from the darkness, resembling a bulb with tiny tendrils to walk with. As the men leveled their weapons, uncertain, one of them jumped onto the weapon and impaled its tendrils into the man's hands. The soldiers lost any cool they could have had and started to fire into the swarm. Some of them popped, but the recon unit was laid to waste in less than a minute.**

The viewers were scared stiff. These things just killed an entire unit in no time flat. A horrifying strength in numbers despite their weak forms.

 **Jaune finished the feed, more than a little shocked, "What the hell were those things?"**

 **"** ** _I'm looking into it. I keep getting the same word over and over. Flood._** **"**

Ozpin took a deep breath, "Quite an apt name given their method of attack. A wave of weak creatures that cover you in their assault."

 **Jaune moved slowly, now more than a little on edge from the video feed. As he continued down the levels, he started to find fewer Covenant walking around. "Ruby, I need a scan."**

 **"** ** _On it._** **" After a moment, she responded, "** ** _There's a signature ahead. Wait… two signi- three? Seven! JAUNE! GET OUT OF THERE!_** **"**

 **Jaune activated a flashlight on his helmet to reveal a mass of Flood spores on the ground, seemingly looking up toward him.**

Everyone felt an unholy chill run up and down their spines. Seeing these things, the sheer number of them, and their disgusting forms made everyone feel sick. And this time, it really was everyone. Even Cinder couldn't stay stoic at their disgusting form.

 **Jaune spun around and started to run as fast as he could through the halls with the Flood giving chase. As he ran, Jaune pulled a grenade from his side and dropped it with pin released. After a moment, it went off and ripped a large chunk of the Flood apart like a bunch of balloons, but the wave, as a whole, continued to follow. He ran through a turn to find a pair of Elites waiting. He punched the two to keep them off him and continue his escape. He took another grenade and glanced back to plan out his timing. A part of him really wished he hadn't.**

 **The flood stopped chasing him and were jumping the pair of Elites. As the aliens cried out in horror and pain, the Flood started to clamp down on their flesh and devour them alive. The small creatures congealed on the alien bodies and ate away at the living body and its nervous system.**

This got a few of them to evacuate their stomachs to the floor. Again thankful for the magical properties of the theater.

 **Jaune didn't have the time to slow down, attempting to escape the Flood swarm. As he ran through, he found himself in a familiar, large and empty room.**

Ruby groaned as her stomach started to settle again, "Wait… isn't that the room from the video?"

 **Jaune heard a groan and pointed his weapon toward the source of the sound. A mass of flesh and death walked out from the darkness. What little wasn't covered by Flood flesh showed the telling uniform of the recon unit. Its still humanoid hand held an assault rifle and started to raise it toward Jaune. It held no hesitation to pull the trigger and unload the entire magazine.**

 **Jaune leapt aside and behind a large pillar for cover. "What the hell are those things?!"**

Nora gasped, "ALIEN ZOMBIES!"

Jaune groaned again, "I could have lived my entire life not seeing those things and died happily…"

 **The reanimated corpse was not alone. More of the unit started to shamble forward with incomprehensible groans and gunfire. Jaune took the alien carbine and fired from behind his cover. After half of the gun's battery was drained, one of the bodies fell again, this time without seeming to rise again. Jaune's brain was modified to process information faster than the average human, so he started to consider why it seemed to have collapsed. Unfortunately, he didn't have too much time to focus on that with the other corpses still shambling. With a quick glance, he saw that they had the mental processes to reload their weapons. This got Jaune thinking further. These things latched onto living bodies and ate them from the inside, killing the host but take its body and muscle memory. Which means that if he puts them down again, they stay down.**

Yang tapped her chair in thought, "I always wondered about that in zombie movies. If the zombie is dead, why is shooting their head and killing them again effective?"

Ren thought that over, and gave his best answer, "It's likely because the brain is the primary control center."

"I get that, but it just seems weird. It's like, why does the head die too? If you cut the head off of a zombie, why does the head stop too?"

"That's likely a side effect of the different interpretations of zombies. Some people have the head continue with the body failing while others keep the body perfectly mobile."

 **Jaune grabbed his last grenade and tossed it to cause greater damage over the group. With the explosion as a distraction, he rolled to the side and fired his carbine into the Flood-controlled corpses and dropping them all. He could have tested his hypothesis, but he really didn't feel like taking that chance. He ran off through the room and out toward a ramp upward. "Ruby! We need to get out of here!"**

 **"** ** _I've noticed! Get up here and pull me out of the console! I got everything we need._** **"**

 **Jaune ran passed a few smaller Flood, kicking one into a wall for good measure.**

Sun grinned, "Nice! Now, he just gets to the top and seals the door shut."

Blake nodded, "That would make sense, but I feel like there's more we're not seeing."

 **Jaune reached the console and grabbed Ruby's device before placing it back in his helmet and booking it out of the installation. He scavenged a myriad of sticky plasma grenades and planted them in multiple locations in the room and the doorway. Setting them all off, the entryway was buried under rubble and destruction.**

"Nice!" Yang threw a celebratory fist into the air.

Blake wasn't so sure yet.

 **Jaune growled a bit to himself, "Well, let's hope that's the last of it."**

 **Ruby's voice played in his mind, "** ** _Not so fast, Chief. We're not out of the water yet. The installation runs through the entire ring._** **"**

Neptune took in a sharp breath, "Ooh… that's not good."

 **"Then how do we stop them?"**

 **"** ** _We leave. Fast. I was able to get information on them. Not much, but I got something. The Flood are a hive mind that latch onto living creatures and take over the host. They move like a plague. The Halo rings were designed as a way to stop their spreading._** **"**

 **"Rings? As in more than one?"**

 **"** ** _Yeah, all over the galaxy. And that's part of the problem. They're designed to wipe all life in the galaxy to prevent the Flood spreading by depriving it of their hosts._** **"**

Ruby shouted, "How does that make sense?!"

"In a worst case scenario," Blake sighed, "but it does seem excessive."

 **"Then we need to make sure that doesn't happen."**

 **"** ** _You think the Covenant are here to activate the ring?_** **"**

 **"They glass the planets of 'heretical beings.' I wouldn't put it passed them."**

"Glassed?" Nora's head tilted slightly, "What's he mean by that?"

Knox popped back for the answer, "As in, they burn and melt the world's surface to leave no life to survive. Effectively turning the planet into a hard, glass-like ground."

Sun groaned, "That's messed up."

 **"** ** _Good point. So, what are going to do about it?_** **"**

 **Jaune was silent a moment, "You thinking what I'm thinking?"**

 **"** ** _What's with you and blowing things up?_** **"**

 **"You have a better idea?"**

 **Ruby chuckled, "** ** _Sounds like the plan. Let's get to the rendezvous and let the team know._** **"**

 **Jaune nodded and ran off toward the jeep waiting beyond the corner.**

 **The camera held on the rumble, slowly zooming in on one of the boulders. Once it was the sole focus on screen, it jumped to reveal a Flood Spore before snapping to black.**

Mercury laughed a little, albeit a bit nervously, "Well that's fucking ominous."


	118. Checking In

**King: Oh shit! Back again already!**

 **Knox: Gee, I wonder why.**

 **King: Serious time now. I am so happy this project finally released its pilot. If you haven't, maybe even if you have, go watch the source material. Vivipop and the Hazbin team deserve all the love for this mad cap fun! Look it up on YouTube and have a blast. Anywho, hope you enjoy~!**

 **Inspiration: Hazbin Hotel**

 **/\**

Everyone was really hoping that the next reality wouldn't be nearly as heavy or disgusting.

 **The world they saw once it opened again seemed tranquil. Until…**

 **The screen snapped to black with a shaking red glyph, a hellish pentagram spinning slowly. Then, they heard the laughter. Jaune's laughter. "** ** _And now… we return to our regularly scheduled program~_** **" His voice came with an old time radio effect, one that sounded all too familiar.**

Everyone felt a chill and gave a quick glace toward Jaune, checking for signs of possession.

 **The world truly opened in the pentagram before spreading over the canvas. They saw Jaune, dressed to the nines in a red pinstripe suit, though a bit ragged, rose colored monocle, red dress shirt, and a black bowtie. His blue eyes were glowing brighter than the fires of hell, and his grin… was there. He always smiled, but it seemed a little more forced than the last time they'd seen him.**

Jaune groaned a little seeing this version again, "I have a bad feeling about this."

Roman raised an eyebrow, though, "What's with the grin? Guy looks like he's bored as all hell." He didn't catch that one, though Tai and Yang had.

 **He walked down the street, talking to himself, "Hmm… What about…? No. Too boring."**

Mercury nodded slowly, "Guess that's why. He's looking for something to do."

 **Jaune walked down the streets of Hell before something caught his eye. He paused in front of a TV display showing the local news. Now, he never cared for Hell's news channels. He preferred to broadcast to the masses directly. Unfortunately, he hadn't done so in a while now. However, this broadcast was different.**

 **Sitting next to the familiar hosts of Sienna Kahn and Adam Taurus was the very daughter of the devil, Weiss Schnee. She was going on about how demons could still be redeemed and rise into heaven, even went into a little song and dance to get her point across.**

Ruby snickered at the thought of Weiss breaking out into song, as did most of her team.

Weiss just sighed, far too used to the idea of these weird worlds.

 **The rest of the demons in attendance just laughed at her, though, in a very overblown fashion.**

Now Weiss was just mad, "That's just rude."

 **Jaune watched as Sienna insulted her project to her face, resulting in Weiss retaliating with her own insults. The problem was, Sienna was a psychotic bitch with a superiority complex thanks to her time on the air. Rather than fly back with insults again, a fistfight broke out between the two.**

Sienna growled at her description.

Mercury laughed a bit, "I get it. She's like the smiling reporter you see trying to act all normal, but you just know deep down they're total assholes."

 **Jaune watched on, not really paying attention anymore. No, he was focusing on something else. Weiss's little hotel project, the reformation of the demonic sinners that overpopulate Hell. For the first time in a while, his grin spread and sharpened into its genuine form. "That'll work."**

Blake knew plenty of people like that in her books, "He's going to sabotage the hotel, I can see it now."

Yang thought back and found something else to focus on, "I'm guessing this was the 'fiasco on the picture show' he was talking about last time."

Tai nodded, "Most likely."

 **The screen transitioned to Jaune walking up toward the Happy Hotel (name pending). He grinned, dusted himself off and knocked on the door, the playful knock of a man who finally had a reason to truly grin again. When the door opened, his smile widened a little, "Hel-" Cue the door slamming, to open again, "-lo~!" Slammed again.**

Nora snickered, "That's still kind of funny."

 **Jaune stood there in place for a moment, letting them have their little moment. Then, he counted down from three, the opening once he was done. "May I speak now?"**

 **Weiss stood in the doorway, dressed in a white button up shirt and black slacks with a pair of suspenders. She crossed her arms and tried to hold a sense of power, "You may."**

 **Jaune, obviously, didn't care. He held his hand toward her to shake, "Jaune Arc! A pleasure to meet you, sweetheart!" He grabbed her forearm in place of a shake and pulled her closer, "Quite a pleasure!" He released her and walked passed her and into the Hotel.**

"It's the scene from last time we saw him…" Penny's head tilted.

"That's certainly different." Yang crossed her arms and sat back in her chair.

 **Jaune walked into the Hotel before spinning back toward her, "Sorry about my sudden visit, but I saw your fiasco on the picture show! And I just couldn't resist~ What a performance! Why, I haven't been that entertained since the Stock Market Crash of 1929!" Jaune laughed and sighed with a sense of nostalgia, "So many orphans~"**

Nora huffed with a frown, "Still not funny…"

 **"Stop right there!"**

 **Jaune stopped in place to find a spear pointed directly at him.**

 **Ilia stood there in her white dress and eyepatch with the X over her eye. Her bow was wrapped in her hair, around her ponytail. She cursed to herself before addressing him, "I know your game! And I'm going to let you hurt anyone here! You cheesy, pompous, talk show shitlord!"**

 **Jaune laughed and pushed the spear aside with one finger, "Dearie, if I wanted to hurt anyone here…" His distortion became more pronounced with his eyes going blank like radio dials. His head bent a little too far to the side, "I would have done so already~" Demonic runes floated around him as the screen cut in and out of static, Jaune distorting everything they could see.**

No one was as impressed, having seen it all before.

"It's just the same world as before?" Coco's eyebrow raised.

 **Weiss and Ilia were stuck in fear and shock at both his statement and the distorting he was causing.**

 **Jaune shook his head and returned to his normal grin, "No! I'm here because I want to help!"**

 **Weiss looked back up to him, more confused than afraid now, "Say what now?"**

"Okay, so it's not exactly the same." Penny mimicked the tapping of her cheek in thought she'd seen throughout the time in the theater.

 **"Help~!" Jaune laughed, "Hello? Is this thing on?" He tapped his microphone.**

 **Said microphone than opened an eye and answered him, "Well I hear you loud and clear~"**

Ruby felt a chill, "Oh, that's so weird."

 **Weiss glanced around, as if to see if she was still in reality. "You… want to help with…?"**

 **Jaune moved like a shadow between Weiss and Ilia, pulling them both into a huddle, "With this ridiculous thing you're trying to do~! This Hotel. I want to help you run it."**

 **"Um… why, exactly?"**

Blake wasn't buying it, "Obviously to sabotage it."

 **Jaune laughed again, "My dear, why does anyone do anything? Sheer, absolute boredom!" Jaune stood taller again and sighed, "I've lacked inspiration for decades!" He leaned his arm on top of Ilia's head like she was nothing more than a place to lean against.**

 **Ilia was shocked for a moment, but that changed to anger.**

And her viewing counterpart agreed, "Jerk…"

 **But she knew she couldn't challenge someone as powerful as Jaune.**

 **Jaune grinned and continued, "My work became mundane. Lacking focus. Aimless!" He pushed off Ilia and threw her to the side like it was nothing.**

This got a few chuckles out of the situation. Ilia did not agree, however.

 **"I've come to crave a new form of entertainment!" Jaune let out a jovial laugh.**

 **Weiss seemed to shrink a little, "Does getting into a fistfight with a reporter count as entertainment?"**

 **"My dear, it's the purest kind! Reality! True passion! After all the world is a stage! And the stage is a world of entertainment~" There was a hint of maliciousness behind that sentiment.**

Jaune thought about that one, a little too much. Getting a few glances in the process.

 **Weiss glanced to the side a moment, "So… you think it's possible to rehabilitate a demon?"**

 **Jaune laughed and waved it off, "Of course not!"**

 **Weiss turned deadpan with an** ** _are you kidding me_** **look.**

Weiss sighed, getting a little annoyed by that now.

 **"Redemption~? Oh the non-existent humanity! No, no, no. I don't think there's anything left that could save such loathsome sinners!" He glanced back at Ilia and Ren as he said that, getting annoyed looks.**

Nora laughed, "Oh hey! Ren still has the boots in this one!"

Ren sighed in defeat.

 **Jaune continued, "The chance given was the life they lived before! And the punishment is this!" Jaune swung his arms outward. After all, this was Hell.**

 **"Then, why would you want to help us?"**

 **"Call it an investment in future entertainment for myself!" Jaune wrapped an arm over her shoulders before spinning her like a dance partner to the other side, "I want to watch the scum of the underworld claw their way up the hill of betterment, only to repeatedly fall down into the fiery pit of failure~"**

Blake blinked in shock. "Or… he's just sadistic and wants to watch them fail despite everything they have going for them. That's… certainly different."

"It's twisted." Kali agreed.

 **Jaune glanced back toward Ren and Ilia, no doubt telling his story and to avoid him like the plague. Though, he didn't care. He was one of the oldest and most powerful mortal souls in all of Hell. They were all beneath him, playthings for his entertainment. And right now, that meant turning this hotel into an establishment worth going to. "Yes indeed! I have some great ideas for this little place!"**

A part of them was happy they didn't need the story again. The visuals and tormenting screams were haunting enough.

 **Ilia grabbed Weiss by the shoulder and pulled her to the side, though he could still hear everything they were saying. "Weiss, you can't trust this guy. He's not just some happy face. He's a deal maker. Pure evil! He can't be redeemed! And is most likely trying to find a way to destroy everything we're trying to do."**

 **Weiss sighed, "I… we don't know that. Look, I know he's bad, and he probably doesn't want to change. But the whole point of this is to give people a chance. I can't turn him away. It goes against everything I'm trying to do."**

Ozpin sighed with a bit of a smile, "A bit naïve, but her heart is in the right place. An honest, more simple soul."

Ironwood chuckled a bit, "You want to rephrase that, Oz?"

Ozpin thought for a moment, saw what James was talking about, but just shrugged and took a sip from his coffee.

 **Ilia was growing more worried, "Weiss, whatever you do,** ** _do not_** **make a deal with him!"**

 **"It's okay, Ilia. I learned** ** _one_** **thing from my dad. 'You don't take shit from other demons!'" Weiss walked back to the Radio Demon waiting nearby, "Okay. Jaune. You're sketchy as fuck and you obviously see what I'm trying to do here as a joke."**

Yang laughed a bit harder every time she heard Weiss cursing.

 **"But I don't! I believe that anyone can better themselves if given the chance. So, I'm taking your offer to help, so long as there's no trickster… voodoo stings attached."**

 **Jaune swung his mic to his other side and held out a hand toward Weiss, "So, it's a deal, then?" The world was tinged in green as power flowed out from between the two. This was the power of a demonic deal maker. The power that could warp all of reality for the purpose of their agreement.**

Everyone was more than a little surprised. Both by the power displayed and the underlying presence this power held. The power to twist reality for the sake of two people shaking hands. That was a scary prospect.

 **Weiss swatted his hand away, "No! No deals!" Weiss stepped to the side to think about how to do this right. "As… the Princess of Hell and heir to the throne, I hereby order you to help with this hotel. For as long as you desire." It was the best way she could put that and keep him from using it against her, allowing him to leave when things got too boring for him. "That sound fair?"**

Weiss sighed at how open that left their deal. "That's terrible business strategy."

 **Jaune thought about it for a moment, "Fair enough."**

 **Weiss let out a sigh of relief, "Cool."**

 **Jaune glanced around, "So, where is your hotel staff?"**

 **Weiss got a little nervous now, "Well…" She pointed back to Ilia, who was the only person helping her at this time.**

Weiss groaned a bit, "Okay, there's obvious nepotism at play here."

Ilia took personal offence to that, "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Think about it. What face have seen her pull this entire version?"

Ruby raised a hand.

Weiss sighed, "Ruby…"

"She's always scowling or angry! But she's working in a hotel!"

Weiss blinked in surprise for a moment before smiling with a nod, "Correct. Hotels are a part of the service industry and staff needs to remain approachable. You know, clean uniforms, calm demeanor, and a smile. None of which she seems to have. So, that leads me to think she got the job through someone else."

Yang just shrugged, "They're both probably dating." Weiss and Ilia looked at Yang like she was crazy before she had to explain. "I'm talking about you two and what hang ups you have, I'm taking about them. It's Weiss's project and Ilia has been following her lead the whole time. You can't tell me you don't see the signs."

Thinking back, they all saw something. Mostly Ilia's change in demeanor when it came to Weiss.

 **Jaune didn't seem to mind the glare, laughing, "You're going to need more than that." He walked to the front desk, where Ren was sitting on a stool. "And what can you do my effeminate fellow?"**

 **Ren gave his own grin, "I can suck your dick."**

Nora burst out laughing, much to Ren's embarrassment.

 **Jaune laughed before deadpanning, "No."**

 **"You're loss."**

 **Jaune walked back to the center of the room, "This just won't do!"**

Kali's ears twitched, "Did anyone else notice that it sounds like he's walking with tap shoes?"

They remained silent to listen in, and sure enough they could hear the sounds of tapping.

 **Jaune looked around, "I suppose I can cash in a few favors to help spruce this place up~" With a snap of his fingers, the fireplace was fixed up and a pile of black demon appeared in the flames. Jaune picked up the mass as a pair of silver eyes.**

Ruby gasped for a moment.

 **The soot flew off to reveal a girl in a red blouse and a black skirt, a smile on her face.**

 **Jaune grinned to the group, "This little darling is Ruby~!" He dropped her without a second thought.**

 **Ruby landed on her feet, revealing she was only half the size of the others. "Hi! I'm Ruby! It's been so long since I got to meet new friends~!" Her eyes darted between everyone. Her voice retained her sense of innocence, despite her being a denizen of Hell.**

Tai chuckled a bit, "Aw~ That's adorable!"

Ruby groaned, but she did agree in her own way.

 **Ruby swung her finger to point to them all, "Why are you all women?"**

Cue Nora's laughter at Ren's expense. She always found it a little funny when people thought he was a girl.

 **Jaune flew forward at a blinding speed and actually lifted Weiss off the ground, "Are there any men here?! I'm sorry, that's rude. Oh my gosh!" She was running and talking at a hundred miles an hour. "This place is filthy! It really needs a lady's touch." She ran up to a spider and crushed it in her fist.**

Ruby gagged, "Ew! Ew! No!"

 **Ruby spun around back to them, dead arachnid still in hand, "Which is weird because you're all ladies. No offense. Oh man!" Ruby ran like a blur, cleaning multiple locations in seconds before finally stabbing another bug through with a pin.**

Qrow cringed a little, "That's pretty messed up way to do it."

 **A green glow grabbed everyone's attention to the other side, hearing someone celebrate, "Ha! Read 'em and weep!" The camera moved to show Neptune sitting at a card table. His attire resembled the kind of thing you'd see in a casino, complete with card suits on his vest. He saw the demonic distortion and soon realized he wasn't where he should be anymore. "What the fuck?"**

Neptune shrugged, a certain part of him happy to part of things again.

 **He spun around before seeing Jaune standing there with his grin. Neptune did not appreciate that, "You!"**

 **Jaune grinned and place an arm on Neptune's shoulder, "Neptune, my good friend! Glad you could make it!"**

 **Neptune brushed him off, "Don't you Neptune me, you son of a bitch! I was about to win the whole damn pot!" He gestured to a very substantial pile of money and chips on the table that was slowly turning to static.**

Roman's turn to cringe a little, "That's got to suck."

 **Jaune didn't care, "Good to see you too~"**

 **Neptune face palmed, "What do you want now?"**

 **Jaune suddenly wrapped an arm over his shoulders, "You see, I'm doing some charity work and I took it upon myself to volunteer your services! I hope that's okay."**

Mercury laughed, "It's a pretty dick move."

 **Neptune growled, "Are you shitting me?!"**

 **Jaune seemed to think that over. "No, I don't think so~"**

This got a few snickers.

 **Neptune pushed him off, "You thought it would be some big fucking riot to pull me out of fucking nowhere? You think I'm some kind of fucking clown?!"**

 **Jaune had a smaller smile before shifting to his normal, wide grin, "Maybe."**

This turned snickers into laughter.

 **Neptune crossed his arms in anger, "I ain't doing a fucking charity job."**

 **"Well, I thought you'd be the perfect person to main this front desk!" He pointed to a bar he placed into the hotel with his demonic magic. "With your charming smile and welcoming energy, this job was made for you!"**

 **Neptune didn't agree.**

 **"Don't worry, old friend. I can make this more welcoming. If you wish." He waved his hand in front of the bar and a bottle literally labeled [Cheep Booze] appeared on the counter.**

Qrow started to laugh seeing that, "A little on the nose with that one. Be a hell of a label for it though." He then noticed Yang and Tai grinned at him. "What?" After a moment, he realized what he said before face palming as the two high fived.

 **Neptune seemed to march toward him indignantly, "You think I can be bought with a wink and some cheep booze!" Pause. "Because I can!" Neptune grabbed the bottle and drank straight from the source.**

Cue Nora laughing at how dumb that was.

 **Ilia moved to the middle of the group, "Oh no! No! No bar! No alcohol! This is a place that's supposed to discourage sin!"**

Ren found a moment for some philosophical waxing, "It's more common for drunkenness to be the sin. It's more about over indulging than the act of drinking alcohol itself."

 **Ilia continued, "Not kind of… bar, brothel… mancave… thing!"**

 **Ren, in turn, tackled her to the ground, "SHUT UP! Shut up!" He pointed to the bar, "We are keeping this!"**

Nora laughed again, "Guess he agrees with you. But for different reasons!"

Ren sighed with a sense of defeat.

 **Ren moved back up toward the bar, "Hey!"**

 **Neptune was having none of it, though, "Go fuck yourself."**

 **"Only if you watch~"**

Nora and Yang burst out into even louder laughter at everyone's stunned faces.

 **Weiss was a little more hopeful, "Welcome to Happy Hotel! You are going to love it here~!"**

 **Neptune grabbed his bottle again, "I lost the ability to love years ago."**

 **Jaune laughed, getting their attention again, "So? What do you think?"**

 **Weiss was smiling from ear to ear, "I love it!"**

 **Ilia was still skeptical, "It's… alright."**

 **Jaune grabbed them both and pulled them into a group hug, "This is going to be very entertaining~" As Ilia pushed out of the hug, he thought back to Weiss's propensity for breaking out in song. So, he decided to run with it.**

Nora gasped, "Is he about to…?!"

 **Jaune opened his palm with a demonic fire. He tossed the flame into the air and old fashioned swing music began to play in the background. "** ** _You have a dream you wish to tell._** **" Jaune spun his finger over her head, turning Weiss's clothing and appearance to an old fashioned (1920s) attire to fit the music. "** ** _And, hey, it's laughable. But what the hell!_** **"**

 **Jaune tossed Weiss into the air, seeing a trio of neon lights representing her hotel in some way, from an apple to a smiling skull. The lights suddenly morphed to a neon blue more akin to a night life party. As she landed, Jaune and Weiss danced to the swing music.**

Those who hadn't seen the previous fashion styles were intrigued. They rarely saw such styles, so it was interesting to see then in use rather than through pictures.

 **"** ** _Cause you're one of a kind! A charming demon belle._** **" Jaune and Weiss slid down the stairs' banister to the ground floor. "** ** _So let's give these burning fools a place to dwell~_** **"**

 **With a snap of his fingers, everyone's attire returned to that old era style, like his own and Weiss's new clothing.**

 **"Hit is boys!" A crack in the ground sprouted a series of shadowy demons with various instruments to really play up the music. Jaune gathered the group into a big hug before slinking off for the shadows to surround them.**

 **"** ** _Inside every demon is a lost cause. But we'll dress 'em up for now with a smile!_** **" The light and effects around Jaune turned his skin to a shadowy black while all his other features were made neon by the glow. "** ** _And we'll ornate this cesspool with some old redemption flair, and show these simpletons some proper class and style~!_** **"**

Ilia felt a growl form in her throat, "Big talk usually means they can't back it up. He might distort things, but I bet he's weaker than all of them and this is all flash."

Mercury thought for a moment before grinning, "You want to put money behind that?"

"What?"

"A bet. Do you want to want to bet that he _is_ that weak? Cause I'll put 50 Lien saying he's stronger than all of them."

Ilia huffed, "Oh please."

"So, you in?"

"Fine. Easy Lien anyway."

 **"** ** _Here below the ground! I'm sure your plan is sound. They'll spend a little time down at this Hazbin Ho-_** **"**

 **Jaune was cut off as the door was blow in by a massive explosion. Said door flew forward and smacked Ruby into next week.**

Ruby recoiled how suddenly it happens and how painful it likely would be.

 **Everyone gathered at the new hole in the wall, their clothing back to normal. Jaune's head tilted to the side slightly, accompanied by a radio tuning effect.**

 **A large air blimp was parked outside their door, towering over them all. They heard mad laughter as the pilot appeared in a window. It was revealed that the person behind the explosion was the man they'd seen called Tyrian. "Well, well! Look who's harboring the striped freak!"**

 **Ren didn't take that too kindly.**

 **Tyrian continued "We meet again, Jaune Arc!"**

 **Jaune just smiled, not too impressed, "Do I know you?"**

This got Cinder to actually smirk, seeing Tyrian's moment ripped away.

 **Tyrian recoiled a bit, annoyed, "Oh! Yes you do!" Tyrian returned to the bridge and laughed at his console, "And this time, I have the element of… surprise!" A giant laser cannon lowered from his ship, pointed squarely at his enemies.**

 **Jaune calmly dusted off his sleeve, adjusted his bowtie, and snapped his fingers. A vortex opened from the ground as inky-black tentacles rose up and started to tear the ship apart, ripping the cannon off and tossing it away. The tentacles tore into the ship as they constricted the whole, squeezing tighter and tighter in tandem with Jaune's closing fist. His glowing hand finally snapped shut and the blimp exploded into fire and chunks of death, though no one really died outside the purges. The smile on his face was one of twisted amusement, the smile of a man whose greatest pleasure is the pain and desolation of others. It was wider and more twisted than normal as he truly indulged in his greatest joy.**

 **The others, however, watched on in wide-eyed fear. They turned their eyes toward him, almost not truly believing what they saw.**

The audience had a similar look across their faces.

Save for one. Mercury cleared his throat and held a hand toward Ilia, who had to give up 50 Lien after that hellish display.

 **Jaune suddenly snapped back to normal and spun around to the group, "Welp! I'm starved! Who's up for jambalaya?!"**

The juxtaposition between psychotic and his usual grin was a little concerning to them all now.

 **Jaune walked through the group, all of them parting to let him pass. "My mother showed me a wonderful recipe for jambalaya. Why, it almost killed her! You could say the kick was right out of Hell!" Jaune laughed, "I'm on a roll!"**

Yang sighed with a slight grin. She could appreciate the pun, even if the guy was nuts.

 **"This is the start of some real changes around here! The game is set! Now… stay tuned~" The camera tracked upward to show the name of the hotel, the sign being struck by red lightning. The Happy Hotel was renamed the Hazbin Hotel. The world faded out, finally feeling like a true ending.**

Everyone felt a certain calm knowing it was over, and with a real ending this time. Eyes turned toward Jaune, just in case of possession, but he seemed to remain himself this time. No signs of hellish influence. But something in the back of their minds told them they hadn't heard the last of this demonic version.


	119. Intermission 10: Confrontations

**King: Time for another intermission.**

 **Knox: Thank goodness! I need a break.**

 **King: Right. Anyway, something... interesting is going to happen this time. And, depending on what you all think, there might just be a roster mix up again.**

 **Knox: Wait, really? I thought you said we weren't doing that anymore.**

 **King: Yeah, well... We've been at this for 119 chapters. I need insirations and new ideas now and then. And I think an audience boost might help. Plus side, it'll give me more room to work with for my... secondary project.**

 **Knox: Ominous.**

 **King: Anyway, we hope you enjoy the chapter.**

 **Inspiration: N/A**

 **/\**

It was time once again for an intermission. Many in the audience went off to relax, including one Qrow Braunwen. Qrow cracked his neck and had started to make his way to the bar. In one of the empty hallways of the theater, he glanced at the series of doors. There were plenty of weird doors to rooms he'd never seen, but one caught his eye more than the others.

[Raven's Respite]

Qrow raised an eyebrow and curiosity got the better of him. He opened the door and stepped inside to see what this was all about. His eyes went wide as he found himself in the middle of his old Tribe's campsite. "Well… this is different."

"You don't know the half of it."

Qrow jumped and spun around toward the voice. Sitting on the elevated step of the chief tent was his sister Raven with her armor removed. She sat in her usual black attire and a blank expression on her face. To Qrow, the fact that she wasn't in armor was a telling fact. Raven had become paranoid enough to never be seen without it, even among her supposedly trusted Tribe. "Raven?" Qrow stepped forward slightly, "What are you doing here? Or are you even really here?"

Raven growled, "It's me, Qrow. No tricks."

"Then how are you here? I thought you left a while back to go home."

"I thought I did too. But I've been told that something his holding me back from really returning to the Tribe. I've been stuck here ever since."

Qrow thought back to how long that had been, "On your own?"

"At first I couldn't tell. The camp was full of our Tribesmen, but something always felt off. After a while, I stopped delegating and planned to leave, only to find out the camp is surrounded by a field of some kind, but only for me. That's when I got suspicious. It was confirmed when I tried to use my portals with no effect. So, either you and Tai were dead, or I hadn't really returned, given the fireball said time wouldn't move with everyone here."

Qrow nodded, following the logic behind that sentiment. "And you've just been stuck here ever since?"

Raven nodded, leaning back to brace herself against the perch and look to the sky, false as it may be. "It's been… enlightening, actually."

"Really? How?"

"For one thing, I hadn't noticed anything was wrong. No matter that I spent all this time with the Tribe, I couldn't tell they weren't real here. In the end, don't think I ever gave the Tribe any attention."

Qrow sighed. A part of him had a feeling that things would end up that way. "And?"

"And…" Raven took a deep breath, "and I don't know. I have a lot to think about I guess."

"Fair enough." He reached into his pocket and leaned his flask toward her, offering her a drink. When Raven shook her head, he opened it and took a long drink. When he finished his drink from his flask, he lowered the bottle away with a sigh. "Ray…"

"Don't start, Qrow. I'm not going back to Ozpin's little world of secrets."

Qrow sighed with a groan, "Ray, I'm not asking you to. I was going to say that it's nice to see you now and then. And I bet Tai and Yang would feel the same if you bothered to get your act together."

That pissed Raven off, making her stand to glare down toward her brother, "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

Her tone just brought Qrow into the irritation, "You know damn well what I mean. Getting your head out of your ass and admitting that you're afraid!"

Raven slammed her foot onto the ground, stepping toward him and ready to attack, but Qrow's damned semblance ensured the wood of the platform beneath her snapped and caused her to stumble to keep her balance. Raven tried to save face, glaring toward Qrow, "I'm not afraid of anything!"

"Salem."

"That's different. Salem is beyond anything we've ever experienced much less faced."

Qrow nodded, "Fair enough," but his face said he wasn't done, "And what about Tai?"

Raven pulled her leg out of the platform, turning to Qrow like he was crazy, "What? I've never been afraid of Tai. I'm stronger than…"

"That's just it, isn't it?" Qrow interrupted, "That's why you ran away. Not to test your daughter to find the strength to find you like the Tribe would, but because you were afraid of what you would become. You were afraid domestic life raising a child would make you weak! You were afraid because you actually cared about someone other than yourself for once in your life!"

Raven finally got around his semblance's defenses and punched Qrow across the jaw. "You don't know anything!"

Qrow, however, didn't fight back. Just rubbing his cheek, "I know plenty about you, Ray. Just like you know why I drink and what shit we've gone through." Qrow stepped down from the platform and started to walk off to the camouflaged entrance to the theater, "Take care of yourself Raven. It's what you're good at." There wasn't any venom behind that. It was somber, if any emotion could be attributed to it at all. Qrow left the 'room,' leaving Raven alone again.

\/

Meanwhile, the students had gone to the arena for a bit of training. They learned that the arena had a bot fighting mode to let them train without needing to rely on just one-on-one spars. That said, they have since discovered a special mode on the operation console that read [Boss mode]. According to Neptune, who actually bothered to read the accompanying manual, it allowed them to face a single, stronger opponent randomly selected throughout the multiverse.

A mode Yang was more than happy to try out. She now stood in the middle of the arena, bouncing from one foot to the other to psych herself up, "Come on! Let's get this going!"

"Hang on a second!" Neptune was at the controls, slowly looking everything over. "There's a lot going on here. Let's see… Okay. We can set up an opponent from our reality or a totally random one. We can also fight in the standard arena or a set field."

Yang was getting annoyed now, "Just hit random!"

"Fine!" Neptune prepared the settings and smacked the button to start the opponent's loading.

A set of small pillars rose up from the ground and creating a cylinder of energy. A message from King played to accompany the loading, " _Attention! This is a prerecorded message to explain something important. Your opponent will act exactly as their base. This means they will fight, and sometimes banter, like the original version. Keep this in mind and prepare for battle!_ "

Yang grinned, waiting for the opponent's form to fully form. "Bring it on."

The pillar finished forming the body within and began to squeeze toward the center. As it reached a part of the body, it would constrict and wrap tightly around the form until the body was fully revealed in a sort of silhouette. After a moment, the glowing effect popped away to finally reveal her opponent.

Standing opposite her was the spitting image of the man she'd since come to know as Adam Taurus. However, this Adam was dressed in a black button up shirt and pants coupled with a white vest. His face was uncovered, but the left side of his face was wrapped up in bandages.

Blake groaned a bit seeing him at first, but sighed in relief upon seeing the variation, "Okay. It's not our Adam."

Ruby glanced over to Blake, "What do you mean? Is that Adam guy really that strong?"

"If that was the Adam I knew, Yang wouldn't stand a chance. He'd probably slice right through her aura and likely lop off her arm, if she's lucky."

Ruby gulped, now also happy that wasn't the same Adam.

Adam cracked his joints, as if to prepare for the match. "Right. It's Yang, right? Yang Xiao Long?"

Yan blinked, expecting a bit more hostility given what she saw with the version she met. But she got passed the surprise and grinned, "Yep." She lowered her stance and brought her fists up for the fight, "Ready when you are."

A hologram above them started to count down before a loud tone rang out to signal the beginning of the match.

Yang fired a shell to send herself flying toward Adam to punch him in the gut. Adam flew back from the impact and added power from the shotgun gauntlet. He spun around midair to land back on his feet and skid across the arena.

Adam let out a quick laugh and relaxed his muscles. "That was fast. Okay!" Adam grinned as he swung his arm to the side and pulled back his sleeve to reveal a set of bracers on either arm. With a snap, they expanded to form with a pair of hard light blades extending forward from his wrist.

Yang's face also formed a grin. It was clear this was going to be a good fight.

Adam swung his arms like blades, because they were at the moment, rather than as a blunt force strike like Yang's punches. Each motion was more precise than Yang's, but that gave her a larger margin of error to dodge the attacks. In contrast, Yang's movements were wider and blunt, but that made her more predictable to a fighter like this Adam. Ducks, dips, dodges, and dives became the common sight of their combat. It took a solid two minutes before a second hit was made; a solid kick from Adam into Yang's side. With the score tied 1 to 1, they returned to their attempts to break it. Five minutes since the beginning of the match and neither made a solid blow. The timer on the match rang out and signaled a forced end of the fight. Aura evaluations gave Yang the win thanks to her harder hit compared to Adam's. With the fight ended, the false Adam was broken down as a hard light construct and disappeared.

Yang returned to her friends and sighed, "I can't believe how that had to end. It was only five minutes!"

Neptune looked through the manual again, "Apparently, it's a regulation set for intermissions."

Yang then remembered they were inherently on a time limit and sighed, "Okay, fair enough."

\/

Roman had decided to spend the time in the bar. He was enjoying a good drink as Qrow stomped in and slammed into his seat. Roman couldn't help but let out a quick chuckle, "Damn. What's got you that mad?"

Qrow huffed and ordered his drink before answering, "Just… an old family issue."

"Gotcha." Roman chose to let that one end. He knew better than to get involved in other people's lives.

After a moment, Neo entered the bar and sat next to Roman. She leaned forward, saw Qrow, and looked back to Roman with a raised brow.

Roman just shrugged, "You'd be surprised the kind of friends you can make over a stiff drink."

Qrow's turn to raise a brow, "You can understand what she's thinking?"

"Yep. I've known Neo for a long time now."

"Hmm." Qrow took a long sip from his drink, "I have to admit that's pretty interesting. Being able to talk without saying a word."

"It's more that I know what she'll say and just respond to that."

"That must be quite the story."

"No kidding." Roman sat back on his barstool and grinned, "So get this…"

\/

Ironwood walked the halls of the theater. He'd heard about the various rooms and their strange properties, but he was never sure enough to enter one. He'd spent most of his time with the other teachers in the lounge. This time, however, he chose to walk the halls. It was rather boring for the moment, but he wasn't actually expecting anything to happen. But happen something did.

One of the doors slowly opened in front of him. Ironwood was instantly halted and on alert. He could feel the effects of the Theater keeping them from being hostile, but he was still on edge now. Seconds passed and no one moved from the room. This just made Ironwood's nerves scream at him. But a trained soldier wasn't so quick to let them force their will over him. He slowly stepped toward the door and glanced inside.

The room within reminded him of a smaller version the Atlas Military's library, complete with hologram section markers. The walls were filled with books and tomes of every kind, though less comprehensive since it was a single room compared to a full, multi-level library. What really caught his attention, however, was a table set in the center of the room. More specifically, what was on the table. A map of Remnant was sprawled over the cold steel of the table, small markers placed onto the canvas map to mark the Kingdoms and the larger settlements. Small figures showed everything from the Grimm surrounding them to the defenses holding them back. Some figures were human groupings, and each was distinct and labeled with their affiliations. He recognized it as a strategy map, something used to plan out movements and help commanders visualize their ideas before going into combat.

What unnerved him, however, was accurate it was. Every detail was in place between known bandit positions to his own soldier. Even a glance toward the miniature figures showed too many details in their design. These weren't just place holders to represent abstract ranks, these represented actual people. A part of him knew this was likely part of King and/or Knox's work with the theater, which was why he didn't dare actually touch it in case something would actually happen to their world.

Ironwood's eyes narrowed, "Why would he need this?"

"I don't." The sudden sound of King's voice from the doorway caused Ironwood to jump and turn toward the glowing purple fireball as he floated into the room. "Not anymore, anyway. My task is already complete. Your timeline has diverged from a serious hit and your futures are forever changed. You could all leave and I'd be satisfied in my work."

"Then… why are we still here?"

King was silent a moment, the air hanging on the next answer. "Simple. I'm not forcing you to leave. You're all allowed to remain as long as you wish. Though, I also admit some… personal meddling to see how far I can take these changes."

This just confused the general even more, "What on Remnant does that mean?"

"Maybe you'll see. Maybe you won't. Wouldn't be much of a surprise if I told you, know would it?" King flickered away and out the door again.

Ironwood glanced back to the table for a moment before following the master of the theater out of the room. "This place just gets more and more confusing."

\/

Up in the library, Mercury was being confronted by Emerald on a pretty important subject. Mercury tried to brush her off, but she wasn't having it. There was no avoiding her this time.

Mercury groaned and glared down toward her, "This is about what I said a few intermissions ago, isn't it? About what I'm doing when we get back."

Emerald tried her best to match his glare. She held her own, but Mercury's was a life of anger and suffering, so he had a major advantage. "I want to know exactly how you think you'll get away from Cinder? You have to know we'll find you again."

"I'll figure that out when I get there. I'm not living under Cinder's heel anymore. I'd suggest you do the same, but I don't think you have it in you."

"You shut your mouth! I owe Cinder everything!"

Mercury's glare morphed into a face she'd never seen on him before. One that she instantly grew to hate. Paining his features could only be called pity.

Emerald's blood was boiling over seeing that, "You turn your back on Cinder, and you _will_ die! Do you hear me?! I'll kill you myself!"

"I doubt you can. You're a thief, a street rat!"

That outburst and choice of words made Emerald take a step back.

"I'm a trained assassin. My father taught me to kill without ever needing my semblance. I hated that bastard, but I can give him that much. The only threat you pose is running off to tell Cinder." Mercury took a moment to take breath, calming his nerves. "When we get back, there's every reason to leave our cover in Beacon. They know what we're up to and Roman will sell us out in a heartbeat now. When that happens… don't leave."

Emerald's eyes widened, "W-what?"

"When Cinder is forced to retreat, don't leave. I'm going my own way when it all falls apart. But you're better off throwing yourself at their mercy. You obviously need a place to belong and they believe in all that friendship and togetherness crap, living like a family. That's what you really want isn't it?"

Emerald wanted to smack him, but the fact that she wasn't was telling. More to her than it was to him.

"Thought so." Mercury brushed passed her, pausing after a moment, "If I had to suggest which one to latch onto, I'd pick the Arc kid. Out of all of them, that family of his might just have the resources to keep Cinder out of your life for good. You'd be better off. But hey, what do I know?" With that, he finally walked off, leaving her alone among the stacks of books.

Emerald was left stunned for a while. She didn't know exactly how long, but the silence was maddening. She slowly turned back toward the library's exit; Mercury being long gone by that point. Left alone, her mind was replaying the events over and over again. Every word he said was a loop in her mind. Her interactions with Cinder and everything they meant, or the lack thereof. There was no escaping these thoughts now, so she had to make a choice: to stand beside Cinder or to forsake the one she thought saved her.

Her thoughts were ripped away when the intercom rang for them to return once more. But Emerald knew she had to make this decision soon.


	120. Riastrad!

**King: Okay, explanation time. This one is like the Barron, remember that one from Chapter... 15, holy shit how far we've come. Point is, it's a mythical figure without any finalized description. Seriously, he's described as having dark hair, blonde hair, red hair, and a weird combination of all three with dark tips, red middle, and a golden crown. I just went with the version as seen in the popular MOBA Smite.**

 **Knox: You really like that game, don't you?**

 **King: I certainly enjoy it. But that's neither here nor there. Let's get this one running and see what happens. Hope you enjoy.**

 **Knox: Dude, check the views.**

 **King: Hmm? ... 6 MILLION?!**

 **Inspiration: Cu Chulainn**

 **/\**

The viewers slowly returned to the main theater. An interesting late comer back to the seats was Emerald. She walked through the walkway, seeming uncertain. She looked up from her internal struggles to find Mercury had already moved further from Cinder. And what did Cinder seem to think? Nothing. She sat there like everything and everyone was so far beneath her that it didn't matter what they did. Like everything would fall in line no matter what they believe. She gave a glance to Cinder, uncertainty filling her mind for the fist time since the woman found her after robbing that jeweler. Emerald's head hung a little lower and she took the seat directly to her side, three rows and an aisle away from the woman she's followed so far.

Knox flickered in, "Alright! Who's ready for the next one?!"

King burst into form a little bit after, "Hang on, Knox. We're missing one."

Yang looked around the audience, doing a head count, "I don't see anyone missing."

But someone was in the theater and not among them. Someone who thought she was done with all this. The doors to the theater opened to reveal Raven as she walked back down the aisles.

This made Yang jumped to her feet in shock, confusion, and anger. "What are you doing here?! I thought to left!"

Raven rolled her eyes, "So did I…" She looked up toward the purple fireball with a glare sharp as her blade.

They could almost see the shit-eating grin on King's flame, "What? Is something wrong Raven?"

Raven felt her eye twitch before she huffed and moved to the back left of the theater and taking a seat. "Just get this over with."

"Nice to see you too…" King swung around to address everyone again, "Okay. That's everyone for now. We're hoping to expand things soon, but right now, this is our group. Now, let's get this going!"

King and Knox flickered away as the screen began the next world to view.

 **The world opened to show the famed Amity Coliseum floating over Beacon grounds. The Vytal Festival was in full swing and people were in high spirits as the first round of the tournament was coming to an end. Within, Team RWBY was facing off with one of Vacuo's premier first year teams, Team VILT (violet). As of the moment, Weiss dodged passed a large battle ax to land a series of light attacks before sending her opponent flying backward, knocking him out of the competition.**

Ruby's arms flew up in excited celebration, "Go Team RWBY!" She giggled a bit, "It's so weird rooting for ourselves."

Yang chuckled and gave her sister a light punch on the shoulder, "Anywhere else."

 **Weiss's moment was cut short by a nasty club being slammed directly into her gut, knocking out the rest of her aura and eliminating her.**

Weiss felt personally offended to be knocked out like that, and her angry growl made that very clear to everyone there.

 **The camera moved to the side to show the wielder of the weapon was a massive man dressed in a pair of tiger-stripe pants and boots; and nothing else. His torso was bare of any clothing or armor, replying solely on aura to defend it. But this also showed the man was built like a brick house. A pair of horns stuck out from the top of his head and everything about him practically screamed brute.**

 **Port's voice rang out over the stadium, "** ** _Ooh! What a hit from Vacuo's Isshin Doji!_** **"**

 **Isshin grinned and turned to the rest of RWBY. Ruby and Yang were run ragged and Blake looked like she was ready to collapse right then and there.**

 **Yang groaned, "What's this guy made of?!"**

 **Ruby tried to stay in control of the situation, "We need to focus. There has to be a way to beat this guy."**

 **Blake shook her head to shake of loss of balance growing in her nervous system, "Easier said than done. His team is out, but he's barely even hurt."**

Mercury laughed, "Dude's built like a brick shithouse and they're all ready to collapse. They're doomed."

Though team RWBY didn't like hearing it, they recognized the facts of the situation.

 **Isshin smirked toward the group, "I'm being very generous to let you three have this conversation." He swung his club up over onto his shoulder, "If you'd prefer, you can rush me all at once. Do your worst. It won't make a difference."**

 **Yang growled, her eyes turning red in anger. She wanted to knock this guy down on his ass for acting like that, but last time she tried that she ended up flat on her back instead. If there was one thing she could give this guy, he could back up what he was shouting.**

 **Isshin huffed, seeing them not charging him. He already knew Yang was a hot head, which meant that his provocations weren't going to work much longer. He grinned and swung his club back to his side. "You won't come to me, then? Then I'm coming for you!" He ran off toward the group, the camera moving up to show the attack, and team RWBY's subsequent dodge, from a downward angle. Team RWBY was doing everything they could to keep the giant man at a distance, slowly chipping away at his aura.**

 **Isshin grabbed an opportunity to counterattack one of Yang's flares by using giant club like a bat and send the flare straight into Blake's torso. This knocked Blake's aura into the red and removed her from the competition.**

Blake recoiled seeing the events leading to her knock out. She figured this man as a brute like Cardin, but he's proven to be smarter than he seemed. Not only blocking but reflecting an attack like that, a flare no less, took a great amount of calculation. Even if it proved to be his semblance, he'd still need to predict both her and Yang's movements and plot out how best to counter.

 **Yang turned to Ruby and then up to the scoreboard. There was no way they were going to chip down his before he knocked them out first. Their only option was a ring out. Yang took a deep breath before twisting her heel and charging forward. With a fist reared back, she fired a shot into the man's gut and knocked him back just a little. She started to rush attacks and pushed him closer to the edge of the arena. Unfortunately, this soon proved to be him humoring her. Her planted his foot and swung a heavy blow to Yang's head.**

Yang's turn to recoil at the obviously painful strike.

 **Yang would have fallen back if not for Isshin grabbing her arm and pulling her back before lifting her by said arm.**

 **Isshin grinned, "Did you really think, after this entire fight, that you could knock me out that easily."**

 **Yang looked back down toward him with a grin of her own, "Maybe. Or maybe I was keeping you at range."**

 **Isshin raised an eyebrow before his head suddenly flew backward and his body recoiling with it, dropping Yang in shock. He barely caught himself before realizing that Ruby's scythe doubled as a high impact sniper rifle. She fired more shots to the same point of impact just fast enough to keep him off balance. With his footing ruined, Yang pushed herself off the ground and tackling into his gut and finally knocking him out of bounds.**

The theater erupted in cheers from the Beacon students for team RWBY's victory. Even if it wasn't their version of the team.

 **Port's voice returned to the stadium, "** ** _An incredible turn around brings victory to Beacon's Team RWBY! However, this is only the beginning as now, after a short break, the doubles round begin. Can they keep this momentum going, or is their narrow victory here indicative of their chances? Time will tell._** **"**

 **The screen transitioned to team RWBY collapsing onto a set of seats at one of the food stalls. Each of them was groaning from the injuries and painful reminders of the previous battles. Blake went so far as to have her head fall onto the counter.**

This got a few chuckles out of her team and friends.

 **Ruby took a breath before smiling, "Well, at least we made it to the next round!"**

 **Weiss rubbed her cheek, the point of impact after being tossed like an ice-themed ragdoll, "Let's just hope that's the worst it gets."**

 **Blake turned her head toward the heiress, "You just jinxed it."**

 **"You can't actually believe in that nonsense."**

 **"I'll believe whatever I have to not have that happen to me ever again."**

 **Yang pat Blake's shoulder, "If it makes you feel any better, you can sit out the next round."**

 **"Good." Blake returned to her previous position.**

 **Yang sighed, "So, I feel like I've still got fight in me. So, who's coming with me to the next round?"**

 **Ruby and Weiss turned to each other, neither really excited about the idea. In the end they settled it with a silent argument, resulting in Weiss being the unwilling winner. The heiress sighed, "I suppose I am."**

Nora laughed the scene, falling back in her chair.

Ren shook his head, "Not exactly the best way to decide."

Weiss just sighed in annoyed embarrassment.

 **As their meals arrived, they just chose to enjoy the food before even thinking of the next round. As Weiss moved to pay for the food, however, a thief snatched her wallet from behind and started to run off. Weiss jumped her feet and called out after him, prepared to run after him and subdue him with her glyphs.**

Roman rolled his eyes, "Amateur. True, crowds are great for finding marks, but he clearly needs to work on picking better ones."

 **However, to her surprise and the shock of many, a spear flew from the sky and directly in front of the thief. The crook had no time to react and ran face first into the steel and flopped onto his rear. Weiss ran up and retrieved her possessions before the festival security arrived to take the thief away.**

The spear's sudden appearance caused many to jump in surprise. Ruby was just amazed at the weapon, but not for what it was. Rather, it was for it wasn't. Unlike Pyrrha's weapon, this spear had no mecha-shift function or trigger boosted propulsion. The spear was just a spear, meaning the wielder had to have thrown it through power alone.

 **Weiss huffed as she watched the thief being taken away. "Good riddance." As she turned to return to her group, she found herself face first into a man's chest.**

 **The man stepped to the side, "Sorry about that."**

Nora sprung up to proclaim, "There's Jaune!" It had almost become a game to her at this point.

 **"It's fine. I wasn't watching where I was… going…" Weiss took a step back and finally got a look at the man she'd run into.**

 **The man standing before her was the very picture of power. His loose fit pants were paired with armored boos reaching up to his knees. His torso, however, was bare save for an emerald-green cloth with golden accenting wrapped up over one shoulder, meeting the rest of its form at his waist. His shoulder was adorned by a flowing, bright blue tattoo of a running hound. His blonde hair was slicked back away from his forehead and into a braided strand on one side of his face. He smiled and waved off her apology, "It's fine. No harm done."**

Yang couldn't help but whistle in appreciation and amazement at the version before them. The version wasn't a muscle head, but definitely had definition. However, Weiss's reaction in that world just made her need to tease the Weiss sitting next to her, "Looks like the Ice Queen is the one with the crush this time."

Weiss rolled her eyes and just ignored it.

 **Jaune stepped around Weiss and retrieved the spear from the ground, revealing a set of barbs at the tip of the weapon.**

This got Ruby's mind working in overdrive, both interested in the weapon and scared of the connotation of those barbs. She knew large protrusions, or teeth, on a weapon were used for catching incoming attacks and breaking the weapon. However, these barbs were too small and the only thing they could really be for was maximizing damage dealt.

 **Weiss watched him retrieve the weapon and walk off with a wave. She had planned to thank him for helping catch the criminal, but her team's shouting distracted her long enough for him to disappear among the crowds.**

 **Said crowd also acted as a transition back to the arena. Port's voice rang out over the viewers, "** ** _And we return for the doubles round! This is where things start to get truly difficult for many. You don't have your full team backing you up anymore, and if you and your partner aren't prepared you can be easily overrun. Now! Let's get started with the first match!_** **"**

 **Oobleck's voice soon joined him, "** ** _After the randomization of the teams, we have our first match. First, representing Beacon Academy's team CFVY! Coco Adel and Yatsuhashi Daichi!_** **"**

 **Coco swung her purse/weapon over her shoulder while Yatsuhashi sat in meditation.**

Coco grinned, "Made it to the second round. Not too bad, considering the usual competition."

 **"** ** _And in the opposing corner, representing Atlas Academy's team ORNJ (orange), Roan Amaril and Jaune Arc._** **"**

 **The camera moved to show this version of Jaune standing beside a young woman in a pale red combat dress, dark leggings, boots, and a yellow scarf.**

 **Roan gave Coco and Yatsuhashi the once over before turning slightly to Jaune, "Any ideas on how handle them?"**

 **Jaune glanced between his opponents before smirking, "Here's an idea. I'll fight the big guy. You can handle the fashion show over there."**

Coco shrugged, "Not exactly an insult. At least he can appreciate that I look good."

 **The Coco on screen raised an eyebrow behind her sunglasses, "Oh? You sure you don't want to face me yourself. Yatsu might be too much for you."**

 **Jaune cracked his neck and rolled his spear shoulder. He chuckled as he spoke, "Tell you what, if you can beat Roan and you'll get your chance."**

 **Roan did not appreciate that comment.**

Sun cringed a bit, but kept his smile, "Dang. Does he not have _any_ faith in his teammate?"

Nora scoffed, "Well, obviously! She's not us~!"

Ren sighed, shaking his head slightly.

 **The environments were selected as city ruins and mountain region. As the two structures snapped into place, a countdown began before the fight was kicked off. Roan gave a sideways glance to Jaune. She could see Yatsuhashi was a powerful short-range fighter and it would be in their best interest to deal with him first, and given her ranged abilities she was clearly the best option to fight him.**

"She's not wrong." Coco was rather nonchalant, "Though he's tougher than he looks."

 **When the timer rang out to start the fight, Roan grabbed a tube from her back and fired a heavy slug into Yatsuhashi and knocking him back into the city area. She immediately moved to pursue the larger man.**

 **Coco watched this happen and snapped her weapon into form as Roan ran passed her, "So much for that…!" She was interrupted as Jaune's spear flew passed her head.**

 **Roan's charge was halted by said spear hooking into her scarf and pinning her in place. "What the hell?!"**

This surprised everyone involved in the viewing.

Ruby jumped up toward the screen, "Why did he do that?!"

 **Jaune slowly walked passed Coco and grabbed his spear from the ground. With his other hand, he grabbed Roan's collar and pulled her toward his face, "I made it clear he is MY opponent. Stay in your lane, or I'll bury you in it!" He pushed her away and toward Coco before walking into the false ruins.**

Everyone just looked at this Jaune like he was crazy. Not only had he more or less attacked his teammate, but now he threatened her to top it off. Safe to say they saw a terrible teammate.

 **Jaune walked into the city and found Yatsuhashi waiting for him in the street. Jaune grinned and placed his spear onto his shoulder, "Sorry to keep you waiting."**

 **Yatsuhashi remained fairly stoic, "You have an odd way of addressing your teammate."**

 **"She knows how I get when she ignores me, too. I'd think getting to know me makes it clear she shouldn't make me angry."**

Penny tilted her head slightly, "He does not sound like a good teammate."

Winter's eyes narrowed, "And certainly a poor representation of Atlas Academy."

 **Yatsuhashi's brow raised slightly, "I must admit, you aren't what I imagine when I picture an Atlas student."**

 **Jaune scoffed before laughing, "That's because I'm no student of Atlas. Sure, I go to the school, but I'd hardly call myself Atlassian. No," Jaune grinned and spun his spear around his shoulder and neck before the spear finally came to rest in his hand, "I'm something different." He held up his spear and pointed it toward Yatsuhashi, "You face the Hound of Uldan! But enough talk! FIGHT!"**

 **Jaune charged forward with spear at his side to crash the tip against a guarding Yatsu. However, Jaune used his position to leap over Yatsu's guard and kick him across the top of his head, causing the larger man to stagger. Where Yatsuhashi was strong, Jaune was precise. His spear was like the wind, block it all you want, it will simply flow around you soon enough. Jaune was a fierce fighter that was actually pushing Yatsuhashi back through the streets of the ruins.**

Coco tilted her glasses a bit and whistled, "Damn. Getting Yatsu to back up is an accomplishment on its own. But let's see how he handles the big guy's semblance."

Few among the viewers actually knew what Yatsuhashi's semblance even was, so they watched intently. Even though at the back of their minds, they knew there was every possibility that this wasn't the semblance of their version.

 **Yatsuhashi chose his moment as Jaune started to charge. His eyes started to glow for a moment, soon followed by Jaune's eyes glowing the same color. Confusion soon spread across Jaune's face and he slowed his charge, looking around as though something was wrong.**

Emerald watched, though half-heartedly for the moment. She wondered if the ability was like her own, illusions.

 **Yatsuhashi took a hard step forward and reared his weapon back. He was well within Jaune's guard now. He wasn't taking too many chances. The effect will still last for another second, more than enough time to land a heavy blow and possibly send him out of bounds if he was lucky.**

 **Lucky, however, he was not. He soon found himself blasted back by a strange gust of air. Enough to lose his footing and prevent his attack. He looked toward Jaune, confused, as he felt everything around him heating up. Enough sweat fell from his brow was falling over his face that he was forced to wipe it away.**

Coco's eyes went wide, "What in the world was that?"

 **The glow in Jaune's eyes faded and he turned back to Yatsuhashi with a smirk, "Cheeky. You wiped my memories for a second."**

This got a few realizations, but also a few a bit scared. It was the kind of ability that didn't matter if you knew it was happening or not. He would simply wipe away all your memories and capitalize on the moment of confusion.

 **Jaune didn't seem that bothered, though, "Unfortunately, that won't really work so well on me. See, I've got a lot of pent up aggression, and if I forget how to keep it in then I have no choice but to vent."**

 **"** ** _What an upsetting turn of events for the young Mr. Daichi!_** **" Port exclaimed, "** ** _Mr. Arc's ability allows him to super heat his body hot enough to cause his sweat to evaporate and the area immediately around him to sear. A technique he refers to as Venting_** **."**

 **The camera moved to Jaune, showing steam flowing off his body from the heat he was producing. After a moment, the steam disappeared as he got a handle on his Venting again.**

Ruby thought about that one for a moment before chucking a bit, "I swear Yang does something like that."

Tai met her train of thought and grinned, "Oh! Like the hair glowing thing when she gets mad enough."

"Yeah! That's it!"

 **Jaune chuckled and swung his spear over his shoulder again. "That said, it'll be annoying to have that happen again. I'll have to forgo my usual fun and deal with you quickly."**

 **Yatsuhashi knew plenty of first years that gave themselves too much credit, so he didn't react to that. He did, however, block the incoming spear. Jaune had used this as a distraction to get under Yatsuhashi's guard and grab him in a tight squeeze with locked arms. Yatsuhashi looked down toward him, more surprised than anything, but soon grew concerned by Jaune's mad grin. A rush of steam ripped through the air around them as Jaune Vented at point blank. Yatsuhashi was being cooked inside his armor with no real way to shake Jaune off. His aura was taking chip damage as he tried to wrestle Jaune out of his hug of heat, but the rising temperature began to take more aura with each passing second. Yatsuhashi's struggles started to weaken and soon he collapsed from heat exhaustion, his aura depleted.**

Coco and Velvet were stunned silent. They'd never seen Yatsuhashi fall onto his back. Sure, he'd lost fights before, but he always stayed on his feet, propped up on his sword if it was necessary, but never falling onto his back.

 **Jaune released his defeated opponent and walked over to his spear, moving his foot under the shaft of the weapon and kicking it up to his hand. He looked over the mountain area and saw a series of bullets flying up over the rocks.**

 **The camera ran over to meet Coco as she unleashed a torrent of bullets toward Roan. The Atlassian jumped behind a rock to take cover, but Coco's chain gun was too powerful and ate into the rock, forcing her to dive to the side and keep running. Roan's launcher was great for range, but rapid was not a good word to describe it. "This is Arc's fault! If he hadn't stopped me from fighting that big guy, we wouldn't be in this mess!"**

"Maybe if she communicated that idea, she wouldn't be in this situation," Blake snarked.

 **Coco let off the trigger for a moment and let her gun rest, "You're not going to beat me unless you start fighting back."**

 **"You're barking up the wrong tree there, Fashion Show." The sudden arrival of a new voice forced Coco to turn to see Jaune walking up toward them.**

 **"You beat Yatsuhashi?"**

 **Roan popped up from her new rock of cover, "Finally! Now help me win this already!"**

Coco got a little nervous. Her weapon might be good for crowds of Grimm, but people are smart enough to spread out and make her weapon less helpful against them.

 **Jaune huffed and stabbed his spear into the ground, sitting on a nearby rock, "Nah. This is your fight. I'm not getting between you."**

Nora frowned, "Did they have some kind of fight? Why wouldn't he help her?"

Ren shrugged, "It might an honor thing. I've heard some people refuse to fight two-on-one with the advantage."

 **Coco raised an eyebrow at their antics, "Um… are you two okay?"**

 **Jaune scoffed, "Focus on your opponent's actions, not their squabbles."**

Ironwood had to give that one a quick nod, "He's not wrong. In combat, the enemy squabbling with themselves is to your advantage."

 **Coco shrugged and leveled her weapon toward Roan again, opening fire. Though she chose to keep a sideways glance toward Jaune. She didn't trust him to stay put while his teammate was being pressured. Surprisingly, though, he made no motion to move to help her. Coco returned to tracking Roan, keeping her aim ahead of the runner. Her weapon wasn't accurate, but this ensured she chipped away plenty of aura from her fire. That said, she didn't track where Roan was running to. Roan had run off to Jaune's seat and a stray bullet tagged Jaune and knocked him off the rock.**

This got a few people to laugh. Given how capable this version of Jaune was, it was ludicrous to think he'd get hit so stupidly.

 **As Coco paused, seeing what happened, though mostly requiring a cool down period of the weapon's barrels, Roan skidded to a halt beside Jaune. "There! Now you got hit! Your stupid code means this is your fight now!"**

Ren nodded, "So it _was_ a personal code."

 **Roan continued shouting as Jaune pulled himself to his feet, "Now, get to it and fight her, damn it!"**

 **Jaune brushed off some dirt, the angle of the camera obscuring his eyes. "Fine then. I'll fight her."**

 **"Finally!" Roan turned to Coco as she got the chance to load her weapon again. "Let's get this over…" Jaune's shadow loomed over her a moment, "with?"**

 **Jaune now stood a full two feet taller than before with his muscle structure resembling something more akin to a monster. His eyes were a glowing red and filled with pure and unadulterated anger. The steam from before was flowing out en masse.**

Everyone shrunk away from the scene. Something about this change in Jaune terrified them. Likely something in his eyes.

 **Jaune grabbed Roan by her throat and lifted her off the ground, her feet kicking to try and free herself. When Jaune spoke, there was an unholy reverberation to his speech, "Then get the fuck out of my way!" Jaune tossed her up to change his grip to the back of her head and slammed her face into the rockface, knocking her aura out in one move, and cracking the mountain's surface apart a good twenty feet up. The camera hung on Jaune's tattoo to reveal the running hound had shifted to a blood-red, charging Beowolf.**

Everything was silent for a moment.

Yang gave a nervous chuckle to break the tension if possible, "At least I'm not _that_ bad…"

It didn't really work.

 **Coco was just stunned, her glasses threatening to fall from her face.**

 **Much of the stadium was in a similar state. Not even Port or Oobleck, who were supposed to be commentating, could bring themselves to say a single word.**

 **Jaune took a breath and his body returned to normal. His tattoo faded back to its normal form as if the steam took it away. He calmly walked to his spear and pulled it from the ground.**

 **Coco shook her head slightly and glared toward Jaune, "What the hell was that?!"**

 **Jaune just turned to her, perfectly calm again, "That was my Semblance. Most people think that Venting is my power, but that's not quite true. That is a biproduct of my actual ability, something I learned to keep it in check. My power is the ability to build up and store emotional outbursts, particularly my rage. I learned to let all that out as steam, or I can build it up and unleash my full power. I call this Riastrad. It's a blind rage where friend and foe are just words. I attack whatever is in the area regardless of allegiance. I lose myself to my anger and the only thought going through my mind is to kill."**

Tai took in a sharp breath, "That's… actually pretty scary." He knew Yang's semblance had a similar idea where, if she gets angry, she can lose sight of her objectives. However, she has never been that bad, so long as you leave her hair alone. Even then, you just get punched, and usually just one.

 **Jaune leveled his spear toward Coco, "And I turn. That beast is my power unleashed and made physical. But enough talk. We're here to fight."**

 **Coco readjusted her glasses and leveled her own weapon. "Alright."**

 **As the barrels started to spin, Jaune threw his spear and snapped the weapon from her hand and pinning it to the ground. Jaune stepped closer to her, "No weapons. Just to be fair."**

 **Coco growled and tried to pull the spear out from her gun, but the barbs were holding it in place in the ground. She had to give up and ball her hands into fists. "So long as you don't do that Venting or Ria-thing you did before."**

 **"It's only fair." Jaune brought his fists up and took up a fighter's stance. Her footwork was excellent as her fighting style required good grounding and stance work to fight back against her weapon's recoil. Her arms, however, were sloppier and possessing an open guard. She never fought unarmed before and sparing matches with Fox didn't count.**

The stance just made Tai cringe from the sight, "Do your teachers not teach you how to handle a fight without your weapons? Her stance should at least look better, even if she isn't a good hand-to-hand fighter."

Coco looked away to hide a blush of embarrassment. She wasn't that good at hand-to-hand. One could say she was terrible at it. She enlisted Fox to help her, but without her purse/gun, she often foundered.

 **Jaune saw the stance and raised an eyebrow, "You're not a very good fist fighter, are you?"**

 **"Shut up! You're the one that told me to focus on the fight." She charged forward to punch him, though Jaune moved to block the hit with his hand. This proved a slight mistake as Coco's fighting style was less predicable and hit harder than he anticipated. Coco was able to knock back his hand and punch Jaune clean across the jaw.**

Coco let out a sigh relief seeing her at least accomplish that much with her fist.

 **Jaune staggered back and shook his head. "You're stronger than you look." He moved to the side and landed a heavy punch into a block. However, Coco's footing kept her on her feet and in place from the attack. "And tougher too." Jaune pushed off Coco with a kick hopped back, keeping his eyes on her.**

 **"Thanks for the compliments," Coco didn't let it show, but Jaune's punch hurt her a lot more than she was letting on. She learned to handle heavy recoil across her entire body, but never had to handle an attack like that. If she wasn't careful, he'd knock her aura out with just a few more big punches.**

 **Jaune cracked his neck and adopted his stance again. "Don't push it." He charged forward and leapt up with his knee striking her guard and knocking it out of place. His arm was reared back, and he punched her head back and downward toward the ground. He lands and starts a rush of attacks. The punches were weaker than before, but there were significantly more of them. The rush began to grow more brutal over time. Instead of knocking her guard away, he would just punch into it. With one last punch to her gut, knocking her onto her back, the fight was ended as Coco's aura hit the red.**

Coco sighed. She knew she didn't stand a chance without her gun, but it was still hard to watch something that brutal.

For the first time since returning, Raven finally spoke. "I have to admit, that was more brutal than I expected anyone to act."

There were only a few people that heard her, but most chose to ignore her.

 **Port called the end of the match as Jaune pulled his spear from the stone. He picked up Coco's weapon, which snapped back into purse form. "I admit, despite knowing you had no chance, I respect your commitment to the fight." He tossed the weapon over to her and spun around on his heel and waved, "See you around, Coco."**

 **Coco leaned up, watching him leave. She wasn't sure what to think of this man.**

 **The last shot of the world was Jaune walking away from the arena with spear over his shoulder.**

"Yikes…" Coco slumped back into her chair, "That was crazy."

Velvet nodded. "It was… definitely something."

Emerald had long since lost interest, though the transformation of that version did keep her thinking about Cinder's own transformations. Nothing on a physical level like his own, but more her emotional work. She seemed so confident and commanding, but she also seemed more apathetic to both her and Mercury. Even though the entire reason Emerald followed her was because she promised her somewhere to belong. A decision must be made, and Emerald finally had her answer.


	121. Bask in the Golden Light

**King: Okay, let's get into this!**

 **Knox: Oh boy~! This is going to be an interesting one! Or an odd one, depending on how you want to look at it.**

 **King: So, hope you enjoy.**

 **Inspiration: N/A**

 **/\**

Emerald took a breath and knew it was time to get her act together. Her mind has been constantly bombarded by what Mercury said to her. And now, it filed out an answer for her. Cinder was using her. Not only was she using her, but she would toss her aside to burn if it furthered her goal. Emerald had to make a hard decision of where to take herself after they returned to Remnant. It was finally time to break away. Come the next intermission, she'll throw herself on the mercy of the Beacon staff. She knew she ran the risk of them rejecting and trying to lock her away, but at least they couldn't do so as long as they were here.

Raven huffed in her chair, "Just start the next one already."

King popped back in over her, "Oh? I didn't peg you for enjoying multi-dimensional viewings."

"Shut it. I'm stuck here and this is the only thing I can actually do here. So get a move on."

"Bold of you to speak like that to what is basically this mini dimension's god. But alright. Let's get going." He disappeared again and started the next round.

 **The screen opened to show an extravagant hall with several glowing stained-glass windows on each side. Each window depicted a warrior standing atop a Grimm in triumph with banner in hand. At the end of the hall, a man stood in full black armor trimmed with gold. He was an old man, likely in his late 70s. His right eye was torn and scared, lost to battle. His head was shaved bald and a beard grown on his features. He cut an imposing figure despite being shorter than the average man.**

Jaune was stiff as a board on sight of this man with eyes filled by a primal fear. Everyone was more than a little concerned, but their attempts to get him to explain why was so afraid yielded no answers.

 **The man looked out and downward to a kneeling figure. The figure was dressed in a solid black robe. He knelt before this elder, the camera barely catching his golden blond hair.**

Nora tilted her head slightly, still a bit concerned with her team leader's state, "Okay, so there's Jaune, but who's the other guy?"

Ozpin closed his eyes, attempting to recall something from his past. He felt like he'd met this man before, if only briefly.

A sentiment shared by Gira Belladonna. Gira smacked his forehead a bit, as if to loosen the memory being blocked, "I know I've seen him before. But where?"

Kali thought back to the last time this happened, "Well, considering last time you got like this, it's likely from your time in the revolution. When you met Montagne."

Gira crossed his arms and tried to focus on that. "I think you're right. But I can't place it."

 **The man looked down toward Jaune. "Son of Montagne. You kneel before the eyes of the Golden Light. And in this hallowed hall, you stand before these elder eyes of the Holy Order. You no doubt know why you have been summoned here today." The man sighed after a moment, "I bet your father already spoiled it for you."**

Jaune blinked back to form from shock. "What?"

"Jaune's back!" Nora yelled."

Pyrrha placed a hand on Jaune's shoulder, "Jaune, are you okay? You blanked out on us for a while there."

Jaune gave an apologetic smile, "Sorry about that. I just kind of freeze up whenever I see Uncle Percy."

"Uncle Percy?"

Gira and Ozpin instantly had a look of shocked realization, blurting out, "Percival Arc!"

Everyone turned back to them, confused now. Blake turned to her father to ask, "Who?"

Ozpin dragged his hands down his face, "Percival Arc, also called Arc the Younger, is the brother of Charles."

Gira nodded, "A fierce warrior without any sense fear. I'd call him a madman if I didn't know how calculating he can be."

Jaune nodded, "He can be pretty scary sometimes…"

 **Jaune nodded slightly, "He has." Jaune knew that his great-uncle had summoned him for some kind of gift, but he was very vague on the details.**

 **Percival watched Jaune for a moment before laughing to himself, "Seems the boy** ** _can_** **keep a secret. I doubt he lied, but if he told you the whole truth, I doubt you'd be so… subdued."**

 **Jaune remained kneeling, not entirely sure what his great-uncle meant by that. But he was about to find out.**

 **Percival stepped to the side and grabbed a long sword from an altar. Returning to Jaune, he pulled the blade from its scabbard with a harmonious ring out over the near empty hall.**

Nora seemed a little concerned, "What's going on?! What's he about to do?"

Jaune's eyes were just as wide as his counter, amazed and excited.

 **Percival placed the end of the blade on Jaune's left shoulder, "By my name as the High Chaplain of the Golden Light." He moved the blade over Jaune to his other shoulder, "By the honor of Arcadia and the Blood of Julius." He lifted the sword and moved it back to the left side, "I name you as a guardian of life on Remnant." The sword moved to the right again, "I name you a hand of justice in our world of darkness." The blade was lifted again to stand before Percival, "I welcome you to the Seventh Legion of Arcadia. I ask you the company which you wish to belong."**

Ironwood raised an eyebrow, "Seventh Legion?"

Ozpin couldn't help but smile, "A knighting ceremony, though a small one. Seems this version of Mr. Arc was recognized. If memory serves, it is the greatest honor in Arcadia to be knighted, even more by the leader of a Legion."

Jaune nodded, "It's pretty rare, but some of the Legions still uphold older traditions, especially the smaller ones."

Ironwood was interested now, "You'll have to tell me about these Legions of yours."

Jaune chuckled, a little nervous. Though, he looked back up to the screen, "Still weird to think I'd be part of the Seventh, though."

 **Jaune kept his head down for the moment, "I choose to join the Second Company."**

Now Jaune knew without a doubt that this version was very different.

 **Percival raised a brow, "You wish to join the 7-Second?"**

 **Jaune nodded from his stance, "Yes! I do."**

 **"So be it." Percival spun the blade around, placing the tip against the ground. "May the Golden Light shine upon you. You take upon your shoulders the defense of this world from darkness and chaos! You shall live to cut your path through darkness so light may forever shine upon the common people. I ask you, Prospect, do you swear to uphold life by these terms?"**

 **Jaune didn't hesitate to answer, "I swear on my word as an Arc, on my Arcadian blood, and on my very soul awash in the Golden Light!"**

 **Percival couldn't help but smile just a bit hearing that, "Then rise Inquisitor of the Golden Light. Stand in the Light and take up your arms! Strike down any that wish harm upon the light and life of this world."**

 **Jaune finally stood upright again, a certain pride radiating off of his grin.**

 **Percival grinned before the world faded to black. His voice continuing over the darkened screen, "Go now, and stand with pride in your deeds and Light in your heart."**

"Okay, I'm a little lost now." Coco finally brought up what more than a few were asking internally, "What's this Golden Light thing?"

Jaune explained it as best he could, "It's an old idea about the Light of the Soul, or something. I don't remember all of the details."

Oobleck adjusted his glasses, "If my research is correct, the Golden Light was once a word used for what we call Aura. Believed to have been first used approximately 5000 years previous, it was utilized in an era when methods for unlocking another's aura had yet to be formed. At the time, it was believed to be a divine protection, hence the religious undertones in his speech."

 **The screen opened once again to a view of a forest area beyond the kingdoms. In that moment, everything seemed tranquil until a loud roar rang out over the area. As the local birds took flight from fear, the camera panned down to show a massive Geist flailing about in the woods. After a moment, it's false body collapsed and fell into its component parts as the ghostly form attempted to escape. As it fled, a bullet flew into the back of its head and exploded within the Grimm's skull, shattering any sense of its continued existence.**

 **The camera moved back to show Jaune standing in the field. He was adorned with a sleek black suit of armor with a sleeveless, silver robe over top. He was revealed to be the shooter with a smoking gun, a heavy caliber hand cannon with a curved magazine making it resemble a submachine gun. He placed the gun back at his side and turned away from what was left of the creature.**

Nora gasped in excitement, "Did he beat that thing by himself?!"

Sun couldn't help but grin, "Sure seems like it."

 **Jaune walked over the pieces that one made up the Grimm's body. As he approached, he looked to a blade currently wedged into an arm of stone. Jaune sighed and climbed the rock to reach the blade. With a wide stance, he slowly pulled the blade from the rock. The blade was a two-hand longsword with a bright steel blade, golden cross guard, black hilt, and a pommel to match its guard. With a small flourish, he returned the blade to its rightful home in the scabbard at his side.**

Ruby felt a little disappointed, "So, no Crocea Mors in this one. Oh well. At least the sword looks well made."

 **Jaune hopped off the bolder and made his way toward his true target. A village resting in these woods had long since fallen under the influence of a madman by the name of Vilnas Yuma. The man spread his ideas stating that the Creatures of Grimm were literally creatures in the service of a god called Grimm and he was that god's voice on Remnant. Those that followed him became his personal army while those who didn't were often slaughtered as sacrifices to Grimm.**

Plenty in the audience found that to be quite the shock to the system

Yang looked up to the screen, incredulous, "Why would _anyone_ follow someone like that?"

Port sighed in response, "Such people do exist, and often gather followers of the desperate and alone. They form their cults to gather power or, rarely, because they truly believe their own teachings. These are often the most dangerous because of just how much they're willing to give up for their cause."

Raven thought back to just such an occasion. An aspiring cultist looking to recruit her tribesmen to his strange ideals. He told her that his god would protect him from all harm that would fall upon him. Safe to say, he soon found himself missing a head and all faith in his word.

 **Jaune approached the old village, current home of Vilnas's cult. As he entered through an old wood gate, stares from the cultists started to gather on him. No one was certain what to make of him just yet. They knew this could go one of two ways. Either he sought them out to join their cause under their god called Grimm, or he was here to cause them trouble.**

 **As Jaune reach the village's center, a man stood in front of him, blocking his path. To call the man large would be an understatement. He looked down to Jaune with a slight smile, "Welcome stranger, to our home. Tell me, what is it that calls you to our land this day? Have you been called by our glorious Grimm?"**

 **Jaune chuckled to himself before starting to laugh in this man face. After second of his laughter, he sighed and looked back to the man with a confident smirk, "I heard a call alright." As he spoke, his smirk fell to a serious visage, "The call to purge your heresy from this world and bring justice down upon all you."**

 **Everything was silent. Tension forming over time. This was the moment of truth, who would strike first?**

Yang got a little excited, seeing a sort of western standoff playing out in front of her again.

 **As seconds ticked by, Jaune was already poised to strike. As the large man hoped to seize his opportunity to attack while Jaune was off guard, Jaune used a Dust lining in his armor to turn himself into a living flash bang. The man staggered back, blinded, as Jaune spun on his heel to slash into the man's torso. Since Vilnas gathered exclusively from those without aura, it left a heavy gash in his chest that would likely be life threatening.**

Ruby shook a bit in her chair. It was rather easy to forget sometimes that not everyone has aura to protect them, and that one wrong move could take a civilian life without meaning to.

 **With intensions now clear, the cultists charged Jaune, hoping to flood him with their numbers and take him down. However, Jaune was ready. As one tried to strike him with a knife, Jaune grabbed his wrist and wrenched the man's arm around behind him. He took the knife and stabbed a woman trying to attack from behind. He took his captive and swung him to the ground before kicking his jaw hard enough to knock both him and his teeth out. Jaune drew his cannon and cut a bloody path through the cult and further into the village. Though far from a blur, his actions were far too fast to show any sense of hesitation. Each movement was fluid and with purpose. Each counter an attack, each attack a hit, and each hit a dead cultist. Even as some of the weaker cultists tried to run, he shot down those attempting to flee without mercy. He couldn't risk them running off to start their cult anew.**

Many of the students found his display to be far too brutal for their tastes, believing arrest was the better option. The adult huntsmen in the room would agree it was the preferable option, but they saw too much to find this beyond their experiences. To some, memories will always haunt them for they've had to do.

 **As one tried to attack him with a makeshift ax, Jaune grabbed his attacker and knocked him into his cohorts only for them to find Jaune slipped a Dust grenade onto the first man, killing the pile. Jaune ran another through and used him as cover to fire his cannon out into the crowd. Blood rained upon the ground, soaking the dried dirt and turning it red. In time, he stood alone as the last of the cultists on the street fell to the ground as he bled out from a missing leg.**

None of the students cold quite tell if that was entirely necessary.

 **As Jaune kicked off his human shield, he was granted the time to take stock. After a quick head count of cultists, he found corpses he** ** _didn't_** **create. Likely the original inhabitants of the village. Unlike the others, these bodies were strewn about on the edges of the village, their wounds were horrific to say the least. Men, women, and children were torn apart, literally if the wounds were anything to go by. Teeth and bite marks were buried into the flesh and fear was forced upon them as their last state of being.**

Now the students were contemplating if it had been enough. The state of the bodies was enough to cause some of them to lurch, the only reason vomit was avoided was experience. Even Raven saw this as far too much for her tastes. The only one not quite as inclined to gag at seeing this was Cinder, but that was because she had to long since get used to Tyrian and his… hobbies.

 **Jaune knew this cult was bad, but this was on another level. He always assumed that when they killed those who refused them, they shot them or cut off their heads. Apparently, it was a more twisted death in store for them. Jaune would bury them properly when this was over. Right now, he had a cult leader to kill.**

 **And if a deranged psycho cultist was going to be anywhere, it would be the church at the end of town. Truth be told, it was clearly the town hall repurposed by Vilnas into his dark church. Jaune approached the door and ran his blade through the wooden barrier. Pulling the blade back, he kicked the door aside and revealed a dead cultist on the other side. Jaune shook his head looking at the body, "Predictable to a fault." Jaune kicked the cultist away from the door and walked into the hall.**

Coco whistled, a bit amazed he could tell something like that so easily.

Velvet was similarly intrigued, though telling something like that would have been easy for her and her advanced hearing.

 **A man sat in a makeshift throne. To call him old would be an understatement. This was an ancient man with hair long since faded to white. His face was covered in wrinkles and everything about the man said elder. He let out a laugh as Jaune stepped into his lair, "So, they finally send someone to me. I wonder, do you truly believe in the path you walk? Is that why they send you to kill me? Because they cannot stand to let me preach? Do your Kingdoms truly fear my truth?"**

 **Jaune rolled his eyes, "I'm here as an Inquisitor of the Arcadian Chapter of the Golden Light. I am here to punish you for your sins upon Remnant and your heresy in life." Jaune shot the old man with his cannon, ripping his head apart. He then turned to the cultist on the floor, who wasn't quite as dead as he let on.**

Velvet jolted up, "Wait, did… he know?"

 **As the man froze up, knowing the game was up, Jaune shot the hinges into the door to make it harder to open without ripping it off the wall. "Vilnas Yuma, I find you guilty of treason on three counts, in mind, word, and action. I find you thrice guilty of heresy in mind, word, and action. Many lives have been lost to your will and today is the end of that will. Have you any last words, heretic?"**

 **Vilnas started to laugh before rising to his feet. He looked toward Jaune with grin, "You think you are the holier man here? You are nothing but a soldier with a fancy name and robe. The Creatures stalk this world to punish our rage and prejudices! Humans and Faunas hate another, and the Creatures of Grimm descend upon them. Is that not the will of a god?!"**

That got people in the audience a little on edge. It was hard to deny that the Grimm were attracted to negative emotion, but no one was really sure why this was. This left plenty of open space for someone like this Vilnas to fill with their own ideas.

 **Jaune was silent, looking down upon this man. After a pause, knowing Vilnas was done, he replied, "Your words are noted, be cleansed by the Light and go into the next life." Jaune shot the man through the head, ripping it to shreds. Jaune walked pass the man and kicked the door off its hinges and into the world. The last shot of the world showed Jaune cast in sunlight, the rays from this light like a pair of angel's wings.**

 **The screen closed to show a black banner with a bright white, stylized angel holding a sword. In its other hand, it held a banner of its own that descended around and underneath the angel to show words, the motto of Arcadia's Seventh Legion, [Forgiveness, Absolution, Salvation]. This was the variation utilized by the Second Company, the Inquisitor Corp.**

Knox popped in with a guttural yell (somehow). "No one expects the Arcadian Inquisition!"

Ironwood tapped his foot in thought, "I imagine we can learn more about these Legions at some point."

King came to form soon after, "I suppose. I'll see what I can do."

/\

 **King: So, side thing. I went into this whole thing creating an Arcadian Military. Do you guys want a King's World of Remnant on the Arcadian Legions or no? There's another one in the pipeline, but I'm not too sure what to do for it yet. Food for thought.**


	122. KWoR: Arcadia Legions

**King: Form up and get ready to learn!**

 **Knox: Here we go again.**

 **King: I'm actually really glad you guys wanted to hear more about the Arcadian Legions. I actually enjoy creating worlds and the groups within. I don't know, I just enjoy it. Anyway, hope you enjoy.**

 **Inspiration: N/A**

 **/\**

The next world was set to open pretty quickly, but King popped in at the last second, "Ten-hut!" His crown was replaced with a canvas military cap with his crown seen as a pin on the front. "Time to get those learning caps back on! Back to Arcadia for a special lesson!" He disappeared as the screen opened again.

 **The screen turned white with the symbol of Arcadia, the dual arcs with a sword set parallel to the two, set in the center. A banner flowed down from the side reading, [King's World of Remnant: Legions of Arcadia].**

 **The scene changed to show a map of Arcadia as King's voice played, "** ** _Arcadia, being beyond the Kingdoms, requires constant defense by a dedicated force. In other settlements, this often means hiring huntsmen or submitting themselves to a Kingdom's military presence. Arcadia, however, took matters into their own hands._** **"**

 **The map was soon covered by the familiar white and gold banner.**

 **"** ** _The Principality of Arcadia utilizes a professional military force. Said force acts as the defensive force of the nation as well as any expeditionary corps needed. For their relative size, they are the premier fighting force on the continent of Anima. However, to outsiders, the Arcadian military can be rather strange._** **"**

Yang got a little bored this time. She'd hoped to learn more about the actual family or the people living in Arcadia. She wasn't nearly as interested in military stuff.

Ironwood, on the other hand, was actually rather invested.

 **The map changed to show a picture of the Atlas military with Ironwood standing before his troops.**

 **"** ** _In places like Atlas, the break down is easy. The General is at the top and the branches split into three: ground forces, air forces, and naval forces. Though, Atlas doesn't really utilize a dedicated navy being a landlocked nation in the tundra._** **"**

 **The scene changed again to show a picture of the Arcadian banner.**

 **"** ** _Arcadia, on the other hand, divides their military into groups called the Legions. Said Legions are divided again into Companies of Specialization. Now, unlike in say Atlas, the Legions and Companies of Arcadia are significantly smaller than one would think by the titles. It breaks down like this, you have Legions, which all act and operate in completely different ways. For example, the Third and Fourth Legions do not act anything alike. On the other hand, you have Companies who operate similarly to other Companies in their Legion, but not for any other Legions. A Company in the Third Legion will have the same command structure and operational manuals to any other Third Legion Company._** **"**

Yang groaned, clutching her head, "This is hurting my head."

Winter was the one to try to mitigate the issue, "Think of it like branches in Atlas. You have the soldiers and the pilots. Soldiers fight on the ground and pilots fight in the sky. They are, as such, divided with separate commands who best understand their particular fighting style."

"No, I get it, but it's weird to hear out loud."

 **** **"** ** _Going over every Legion and Company will be too long for my time here. So, I'm going to skim over the more… standard Legions. I'll at least go over the banner and maybe a uniform along with what they do, but some of them are_** **really** ** _obvious as to what they do. Now, let's get going._** **"**

 **A white banner fell over the scene with the familiar symbol of Arcadia with the central sword replaced by a number 1. A ribbon underneath it read [Alta Stare], which Jaune informed them meant 'Stand Tall.' A uniformed soldier was placed to the side, his white uniform accented by gold. Not exactly great for camouflage, but it wasn't supposed to be.**

Winter raised an eyebrow, "Is this a dress uniform or something else?"

 **"** ** _First Legion, the Royal Legion. This is one I get to skim since it's three companies, the Honor Guard, Paladin's Guard, and Core Guard, all focus on defending Arcadia and its people and seem like the stereotypical defenders. The only things worth mentioning are what each Guard specializes in. The Honor Guard stand in defense of the Arcadian bloodline and is the only Legion Company who don't have a defined uniform; instead adopting the family colors of whoever they are tasked with protecting._** **"**

Sienna thought back and nodded, "So, that's why Cassius wears read and gold instead of the basic uniform."

Jaune nodded, "Yep. Beatrice…" He paused, remembering who he was talking about, "I mean… _Lian_ 's family colors are red and gold. So he has to wear his armor to match."

 **"** ** _Meanwhile, the Paladin's Guard is tasked with defending landmarks like the Paladin's Court, hence the name. The Core Guard are the more common type of guardsmen you could find in any Kingdom._** **"**

 **The banners swapped to show a similar style of symbol with both arcs set with II set in the center. The colors, however, were swapped to a black base with blue arcs. The banner beneath this one read [Spare the Morning of the Night's Monsters]. The man in uniform showed to be adorned in dark canvas with black camouflage. This man also had his cap removed to show a pair of canine ears.**

Blake, and most the current and former White Fang in the room, was rather interested to hear this one.

 **"** ** _Second Legion, The Night Watch. Similar to the last group, they are the usual guard group. However, they are tasked with defending and patrolling Arcadia at night where the Core Guard covers the day shift. One interesting note is that, thanks to their excellent night vision, most of the First Company Night Patrol units are made up of faunas, while the Second Company Radar Units are a bit more mixed._** **"**

Blake nodded to herself. It made sense, and a certain part of her thought it was actually best. Sure, it looked like faunas and humans were divided in the first company, but the faunas were just better for seeing the dark. So, it was really a merit reason.

 **"** ** _Just a neat little factoid._** **"**

 **The banner changed again to show a sky-blue background with a white bird with wings spread to either direction. The letters were stitched directly into the background in a dark color. Above, it read, [The Raptors' Legion], and below read, [Talon's Ready]. The uniformed man this time was covered in a pilot's attire with his helmet resting under his arm.**

 **"** ** _Third Legion! The Raptors! The aerial combat legion tasked with securing the skies or the swift destruction of intended targets. They are called the Raptors in refence to their various ships. The Companies of the Third Legion divide up based on their need in the sky. The First Company pilots the swift escort fighter, the Eagle. Second Company pilots the Falcon, a modified fighter outfitted with a new, faster engine and an arsenal of interception weapons including: flares, interceptor missiles, targetter scramblers, and a hard light protected under belly. Third Company, the Owl, is made up of crew members for the bomber of the same name. Finally, the Fourth Company flies the Arcadian Hawk Intelligence Craft, designed to observe and document all information with its effective range._** **"**

Yang laughed a little at the names of the Companies/ships, "Why name them after birds? I get they fly, but why birds?"

Oobleck adjusted his glasses before giving his guess, "If I had to hypothesize, each is likely names for their specific roll. Eagle is likely named for the birds' strength and sense of pride, the Falcon is known as one of the fastest birds alive during a divebomb to intercept their prey, and the Hawk is often used as a hunting bird in areas like Vacuo."

"Okay, that all makes sense. But why owl?"

Jaune replied with a straight face, "Because pigeons aren't raptors."

Yang had to take a moment for that one to register, but she got there. "Please tell me that's a joke. If it is, it was a good one, I'll give you that."

Jaune shrugged, "That's the joke my dad always used."

 **"** ** _Next up is Fourth Legion!_** **"**

 **The banner changed to a gold backed cloth with silver arcs. The uniformed example was dressed in combat fatigues dressed for fighting in the mountain areas found on the continent. He looked more like what one thinks with the word** ** _solider_** **. A banner formed underneath the whole scene rather than on the banner, [Boots on the Ground, Soaked in the Blood of Evil].**

Yang raised an eyebrow, "That's a bit darker than I expected."

 **"** ** _Fourth Legion is the Arcadia's ground-focused combat force; the Army, if you will. This Legion is divided into only two companies: the core Army and the Supply Corp. The Army is the largest Company in all of Arcadia, but that's likely because the other Legions are divided up more than the Fourth. They have the usual Army trappings: infantry, cavalry, armored units, and battlefield artillery. But we're not here to discuss stuff that you can already guess, so we're moving on._** **"**

Ironwood felt a little cheated. He was interested in hearing about exactly that, but he had to sit back and watch as the information he wanted moved on. Then again, he could probably guess what they had.

 **The banners swapped again to show a flag of cobalt blue with a seafoam anchor set in the middle. The ribbon underneath it read, [No Land Too Far, No Sea Too Deep].**

Coco tapped her foot, glancing toward Yang, "That more what you were expecting?"

Yang nodded, "Pretty much."

 **The uniformed figure was shown dressed in dark colors, but solid colors. Another standing next to him was dressed in solid white. Their attire was typical of navy uniforms some, mostly Atlassians, would find familiar. Though, their style was used for their sky ships and the like.**

 **"** ** _The Fifth Legion stands as the Navy of Arcadia. Companies are divided based on where the sailor is stationed. First Company mans the Battleships, Second mans Carriers, Third mans the Destroyers, and Fourth Company mans the Submarine corp. Unlike in Atlas, Arcadia needs to command the waters with Argenti set on the shoreline and Aurum being a large island. Other than that, standard fair for Navy troops._** **"**

Neptune let out a little groan thinking about the vast sea among Arcadia's landmass. He could never imagine being a navy guy, that was for damn sure.

 **"** ** _Now, we get to talk about the less common and stereotypical military forces in Arcadia._** **"**

 **The banner swapped to show an impaled Grimm head with a sword holding it up from a curved arc at the base. The ribbon beneath this one read, [Make the Grimm Learn to Fear].**

 **"** ** _Legion the Sixth! The Huntsmen Corp._** **"**

"Huntsmen?" Ruby blinked, confused. "Wait, there are Huntsmen… working for the military?"

Glynda sighed, "Wouldn't be the first time." She gave a sideways glance toward Ironwood.

 **"** ** _The members of the Sixth are actually made entirely of licensed huntsmen rather than military forces. They register as defenders of Arcadia and report directly to the Arcadian military. As you notice, there's no uniform, because every Huntsmen dresses differently. They aren't actually treated as military personal, but must report to a military superior._** **"**

Winter shrugged slightly. "It's not too unlike Atlas in that regard."

 **"** ** _So, not a lot to talk about. Next up!_** **"**

Tai tapped his heel against the ground, "Alright. Here comes the one from the last version."

 **"** ** _Legion Seven… Oh boy, here we go._** **"**

 **The banner swapped to a black background with a golden angel silhouette with a ribbon underneath with the motto of the Seventh written on it, [Forgiveness, Absolution, Salvation].**

Weiss was a little surprised, "Hold on, the flag is different. The angel doesn't have a sword."

Ruby looked over the banner, "Oh yeah! And the angel is a different color."

 **King took a breath. "** ** _This'll be fun. Okay, the Seventh Legion is the first one I get to spend some more time on. This one is so different it's crazy. First off, the Legion is more a religious group than a military one. And a result being that each Company is a separate entity altogether, complete with separate colors and a slight change of the symbol with each. The Seventh Legion is often called the Arcadian Chapter of the Golden Light. This is a holdover from the era from before Arcadia, from the Church of the Golden Light. That said, the Church was defuncted in the era of Julius and now stands more as a guiding force for the soul. Religious iconography and wording are still prevalent in the members though._** **"**

Qrow groaned a bit, "This is just confusing."

 **"** ** _The current banner is for the First Company, or the 7-First. These are the Chaplains of the Arcadian Legions. Without any actual Church these days, they're more like War Chiefs who sing the praises of justice and other similar ideals. Chaplains are often found integrated among the other Legions acting as both spiritual guidance and reinforcement. The Chaplains, raised from initiates of black, soon earn their dark armor and golden colors. Initiates are allowed to ask to join a different Company, however, and those colors change as a result._** **"**

 **The banner changed slightly to give the angel its sword.**

 **"** ** _The Second Company, the 7-Second, is the Inquisitor Corp. Inquisitors are similar to the Chaplains in their ideals but take things into their own hands. Trading gold for silver, Inquisitors often work in small groups or even alone._** **"**

Ironwood nodded, "That at least explains the change of banner. They have different ways to approach different goals, while having a similar base of ideals."

 **The banner swapped again to a black angel on a white background.**

 **"** ** _Finally, the Third Company of the Seventh Legion. Truth be told, these aren't soldiers. Rather, they are the spiritual guides, councilors if you will. Their job is to, essentially, keep the rest of the soldiers sane._** **"**

Ironwood couldn't help but sigh, "A sad state, but one that can happen all too frequently."

 **"** ** _And that's the Seventh. On to the next!_** **"**

 **The banners swapped again, finally showing a new design. This banner was white with a set of red arcs in the center. Beneath the arcs was a red, cross-like symbol. The solder to the side was dressed in a standard military uniform with a medical vest, small medical mask, and supplies at his side.**

 **"** ** _Eighth Legion! The Arcadian Medical Corp! Obviously, this is another pretty standard Legion. Their mission is dressing the wounds their fellow soldiers and, if necessary, extracting them to a hospital. Each Company focuses on different layers of the battle. First Company are front line medics, focused on patching up more minor injuries or extracting patients. Second Company operate the field hospitals to patch up soldiers who can still be tasked with fighting. Third Company, however, man the war and veteran hospitals in Arcadia proper. More doctors than medics._** **"**

"Hold on," Nora interrupted, "What's the difference between a doctor and a medic?"

Ironwood thought back to recall the words his former commanding officer used to explain it. "Medics focus on stabilizing the soldiers, either to continue fighting or until they can be extracted. Doctors are the ones that focus on actually fixing those issues."

"Oh~! That makes sense."

 **"** ** _How many more are there?!_** **"**

 **The number 1 suddenly appeared.**

 **"** ** _Really? Cool. Let's go!_** **"**

 **The banner changed to a solid black background showing two blood-red arcs in the center.**

Mercury raised an eyebrow. He remembered this symbol from that hitlist book in the theater's library.

 **"** ** _Oh._** **"**

 **The soldier suddenly appeared to show a man in a long, dark trench coat. He was unassuming to a fault.**

 **"** ** _Oh boy, here we go. Ninth Legion, the Dark Legion. These soldiers focus on something less… direct. Every member of the Dark Legion specializes in getting behind enemy lines and breaking something important._** **"**

Blake and Ilia couldn't help but find this certain Legion to be right up their alley. After all the time they gathered under the White Fang, they had plenty of experience with this type of work.

 **"** ** _First Company is the Espionage Corp, grabbing important intel and returning it to the home base. Second Company is the Sabotage Corp, going in under cover and breaking the physical items of war or defense. Third, however, doesn't break trust or engines. No, they break the chain of command._** **"**

Sun tapped his chair, "What the heck does that mean?"

Mercury chuckled for a bit, "Assassins. A professional Corp of assassins."

 **"** ** _The Third Company have a series of targets, all found within the Dark Ledger, a book of the 100 most wanted, most dangerous criminals and psychopaths on all of Remnant. Hitting targets that can't often be reached by normal means, they hunt down the worst of the world and bring them in, dead or alive. And given the nature of these figures, most often 'alive' simply isn't possible._** **"**

Everyone had to take a little moment to really process that Arcadia had a professional assassins' guild!

 **The banner fell off and showed the map of Arcadia again.**

 **"** ** _And that's all of them! Not including any of the pseudo-companies of settlement militia units trained by the Arcadian Military Academy. They're not actually part of the Arcadian Military, though they are trained by it and have connections within it. These include, but are not limited to…_** **"**

 **As each militia was listed, the village lit up on the board, each nearby to the continental section of Arcadia.**

 **"** ** _Verdant, in the forest nearby; Lavana, the southern fishing village; and Silo Flats, on the Silo Flats. All pretty self-explanatory._** **"**

Ren couldn't help but smile. "It is rather nice that they help to train the nearby settlements."

 **"** ** _That said, there's also two other units that are a little… odd. Too small to be Companies, but also not held down by a home like the militias. These are the Steel Mounted Corps,_** **" a picture of a man atop an armored motorcycle appeared to the side of the screen. His attire was made of light, leather armor. A submachine gun and calvary saber were set onto either side of the bike, ready to draw and fight for mounted combat.**

Yang couldn't help but laugh a little, "Oh my goodness! Arcadia has a biker gang!"

 **"** ** _Finally, that's the last of them. We've covered all the Legions of Arcadia! At least, for all the time I have for this today… Until next time._** **"**

 **The screen faded out and finally ended the lesson.**

Ironwood couldn't help but feel a little cheated, but he also knew they wouldn't go over anything sensitive. Still, he supposed he at least learned something important. Something, unbeknownst to him, was learned by every military officer during both the Great War and the Faunas War. Arcadia may just be a better ally than an enemy.


	123. Zero-Five-Two

**Knox: Damn this one's heavy.**

 **King: No kidding. Be that as it may, I feel it might just have been necessary. You'll all see what we mean. Anyway, let's get moving and see where this takes. Hope you enjoy the chapter.**

 **Inspiration: Halo: Reach**

 **/\**

With the learning out of the way, it was time once more to view a strange new world.

 **The screen opened to a vast sky, not a cloud to be seen in the expanse of blue. There was nothing more than the blue sky above. Then, something broke the scene. A single white streak across the sky, like that of trails following a jet. After a moment, the streak seemed to curve away in the sky and fly to the side. As it flew, they heard someone speaking through an unseen radio. "** ** _0-7-2! Redirect course clicks! We can't risk the engines in the upper atmosphere!_** **"**

 **"** ** _6._** **" This voice was different, almost ethereal. "** ** _6?_** **" But it was still recognizable as one Jaune Arc.**

Nora tilted her head, "Why does he keep saying six?"

 **"** ** _6!_** **"**

 **The radio voice continued, "** ** _Bravo-Foxtrot-0-7-2, do you copy?! Redirect now!_** **"**

 **"** ** _6?! RUBY!_** **"**

 **The scene suddenly snapped to show Ruby sitting in a cockpit of a what seemed like a plane. She was dressed in a set of red power armor with black accenting around her legs and arms.**

Coco raised an eyebrow. "Huh… that almost looks like an early version of that one we saw with those Flood things."

Ruby thought back to the man called Jaune-117, "Does that mean I'm awesome like that?!"

 **Ruby took a breath before turning to look back at her current copilot. Sitting behind her was the familiar form of Jaune Arc. He had similar armor, though modified for his needs with heavy weapons. "Don't go spacing out on me here."**

 **Ruby took a few breaths before nodding. "Right. Sorry. Helmets on." Ruby placed her helmet on, a sleek design for common use within the Spartan Program (the Mark IV(b) Class Mjolnir helmet).**

 **Jaune placed his own helmet on, a modified Grenadier variant with extra armor to defend against incoming attacks.**

Ironwood raised an eyebrow, "At least the armor looks decently designed."

Coco nodded, "And you can see where one leads into the other. It's obvious that the armor from the Flood one is an upgrade of those versions in some ways."

 **Ruby flipped a few levers and ran through the launch sequence.**

 **The camera pulled away through the cockpit to show the sheer scale of the ship holding them. This was the UNSC Sabre Fighter.**

Winter had a small conniption, "That is NOT a fighter!"

Ironwood nodded with a groan, "It's far too large. Not to mention the lacking maneuverability. It would be lucky to go one direction."

 **Ruby took a breath, "Alright. Strap in and get ready. Launch sequence is active."**

 **The thrusters sparked to life before erupting with enough force to burn away anything unlucky enough to be in the way. Thankfully, the facility was designed to prevent any damage this way. Soon, the ship slowly rose off the ground. This soon increased in speed until the ship rose up through the base and into the sky. It continued to rise into the sky, becoming nothing more than a streak in the sky.**

"Um… where's it going?" Ruby looked around the group.

Ironwood's eyes went wide for a moment, "Wait… that can't be right."

"What?"

"Is it… is it attempting to leave the planet?"

Oobleck gasped, "That can be done?! How is it possible?"

 **The camera snapped to the cockpit of the ship again as the Sabre rose above the clouds. Soon, the very shackles of gravity were loosed and the ship had done what those in the audience had never believed possible in their own world, it left the atmosphere and was among the cold vacuum of space.**

Everyone was stunned. Sure, they'd seen space vehicles in this before, but they'd never actually seen the process of leaving the planet. It was quiet, no one having any idea where to begin with what they saw.

 **Ruby flipped another switch in the cockpit, "Ditching primary thrusters."**

Ruby blinked, "Ditching what now?"

 **The massive lower section of the ship flew off and freed the fighter from its bonds and letting it fly freely in space. The ship flew off quickly and off toward a giant space station being swarmed by Covenant Banshee fighters.**

 **Ruby took a breath with a nod, "You ready, Jaune? Things are going to get a little bumpy." Ruby pushed the levers of the ship forward and the Sabre flew forward again.**

 **The Sabre was an excellent machine for combat in space. Vulcan machine guns and tracking missiles make short work of the shieldless Banshee units. To further the advantage, Ruby was an excellent pilot, having tested the Sabre project. She knew the ship far better than anyone else, so she was able to weave through the incoming attacks with little effort. Any stray shots that did hit the ship bounced off the energy shields. The Sabre flew through and cleared the area around the station long enough to continue their real mission. As Ruby docked the ship temporarily, she opened the canopy and allowed Jaune to stand and float his way off into the space around him.**

"Woah." Ruby was awestruck at the scene, as was many in the audience. They'd never seen the weightlessness of space before. It was rather awe-inspiring. At least, for what little they saw. They had no idea about the true horror therein.

 **As Jaune floated forward, he found himself looking toward their target. A Covenant cruiser that will act as a makeshift bomb casing to destroy the Super Carrier not too far off.**

Sienna went over the plan in her head and nodded, "That may actually work. Radio in a fuel request and set off a tank as they approach."

Ironwood sighed, "And people wonder why we have so many checks…"

 **Jaune's eyes fell upon the planet below, the planet of Reach. To the UNSC, it was a vital outpost to humanity in the galaxy. To his team, it was the mission: defend the planet from all incoming dangers and ensure the safety of the citizens below. To him, it was home. This was the planet he was born on, grew up on, and fought tooth and nail for. He saw himself living out the rest of his life on this world. He was born here, and he persisted that he would die here. As his visor's motion sensor rang out, he looked back up to the Pelican drop ship that would be ferrying him to the cruiser. As he grabbed the Pelican, he saw Ruby's Sabre fly off toward the cruiser to disable the engines.**

 **Ruby's Sabre had enough firepower to knock out the shielding and destroy the engines from behind. With the Pelican finally ready to take off, he heard her through the radio in his helmet, "** ** _Engines down. We're ready for you._** **"**

 **Jaune nodded as he watched the Sabre, "Copy that. I'll meet you at the hanger."**

 **The camera shifted to the inside of the ship to show a series of Grunts and an Elite scrambling within the hanger of the ship. Above them, a figure appeared and jumped down through the energy ceiling and onto the Elite's head. As its plasma rifle flew up, Ruby grabbed the weapon and used it to gun down the Grunts around her. She moved like a storm through the Grunts emptied the room soon enough.**

Ruby gasped, "Oh my gosh! I'm so cool!"

Yang chuckled, "Getting a big head, don't you think?"

"You know what I mean!"

 **Ruby stood up straight again as the Pelican flew through the barrier to the outside and landed onto the platform. Ruby tossed the rifle and approached the ship as Jaune jumped down from the cockpit. "What took you so long?"**

 **Jaune let out a chuckle, "You try flying this thing instead of your fancy fighter and then ask me what takes so long." Jaune offloaded his personal chaingun from the Pelican.**

Ruby started to geek out again, "Oh that's so cool! Heavy caliber rounds complete with belt feed, balance compensation, and even a blast shield for defense!"

Coco smirked, always happy to see others with her style of weapon.

 **Jaune set the gun onto a system on his back to allow him to move freely and use his hands to unload the ship and prepare the engine resting on the back. "Get to the bridge and send out the refuel call."**

 **Ruby nodded, knowing that Jaune wasn't what one would call a speedy fighter, much less mobile than the others thanks to his armor. She ran off with the standard issue assault rifle and a magnum pistol at her side.**

 **As the doors opened to the hall connecting the hanger to the bridge, Grunts jolted up seeing Jaune towering over them. She killed them in systematic fashion and moved quickly to complete her mission. Ruby, current callsign Noble-6, was one of a few Spartans listed as Ultra Lethal, so this level of security was hardly a challenge.**

"Oh!" Nora made an exaggerated _eureka_ motion, "That's why he kept saying 6!"

Yang whistled, "Ultra Lethal~ That sounds crazy."

 **Ruby tore through into a side battery to control the guns. More Elites were waiting and two charged her with their swords. As Ruby ducked the first, she grabbed the second by the arm and guided his blade into the first. She took the dropped the sword of the first and ran the second through as well. Using the second as a shield, she fired from behind the alien corpse with her magnum to rip through the rest of the Covenant team.**

 **The scene on the bridge showed them running around, trying to reroute the power and get moving again. A Jackal at the door heard something odd and looked toward the door, hearing an odd hissing.**

Ironwood counted down in his hand, mentally shouting, _Breach!_

 **The door exploded inward, killing the Jackal, and acting as enough of a shock for Ruby to dive in and behind cover nearby. Grunts tried to fire into the cover, not being the smartest, but suppressing Ruby from moving too far. But that was fine. Ruby tossed two plasma grenades, both of which landed onto Grunts. Said Grunts ran around in a panic, ending up taking out clusters of their own in their fear-fueled scramble.**

Winter sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I don't know where to begin with that…"

 **The Elites on the bridge roared, but Ruby moved quickly and used their own sword against them, killing two instantly and gunning down the third. One remained, however. This Elite was adorned in golden armor with his helmet clearly being more ornate than the others. He roared and drew his blade, charging Ruby. Ruby fired her rifle to whittle down his shields, but this was an Elite General. His shields were stronger, and his body was far more trained than any other beneath him. The General leapt up and slammed his sword into the ground Ruby had occupied only a moment earlier. More shots took his shield further, but it proved difficult to get that to stick. As he charged again, however, Ruby was ready. She kicked up a Needle Rifle for the Elite to slash through, disrupting the containment magazine, and causing all of the glowing Needles to burst and explode in the Elite's face. As he flew backward, Ruby tossed the plasma grenade onto his chest and let him explode.**

Mercury laughed a bit, "Damn, that was nuts."

 **Ruby had to moved quickly before any of the Covenant ships around caught on to what was happening. She fired off the signal for a refuel, broke the console enough to be usable while still sending out the signal, and ran back to the hanger. A few Covenant ran in to fight her, but they were easy pickings for Noble-6. As she burst into the hanger, she found Jaune defending the Pelican from a Covenant onslaught.**

 **Jaune gunned down a group of Covenant and called up to Ruby, "Get down here and help me clear the area!"**

 **Ruby charged in and fired into the alien crowd. One Spartan was a threat to the Covenant before them. Two was a horror. As Jaune fired his Chaingun from his heavy stance, Ruby jumped through the aliens and ripped apart anyone left.**

Port let out a jovial laugh, "Excellent teamwork~! Truly a grand team."

Glynda nodded, "Considering how the two are moving, it's even more impressive. It's clear that the two aren't long time teammates. Small details in how they move tell me they must have met recently and became a team."

The students were amazed by that. Not only from their teacher's impressive eye for details, but also at how good their teamwork was despite how soon they'd met. Even the 'closest team' RWBY needed months to move that effectively together. Sure, they did fairly well against the Nevermore during initiation, but that was one very large, very easy to manipulate opponent. Against anyone more skilled or smarter, it wouldn't have been so easy.

 **The hanger was soon empty save for the two Spartans. Jaune brought his gun to rest as he let out a heavy breath. "That looks like the last of them. Group up and let's get this going." Ruby ran over as Jaune moved to the console for the engine. "I don't trust this is over, so watch my back." As he typed into the console, a pink Needle suddenly stuck into the ship's side and burst. "Damn it! Move!" A group of Jackals wielding Needle Rifles ran in, firing wildly to hope for a kill. Ruby moved quickly again as Jaune tried to finish his work.**

"What's happening?" Velvet got a little worried now by the burst. "Will they be able to escape?"

 **Ruby wiped the floor with the Jackals as Jaune growled in frustration.**

 **An AI, sounding remarkably like Penny, called out to them, "** ** _Distance is closing on this vessel's contact with the Covenant Super Carrier. Seventy-Six seconds to contact._** **"**

 **Jaune groaned, "Yeah, yeah. I hear you." He smacked the console and sighed, turning back to Ruby, "So, I've got good news and bad news. This bird took fire and her thrusters are toast. Which means the only way off this slag heap, is gravity."**

Coco's glasses lowered, "They're… they're going to jump?"

"But they'll die!" Velvet shouted.

 **Ruby was fairly calm about that. "What's the good news?"**

 **"That was the good news." Jaune sighed and pulled his helmet off, dropping it onto the floor beside him. His face was painted in somber lights, "The bad news is that the timer's shot. I'm going to have to set it off manually."**

Everything went quiet. Was he saying what they thought he was?

 **Ruby looked between him and the console, "That's a one way trip."**

 **"It's one we all make eventually." Jaune reached under his armor and pulled off his dog tags, snapping them off his neck. "They're going to need you down there, so don't bother trying to argue. Reach has been good to me." He held his hand up toward her, awaiting her hand to follow suit, "Way I see it, it's time for me to return the favor."**

 **Ruby was quiet, thinking over what was really being said. She knew Spartans were all destined to die in battle eventually. She took a breath and met his hand with her own, taking the dog tags into her own between them.**

 **Jaune nodded slowly. He grabbed the waist of her armor and lifted her off the ground. He slowly moved back to the barrier and held her up slightly. "Tell them to make it count." He tossed her out of the ship to fall back to Reach. Ruby's armor protected her from the vacuum and the combination of armor and her augmentations would keep her safe on reentry. As Jaune watched her fall back to the planet, he took a heavy breath and turned back to the engine.**

Jaune thought back to things they'd seen previously. "In the end… we just have to have faith." It was a heavy reminder of how heroes sometimes don't make it. And it was clear this was going to be another such moment.

 **Jaune looked out over the ship as the Super Carrier, a ship far more massive than the cruiser he was in, flew over him. He took a breath, hearing Penny tell him it was 10 seconds until endpoint. Then at 5. 4. 3. 2. 1.**

 **The camera moved to show things from Ruby's helmet cam. The ship began to glow before the center of the giant ship was torn apart by a slipspace rupture, creating a purple orb that tore everything apart around it.**

Another series of _Woah_ statements followed suit.

 **The camera moved to show the scene from a satellite camera nearby, going into static from the slipspace burst. Then, they heard people talking through the radios.**

 **"** ** _Did you see that?!_** **"**

 **"** ** _Slipspace rupture detected._** **"**

 **The camera came back online to reveal another Covenant battle cruiser appearing within the planet's defenses. Then another. And another.**

 **"** ** _It has to be the entire Covenant Fleet!_** **"**

Everyone was a little scared. They had hoped this would be the end. They knew they would have to have faith, but it was rare to think about what would happen if that faith wasn't quite playing out.

 **The camera went to static again.**

 **As it did, they heard the voice of Neptune through the speakers, "** ** _Big guy always said he'd die on Reach. He thought he died saving the whole damn planet._** **"**

 **With a sigh, they heard Sage replying, "** ** _We should all be so lucky…_** **"**

 **With that, the static fell away and the screen turned off again.**

Jaune gripped his chair tighter than before. It was hard to think about that without getting more than a little concerned. _You just have to have faith. But what if it isn't enough?_

Raven huffed, "This is why you shouldn't bother trying to play hero. It'll just get you killed for nothing."

This broke something within Yang. She slammed her hand onto her chair and stood defiantly, "SHUT UP!"

This caught everyone, Raven included, off guard.

Yang took deep breaths and growled, "You think you know what a hero is like?! What would you know?! You only care about yourself! I bet you couldn't care about anyone else if _your_ life depended on it!"

Raven decided not to let that slide, "You watch your mouth! I left in accordance with the Tribe's traditions! You came after me, hunting me down. It's making you force yourself to become stronger."

"And that's why you abandoned us!"

"I didn't abandon anyone!"

"Then what do you call running away from your family?!"

"You would be dead if not for me!" Raven pointed toward Neo, "She'd have run you through if I hadn't been there to scare her off!"

"And what? You think I should say 'thank you' and just sit back down like a good daughter? Fuck that!" Yang's eyes became a deep red in her anger.

King and Knox appeared, about to say something, but someone happened to beat them to it. Ozpin slammed his cane against the ground, echoing through the theater and silencing everyone. The Headmaster of Beacon stood slowly and turned to the two. "I make it a point not to involve myself in the lives of others; and, if I must, I do whatever I can to remain neutral. These are your lives to live, not mine to sway. But it seems I must finally need to give my two cents to a situation."

Raven growled. If she could throw a punch, she'd have socked the Headmaster right then and there, "Shut it, Ozpin! I know what you really are! You think we're all just pawns in your damned chess game against Salem and the Grimm!"

"Raven. Has there ever been a time when I forced you to do anything? Any time I ever counseled you toward a course in life? I gave you a choice, and you made yours. But we're not talking about you here. Ms. Xiao Long has proven herself to be an exceptional student and, in time, I'm certain she will stand as a great huntress. But this isn't because you left her. Not because she's willing to search Remnant for you. She became this strong through the bonds she's made throughout her life. Her father trained her, her sister gave her something to protect, her uncle inspired her to do great things, and since coming to Beacon her team and her friends have continued to spur her on to greater heights. Not once has she ever so much as mentioned you."

Raven seemed to back away for a moment. She feared only two things in this world, Salem and Ozpin. She had long trusted that Ozpin was a neutral force, one that would leave her alone to her own devices. Yet here he was, picking a side.

Yang calmed a bit seeing her mother back away from the Headmaster. She was still angry enough that her eyes were red, but at least she wasn't about to explode on anyone.

Ozpin's tensed muscles relaxed a bit, even if it had been forced upon him by the theater's magic, "I don't know why you returned, but it sounds like there's unfinished business to be done. So, you can either sit down and wait for the opportunity to take care of it, or you can leave through the door again and have it haunt you once more. The choice is yours, Raven."

The Bandit leader shook, grinding her teeth together. She knew she couldn't challenge Ozpin openly, not to mention she'd likely be sent off to that fake camp to be left alone again. She, albeit reluctantly, sat down again with eyes cast away from the group.

Yang took a few deep breaths and sat back down with a huff.

Ozpin looked up toward the fireballs and nodded before sitting down again.

Knox sighed, "Well… that happened."


	124. Hit Combo

**King: So, real quick, I wanted to do something else this time, but it's a little... very emotional. If I'm going to make them cry, I want them all playing with a full deck, so I needed something to get Yang out of the funk from the last chapter.**

 **Knox: Huh... So that's where I get it.**

 **King: So, obviously, I hope you enjoy. Also, Happy New Year. Welcome to the Year of Hindsight.**

 **Knox: Hin... Oh! I get it~**

 **Inspiration: Dragon Ball Super's Hit (RWBY)**

 **(And I apparently forgot to change something in the early parts... Fixed it though.)**

 **/\**

King cleared his throat, despite not having one as a mystical fireball, and addressed the group, "Okay. Let's distract ourselves with the next run, shall we?"

As both disappeared again, the screen started to glow again.

Yang was still in a bad mood, and doubted this would really distract her.

 **The scene opened to show a very young Jaune, somewhere around 7 or 8, going through training with a wooden sword. As he swung his wooden blade, they heard the voices of his family in the background.**

 **The first was the voice of his sister Penelope, "** ** _Don't get me wrong, it's great that he found his semblance and all, but I mean… it kind of sucks._** **"**

That just caused Jaune to deflate a little.

 **" _Penelope_** ** _!_** **" His mother reprimanded, "** ** _This is a big moment for him!_** **"**

 **"** ** _I know, mom. But… come on. He can teleport like… a foot._** **"**

Nora took in a nervous breath, but had to say it, "I mean… Sorry, Jaune, but that's really not that great."

"On the contrary," this was where the professional fighter Pyrrha had to speak up, "It can actually be quite useful in combat."

 **As Jaune swung a heavy attack, they heard Leona interject, "** ** _A foot can mean the difference between a gust of air and getting hit._** **" Leona had long shown an aptitude for combat analysis, so it would be hard to argue against her.**

That made Jaune feel a little better. After all, two champion fighters did see value in something most saw as useless in a fight. It gave him hope.

 **Jaune continued to train, his face set in a determined glower. He clenched his teeth and swung his training sword hard enough to create a small gust of wind. He wanted nothing more than to improve and someday become someone you could look up to, like his father, grandfather, and so on. But his training was seeming to stagnate. His swings were rudimentary, barely showing any improvement over time. Unbeknownst to his family, this was deliberate.**

Jaune looked back up to the screen, confused. "What does that mean?"

 **After a moment, Jaune's body relaxed, his weapon hanging from his hand at his side. He looked around before setting his training tool on the ground. With his hands free, he took up a fighter's stance and started to run through a series of punches against a nearby training dummy.**

Yang raised an eyebrow, but was still in a mood, so she remained silent.

Ren thought for a moment before speaking, "It seems like this Jaune focuses less on a weapon and trained in hand-to-hand combat instead. But why hide it?"

 **Jaune moved faster than he had before, unrestricted. Soon, each punch against the dummy seemed to show him growing over time. A few strikes later and he appeared to be in his early teens. After some time, he was the seventeen-year-old they knew as he slammed one hard punch against the dummy for his final strike. By this time, his family had learned hos his fighting style and helped him improve as best they can. Soon, they saw him land another punch and the scene snapped to show Jaune his Beacon uniform, the dummy replaced with the familiar, and none-to-kind, face of Cardin Winchester.**

This got everyone to jump at the sudden transition, but they also weren't complaining.

 **The scene played in slow motion, revealing it to be a moment in the Cafeteria where Cardin had been pulling on Velvet's ear.**

This just pissed Coco off, making her more than happy about Jaune knocking him down.

 **As things played normally again, Cardin landed flat on his ass as he growled in anger. He was quickly on his feet and rising to the challenge. A heavy swing brought his fist into Jaune's jaw and starting a genuine fight between the two, which was soon broken up by Goodwitch with both being given a hefty punishment, though Jaune's was lessened for defending another student.**

Ruby still didn't see why Jaune had to get punished at al for doing what a Huntsmen was supposed to, but she got the feeling that was the point. Really, Huntsmen _weren't_ supposed to resort to violence against other people unless absolutely necessary.

 **News of this spread over the school, getting many to wonder just what Jaune was really capable of. Enter the challenger.**

 **"You want to what?" Jaune was sitting at his desk in his room, interrupted from a video on his scroll.**

 **Standing above him was Yang Xiao Long, "You heard me, Arc. I want a sparring match."**

Ruby chuckled, "Classic Yang."

 **"Yang, we spar all the time." Given their fighting styles both rely on unarmed combat, that wasn't all that surprising.**

 **"I mean a real spar. I saw you just… jump over to sock Cardin. You never used your semblance in our matches. I want a real match!"**

 **"You realize that spars are, by nature, not real matches, right?"**

 **"Quiet Arc! I want a fight where you don't hold back on me!"**

 **Jaune sighed and stood up from his desk. "Fine. I'll fight you with my semblance. But don't say I didn't warn you."**

This got Yang to start to ignore her mother, but not by much.

 **The scene moved to show Yang in combat gear waiting in one of Beacon's arenas. The camera moved around to show Jaune's gear. He was dressed in a long dark coat with clear hardened plating within the fabric. Beneath his coat was a set of easy to move clothing with pants, a tight shirt (though mostly obscured by his coat), and a pair of combat boots. He placed his hands into his coat's pockets, his muscles relaxed for the fight ahead. Surrounding them in the stands were the rest of their teams and a few other students who make it a point to watch the brawlers fight.**

Pyrrha examined the stance, or lack thereof. "It's hard to tell what he's up to."

"That's the point." Cue the voice that put Yang back in a bad mood. Raven glanced over to the screen again, "His coat obscures his legs, so it's harder to tell where he'll move to until he does. His fighting style likely focuses on ambush and counter attacks."

Blake looked over the stance and found herself agreeing, "She's not wrong…"

 **The Yang on screen smirked, "You always try to hide behind that coat."**

 **Jaune turned his body slightly, sliding a foot back, but kept his hands in his pockets, "You have no idea what this coat really does."**

 **This got Yang curious. She knew about Dust-weave clothing, but she never saw Jaune using anything like that. It likely had something to do with his semblance. "Then let's find out!" Yang jumped forward, firing her gauntlets to increase her speed and close the gap faster than most students could have. She fired her gauntlets again to leap over him and again to jump toward him from behind.**

Nora took in a sharp breath to prepare for the impact, "This is going to hurt."

 **The camera cut away to the crowd as they heard the impact of the attack. The camera soon snapped back to a closeup of Yang's face, marred by shock. It pulled away to show had turned and landed a punch into her gut, seemingly without much movement or effort.**

This got everyone to watch on in surprise. Even Raven, though she knew his fighting style, was in shock at the suddenness of the counter.

 **Yang's body seemed to shake before she coughed, winded from the attack. As Jaune stepped away, she was able to land on the ground again, her legs weak. As everyone in the stands was amazed by the display of power, Yang could tell something was off. After another cough, she turned back around to Jaune.** ** _That was way too fast. It's like he spun around at the last second. No… faster!_**

Ruby gasped, "No way! How fast is he?!"

"I doubt it's speed." Sun had crossed his arms in thought. "He can teleport about a foot, apparently, so he could probably look like he spun around super-fast, but he just teleported to face the other way."

Neptune shook his head. "I don't even think it's that."

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"Think about it, Yang didn't see him move from one direction to the other. Even teleporting would leave an effect in some way. But she's confused how he did it. I think there's something else. Something we're not seeing."

 **Jaune swung his hand to the side before returning it to his coat. "Are you satisfied now?"**

 **Yang grinned, her eyes turning red, "Hardly." She leapt forward again; her semblance super-charging her. She swung faster and harder than before. If Jaune didn't move, it would likely knock him into next week.**

 **Jaune had closed his eyes and took a deep breath, the camera hanging on a close up. When he opened his eyes, the camera fell away to show Yang frozen in midair and the world around them had an esthetic similar to that of breaking glass.**

This caught everyone off guard.

"What just happened?" Nora's mouth was agape.

Blake's eyes went wide with a realization. "How he seems to skip from place to place… He's stopping time."

Yang stood, or more accurately sat, in utter amazement. Rather than the world going to muted colors like the last time they'd seen this ability, it was more dynamic.

 **Jaune didn't have time to dawdle, though. He landed a set of three quick punches before jumping to the side as time moved again and Yang sailed past him with three new pains along her side.**

"Doesn't last very long this time." Sun deduced. "How long do you think he can keep that up?"

Neptune went over the scene and the previous time stopping. "I don't think it can be more than a second. Probably less. But he's fast enough that little window of time can be used to great effect."

 **As Yang landed, she groaned, holding her side. She thought over what she was feeling. It was similar to a pain she felt during another sparring match, when he struck her midair and left her to fall. He was fast, but this time it felt like she was hit by all three at once. She let out a breath and stood up again. If she was right about how he was doing that… She slid her foot on the ground and ran over toward him.**

Raven scoffed, "Seems she doesn't learn."

Yang felt her eye twitch.

 **Yang moved low to attack him with a heavy uppercut. The world seemed to break as Jaune's semblance kicked in and he stepped to the side to counter, only to find Yang's fist pointed right at him. Jaune reflexively jumped back as time moved again and Yang fired a flare, hitting him in the chest. Jaune wasn't too affected by it, but lacking a larger aura pool, it was a heavy hit to him. Jaune growled and brushed off his coat. "Not bad."**

 **Yang grinned and cocked her gauntlet again. "You're good Jaune, but you're predictable. That's why you hide behind your coat, to keep people from figuring out how you're going to move. I don't know all the details, but I figured I just needed to figure out where you'd be after your counter."**

Port nodded approvingly. "An excellent show of combat prowess and strategy!"

Glynda, however, sighed, "On Ms. Xiao Long's part, of course. Mr. Arc being so predictable is a problem."

 **Jaune huffed and cracked his neck, not too concerned by what she said. "I should have guessed you'd be quick on the uptake. That's my fault." Jaune took his hands from his pockets and finally adopted a stance. His hands were held close, defensive with ease of movement for quick jab attacks. He slid his foot across the ground, widening his stance. "Time to go on the offensive."**

 **The scene blinked and Jaune was suddenly directly in front of Yang. Now within her guard, and with her attempting to counter, he landed three hits into her arm before kicking her back.**

 **As she landed, she moved to rear back her arm, but found feeling in said arm to be lacking. "What?"**

 **Jaune was in her guard again and landed a strike into her thigh, forcing her to a knee with another strike knocked her other arm into a similar state. With a slight jump, he kicked Yang across her jaw and sent her sprawling to the ground.**

Ren blinked, but soon found himself understanding what was happening, "He's using pressure points. But how is he getting through her aura?"

Coco tapped her chair in thought. "Based on what Fox told me, if you're precise enough, you can still affect your opponent, like a spear pushing through the joints in armor."

Nora crossed her arms, "Doesn't look like it does a lot of damage to her aura."

Coco shrugged, "More than when Fox does it, at least. Then again, Fox can't really incapacitate someone like that without their aura being seriously low, or even empty."

Jaune thought that over, but found a different answer, "Assuming it's only happening once…"

 **The feeling in Yang's limbs returned quickly thanks to her aura. On top of that, she was boosted by her semblance even further. She looked back over to Jaune in time for him to pause things again. He ducked forward and landed a heavy attack into her gut, but the force effect placed on the attack showed five individual impacts move through her body.**

Ruby gasped, "He's hitting the same spot multiple times! He's fast enough that it seems like only one hit! I need to learn how to do that!"

Tai chuckled, "I don't think you can with a scythe."

"I'm not giving up Crescent Rose!"

 **As time moved normally again, Yang felt the impacts all at once and was forced to fold over in pain. She groaned but kept on her feet. "You're better than I thought you'd be using your semblance."**

 **Jaune jumped back and stood with his hands in his coat again. He took a deep breath and slid his foot forward, ready to strike again.**

 **"But," Yang's face was obscured by the camera angle, though they could see a grin, "that just makes my semblance stronger!"**

 **Yang jumped toward him again faster than before using the recoil from her gauntlets. She was almost instantly in front of Jaune and slammed her fist square into his jaw.**

That made Yang feel a little better, but Raven's presence in her mind was hard to ignore.

 **The world seemed to shatter for them before Jaune was gone from sight, leaving Yang confused. Soon, however, she felt a certain part of her body go taught. The camera snapped to show Jaune had moved behind her and currently had his hand wrapped in a chunk of Yang's hair.**

Everyone who had ever seen Yang go berserk went stiff. They knew Yang _cherished_ her hair, and so much as touching it can set her off. Yang in particular was taken aback at the audacity. She ended up shocked enough to forget her anger at Raven and return to her usual state. Granted, that still meant she was mad someone as messing with her hair.

 **Yang's eyes burst into bloody red, seeming to glow with fury. She tried to spin around to punch him, but he would just pull on her hair and force her into a realization, if she didn't want to risk him pulling out her follicles, she'd need to be more creative. She reared both arms back before firing them slightly downward, sending her flying back to slam her shoulder into his nose. The action caught him off guard for a moment, but he ultimately recovered and further wrapped his hand into her hair, using it as leverage as he kicked out her legs from under her. He swung her body over his shoulder by her hair and into the ground face first. He knew staying too close was asking for trouble, so he released her hair and kicked away to gain some distance.**

 **Yang proceeded to punch the ground and rise to her feet. Her hair was glowing, showing her semblance was at full power. "And here I thought you were smart enough to leave my hair alone."**

 **Jaune returned his hands to his pockets, "And I thought you were smart enough to remember I'll use whatever advantage I get. Your hair is long, wild, and an easy weak point."**

Weiss smacked her chair before gesturing to the screen, "Thank you!"

Yang, finally back to normal, finally spoke, "I'm not cutting it."

 **Jaune continued, "Not to mention that tamper of yours. It might not blind you per se, but you lose yourself to it. It's easy for me to take advantage of."**

 **Yang growled but soon found herself grinning. She wouldn't say it, but she had a certain appreciation for how straightforward he was when they fought. He had a habit for being more underhanded than most of the class, but it was all a more honorable form of underhandedness. He wouldn't do anything illegal or act in a way that made people end up thinking left of him. He was strategic, taking advantage of weakness like a weaker arm, previous pains, or even long hair or loose clothing. It was all covered in regulations as being less ethical, but still legal for tournaments. All this led to him being her greatest challenge. A rival of sorts. Whether he felt the same or not, she constantly fought him in these matches to improver herself more than she could in a classroom with students who wouldn't push her the same way.**

 **Yang slid her foot across the ground before charging again. As Jaune stopped the moment in time, Yang had predicted him again. His only real option was to get into her guard and try to attack her while she was off balance. As time moved again, Yang's eyes snapped to meet his, as if knowing what he would try. Her fist swung and met with his, sending a shockwave around them.**

 **A loud tone rang out, signaling the end of the match. Weiss stood up from the stands with her scroll. "They're both at 15%. Tie match!"**

Nora did not appreciate that, "Oh come on! Jaune totally won!"

"No way!" Yang was finally back to her old self, "If anything, an attack like that should have knocked him into next week!"

Blake rolled her eyes, "Welcome back, Yang. But it's clear their auras are at the same, or very similar levels while both being in the red levels. It's a tie, just accept it."

 **Jaune and Yang couldn't help but end their fight with a mutual glare into one another's eyes. Soon, smirks spread and the two shared a handshake. They always made it a point to end their matches with one as a sign of good will.**

 **The scene faded to show the same arena filled the next day for combat classes. Goodwitch pressed a button on her scroll and the match was set up for the next run. "Jaune Arc will be facing Yang Xiao Long."**

Yang grinned, "Already getting a rematch~!"

 **Jaune stepped into the arena, exactly the same as he had been. Yang, on the other hand, less so. As Yang stepped into the arena, the crowd was taken aback. Her hair was under control and tied into a braid to nearly half its size from before.**

Yang shook her head quickly as if to make sure she was really seeing this. And yes, she in fact was seeing her alternate self, who seemed so similar to her, with her hair tied down.

Weiss nodded, a certain level of satisfaction in her demeanor, "See? _That_ is how you handle long hair in a fight."

 **Yang took her place opposite Jaune, waiting for Goodwitch to call the start of the match.**

 **Jaune wasn't as surprised as the viewers about her hair, or at least he didn't show it. "You got your hair under control. What's the occasion?"**

 **Yang cracked her knuckles, "No occasion. Just taking away a disadvantage."**

 **Jaune smirked and removed his hands from his pockets again. The two them then took up fighting stances. The two jumped toward one another into a freezeframe. Yang had leapt into the air, intent on slamming her fist down toward Jaune. Jaune, meanwhile, was moving lower to uppercut with an open palm strike. This soon faded into what looked like a painting of the scene. Behind Yang was a burning flame, a portion of which had formed a golden Long dragon. Behind Jaune, the scene had the effect of broken glass similar to his time stopping effect.**

Ruby gaped at the scene, "Wow. That looks so cool!"

Yang smiled and nodded, "I really is."

 **The scene ended and faded to black, ending the screening.**

"Oh, come on!" Yang huffed in annoyance. "I want to know who would win!"

Ren just shrugged, "I actually rather appreciate the ambiguity. In storytelling, it can keep people talking or leave an opening for a later interpretation. That said, while I understand the need for a conclusion, this is a story that doesn't necessarily need one."

Yang rolled her eyes, "I'm still probably going to challenge him with that hologram arena thing."


	125. Take a Deep Breath

**King: ...**

 **Knox: You okay?**

 **King: Damn Microsoft and their subscriptions... I can't even work on the old ideas any more! Why not just pay for the extra features but make the actual work free to use?! But no! I can't even save a project to work on!**

 **Knox: Then... how are we here?**

 **King: I had to improvise! But here we are and it's out damnit! Hope you enjoy!**

 **Inspiration: N/A**

 **/\**

The gang gathered was going over what had just happened as the screen sparked to life once more.

 **The screen was a void of black, a constant hissing sound filtering through the speakers.**

"What is that?" Ruby's head tilted slightly.

Penny, after an analysis of the particular sound, answered with, "It seems to be the hiss of a gas valve. Specifically one connected to a larger canister close at hand."

Winter turned to the automaton, "A flamethrower?"

Penny shook her head. "No. The sound is inconsistent with flamethrowers. I believe it is strictly gas based."

 **The black of the screen was starting to corrode in the center before falling away to reveal a man in a full suit of cloth and iron. Everything about the man was covered head to toe, from his boots that sealed onto his pant legs to his gas mask and sealed helmet. All together, his body was completely sealed within, not even air could get through without traversing the filters of his mask. Each breath came with a filtered sound, one that would haunt lesser men.**

Everyone couldn't help a quick chill running up their spines.

Ironwood blinked upon seeing the man. The attire was clearly military-based, but there was clear contributions from a hazardous material suit.

 **The man looked around and looked as though he would step through the screen, but the camera moved away to show him enter a warehouse through a metal wall. The man walked through the area, inspecting the various items strewn about the storage area. Most of the warehouse was empty save for the shelves, falling apart from their age. The man walked through, his footsteps echoing through the old building. He looked at one of the shelves before kicking it and collapsing the entire structure.**

"Why did he do that?" Ruby couldn't make sense of this guy.

 **The man continued his way inside before reaching a side office, once used by the management of the warehouse during its operational years. He tried the doorknob, but found his boot was far more likely to get the sheet of wood open. As the wood collapsed to the ground, he walked inside the office and tried to see if he could get anything off of the computer. The screen didn't even turn on, so he just smacked it and stood upright again. "That's unfortunate."**

Nora gasped, "That's Jaune?!"

 **Jaune sighed and gave the desk a kick before walking back into the main building. Once more into the breach, he made his way back outside to the world of Remnant. The warehouse was revealed to be on a SDC mining site, a rather large one, in the Atlassian tundra.**

Ironwood nodded, "That could explain the suit. Insulation would come in _very_ handy in the tundra."

 **Jaune walked into the central courtyard and looked toward the primary mine. It wasn't the largest mine in Atlas, but it** _ **was**_ **the site of its worst collapse in 30 years, killing 20 miners.**

Ilia tensed up. She recognized the mine, a little too much. This was the site where her parents worked before a cave-in killed them both.

 **Jaune glanced around, half expecting something to come around to attack him for whatever reason. Given the Grimm had supposedly taken over the mine, it wasn't exactly** _ **that**_ **crazy a concern.**

Ilia felt her grip on her chair tighten. The thought of the mine enraged her, the thought the Grimm took over what was basically her parents' tomb wasn't helping.

 **Jaune looked up toward the sky, thinking out loud, "It's not here. I was hoping this would be easy, but it seems I need to reevaluate my plans." Jaune paused as he saw the snow on the tundra flying up in a path toward him. Jaune wasn't sure what it was just yet, so he ducked back inside to observe from a safe location.**

 **A large troop transport slowed to a halt at the edge of the mine. Based on the logos and the winter gear of the occupants, it was shown to be an Atlas branch of the White Fang. There was something in the back of the truck covered by a canvas, a crate hidden away from view.**

 **One of the Fang members hopped out of the front passenger seat and looked around. "Scan the area. I don't want Atlas hearing about what we're doing until it's too late."**

"What are they planning?" Sienna knew whatever it was had to be big, but it was difficult to tell what.

 **Jaune watched as they fanned out and a pair unloaded the crate from the canvas. It took them awhile before they nodded and opened the crate. Jaune was stunned once they opened the crate, however.**

 **Now sitting on the frozen ground was a bright gas canister the size of a small human. Nothing too crazy, it was common for cooking gases or fuel. But those symbols on the side are what really got his attention. A blue skull centered over a red X and a black cloud emanating from either side.**

Ozpin felt his body go cold. _That's impossible…_

 **Jaune was stunned long enough not to notice the White Fang grunt sneaking up behind him and pointing a gun at his back, "Don't move."**

 **Jaune growled, a little angry he didn't notice the man, but he had hopes to get closer to the canister.**

That, Ozpin had to comment on, "Why on Remnant would he want to get closer?!"

Ruby jumped at the sudden shouting, "What's going on?"

Oobleck adjusted his glasses and thought back over his memory of his work. Once he realized what it was, all he could muster was a high pitched sound.

 **Jaune was marched to the truck and the canister with a gun at his back. He looked to the canister, almost amazed by it. His attention had to be snapped away and over to the leader.**

 **The leader wasn't much taller than he was and dressed in heavy winter gear. The only thing showing he was a faunas was a pair of large fangs in his mouth at poke out through his mouth. He grinned seeing Jaune as he approached, "What have we got here? A snooping human?"**

 **Jaune looked the man in the eyes, not that he could really tell that given the mask. "Where did you get this canister?"**

" **What?"**

" **Where did you get that canister?"**

" **What do you care?" The leader gestured for his associates to prepare of a recorded execution, like the Schnee board member the other day. Another dead human would do wonders for the cause in their twisted minds.**

Weiss clenched her fists and slammed it onto her chair. The Board of the SDC had always been targets, almost as much as her family and anyone that actively associated with them. It was the main reason she hated the White Fang as much as she does.

 **Jaune remained resolute, and very honest, "I want it."**

" **Huh?"**

" **You heard me. I want the gas inside that canister."**

The two that actually knew what was in there were scared silent and frozen in place, leaving the rest to only guess and worry based on their expressions.

 **The lead Fang member burst out into laughter. "Is that right? Too bad. This was the only one, and we've got plans for it."**

 **Jaune looked toward the canister. "That right? What for?"**

" **You're a little too curious for your own good."**

 **Jaune turned back to the man, "You're going to kill me anyway. Why not give me an idea what would happen with it?" The camera fell and zoomed in at his wrist to reveal a small nosile sending out something they couldn't see directly. The only way they knew something was happening was the distortion at the end.**

 **The leader took a breath and chuckled, "I guess I can do that much for you. Scare you shitless before we kill you. Sure. I'll tell you. We plan to unleash it on Atlas, watch those damned humans drop one by one~" He liked the idea of that a little too much.**

Sienna growled in anger. She refused to believe this man was a member of the White Fang, but it was becoming clear she was losing control of the organization at this point.

 **Jaune looked to the canister and back to him. "That's such a waste…"**

" **Waste?" The man scoffed, "Oh please. What would you know?"**

" **A lot actually. Are you aware of what that gas is?"**

" **Huh? Of course I do. It's…"**

" **Galaxtripatoximin, or GTT" Jaune interrupted. "A gas first developed in the dark era and last used in the Great War. If that really is the last of it, I won't let you use it on your frivolous cause."**

 **That really pissed him off, "F-frivolous?! You son of a bitch! I'm going to…" The man seemed to stagger a bit, "going to…"**

 **Jaune shook his head, "No, you won't." He jumped back into his captor and knocked him to the ground with little effort. Before any of them could fire a shot, he swiped his arm in an arc in front of him as a bright white gas flowed out from his hand, causing them to lose control of their legs and fall to the ground.**

Nora gasped, "What just happened?!"

 **Jaune stepped over the group and toward the canister. "P-6 gas, originally designed as an anesthetic, I kicked up the concentration. Exposure to high concentrations can cause loss of muscle control in small doses." He reached the canister and rubbed his gloved hand against the shimmering metal. "But GTT… that's a** _ **real**_ **gas. Exposure to** _ **low**_ **concentrations can cause bleeding of the eyes, muscle tearing, blood accumulation in the lungs, and so on. It tears you apart from the inside."**

Ruby shivered at the thought, and almost puked at the thought, "Oh gods, why…"

Cinder was wide-eyed and interested in hearing more.

" **You could kill an army with how much you have here if you tried. If is was** _ **low.**_ **But this? This is pure GTT!" He placed his other hand on the canister like is was an altar of the gods, "This could eat away at the body until nothing is left! Enough to turn a kingdom into a graveyard and kill any scavenger that tries to approach the corpses!" Jaune's fingers tightened and his breathing got a little heavy. "Oh~ What a beautiful chemical of death~"**

Yang leaned away from the screen, "Um… is he okay?"

 **Jaune started to laugh, "Such a rare beast needs to be preserved and I cannot allow you to waste it on your movement."**

 **The lead ground his teeth together and started to rise back up to his feet, albeit slowly and shakily. He raised his gun toward Jaune, a shaky hand making aiming difficult.**

Oobleck tensed, "Oh… that's not good."

 **The man fired a shot toward Jaune. To his credit, it did hit him in the head, but said head was covered by aura and a sloped helmet, both of which caused the bullet to ricochet off and put a hole in the canister. Realizing just what happened, the scene went quiet, not a single sound, as the canister was blown open. With no gas.**

Ozpin and Oobleck collapsed back into their chairs in relief.

 **Jaune was still before his hands clenched into shaking fists, "It was… empty?" Jaune's body was shaking before a white cloud rose up around him.**

 **This allowed them to transition to a flying bullhead with the Atlas logo on the side, still in the air. The camera moved inside to show Clover of the Ace Operatives looking over a hologram of the mine as he addressed his unit of Atlas military for the mission. "Alright people, remember, the White Fang think they have a real canister of Great War gas."**

Ironwood sighed and nodded, "So it was a trap."

 **Clover continued, "That means they're going to be more careful around it, and we need to act the part as well for now. If they get desperate enough to try to take us down with them, we can use their confusion to take them all in at once. Get ready people! We're touching down!"**

 **The camera moved to show the pilot stretching his neck a bit to look to the ground, "Uh… Sir! You might want to rethink this plan."**

" **What?" Clover moved to join the pilot at the main window. What he saw was more than a little disturbing. First was the broken canister, meaning the White Fang would know it was a trap. They would likely be waiting in ambush, if they weren't sprawled out around it. Clover knew it could still be a trap, however, "Take us down further in. We'll walk."**

 **One landing and cautious run in formation, the Atlas group reached the scene and finally got a good look at what was before. Any pretense this was a trap melted away from Clover's mind. Vomit, blood, and melted skin surrounded the bodies of the White Fang. There were no injuries they could find on the bodies, but it was clear however they died, it was in an intense amount of pain.**

This got many to lurch and/or vomit from the scene. It was safe to say they'd seen terrible things, but this took the cake. Even Cinder found holding her lunch down difficult. She'd charred bodies, and they'd screamed in pain and torment, but whatever caused this was on another level altogether.

 **Before one of the soldiers could approach to survey the bodies appropriately, Clover raised a hand to stop him. There was a lingering scent in the air, innocuous and almost forgettable, but to Clover it was all too familiar. A scent he was lucky to catch before getting any closer, "Reaper-3. There's still a little in the area. As long as we don't approach the bodies, we'll be fine."**

 **The men backed away almost immediately. Reaper-3 was a dangerous gas designed for warfare in the dark ages of Remnant. Exposure guarantees death, even lingering after around the bodies. As long as they keep their distance now, they would be fine. That said, it was a controlled substance that no one** _ **should**_ **be able to get their hands on without a license.**

 **One of the soldiers looked over the scene, "Who the hell would do this?"**

 **Clover took a heavy breath away from the scene, "There's only one man I know who would use Reaper-3 so openly."**

" **Is that a bad thing, sir?"**

" **Truth be told, he's probably the only person in all of Remnant I would trust with it."**

 **The scene changed to show General Ironwood looking over a personnel report. On the hologram was a picture of Jaune with his mask and helmet finally removed. He looked similar to the version in the seats, though his hair was cut much shorter and he had a more gruff appearance. The information underneath it read out to fill in the blanks.**

 **[Name: Jaune Arc]**

 **[Occupation: Huntsman / Chemical Engineer]**

 **[Notes: He specializes in gas-based chemical creation and cataloging. Creator of Omen Gas, used to predict incoming storm fronts. He is willing to work for access to rare gas weapons to add to his collection. He often states such rare findings should be preserved rather than wasting away / wasted by use.]**

 **The world came to close soon after seeing this.**

This got the majority to sigh in relief. Cinder was less than thrilled. She had hoped the scene from before would give her a real show. But he's just another huntsman.

King popped in again and laughed, "How about a quick intermission?"


	126. Intermission 11: Revelations

**King: Intermission time again.**

 **Knox: Back in the groove, huh?**

 **King: Of a sort. Doesn't help I can't see a word count anymore. Oh well. Such is life, I suppose. Anyway, hope you all enjoy as per usual.**

 **Inspiration: N/A**

 **/\**

The group finally started to disperse and Emerald knew it was now or never. If she could get to the Beacon teachers, she'd be in the clear. Ducking out to avoid Cinder's gaze, she found her target and moved quickly. She was soon face to face with the Beacon teachers with Ozpin being the closest to her. "Sir! I need to speak with you."

Ozpin looked back toward her and was silent a moment. After a pause that felt like an eternity to Emerald, Ozpin turned back to his coworkers, "Go on ahead. It seems I am needed."

Glynda moved a step closer, "Are you sure, sir? We saw her with…"

"I'm aware. Go on. If she meant me harm, she can't do so within the theater anyway."

Glynda sighed and shook her head. "Alright. We'll see you in the lounge when you're done." With that, Glynda shuffled the rest of the group away, leaving only the Headmaster and the thief.

Emerald stood before this man who seemed so much greater than anyone she'd ever seen. Being face to face with Ozpin would make even the mightiest warriors tremble. Yet here she was, a lowly thief with a dry throat, making it hard to begin. She eventually found her nerve, "Sir! I…"

Ozpin held a hand to her, "I know."

This caught Emerald off guard more than she expected, "You… you know what?"

"I have seen so many things in this world that it would be difficult not to recognize a repentant soul, especially one as blatant as yours."

Emerald was amazed at how easily he read her. "I…" She took a deep breath and steeled her nerves again. "I want to come clean. About Cinder, the Breach… everything."

\/

Raven growled as she walked through the hallways of the theater. Being back here was annoying enough as it is, but her daughter's open defiance against her didn't sit right. _She doesn't know what's out there! How powerful Salem is…_ She was interrupted by running into General Ironwood from behind.

Ironwood turned back to her and his eyes narrowed. "Raven."

"James." Raven tried to move passed him, but something compelled her to speak. Maybe if he knew the truth, he could talk sense into the rest of them. "I think I might have something to tell you."

"After all this time? What changed?"

"This is important, James." Her glare sharpened as she crossed her arms. "I need to tell you about Salem. What I know."

"About her being immortal?"

Raven blinked in shock. "What?"

"Ozpin had to come clean after the other version appeared in the theater."

"But you… You're okay with all this?!"

"Okay? No. No one can be expected to be okay with that."

"I meant Ozpin's lies!"

"What lies?"

"He was hiding this from us! From everyone!"

Ironwood scoffed for a moment, "Alright then, Raven, tell me, what have you told your tribe about her?"

This caught the Bandit leader off guard, "What are you…?"

"Well?!" Ironwood's narrowed eyes sharpened further. "Surely, if you're going to condemn Ozpin for hiding information, surely you've told your tribe that everything about how Salem cannot be stopped and that it's hopeless, right? But I know you didn't. And do you know how I know?!" Ironwood puffed out his chest, looking down on her. Not down toward her, down _on_ her, like her very existence was an affront to him in that moment. "Because they're still alive. If you killed any hope in humanity, the Grimm would have swarmed you far faster than you could ever handle."

Raven grit her teeth, "And what about you, huh?! You're going to just sit by and accept that everything is hopeless?! That we're fighting a losing battle?!"

"Losing." Ironwood's voice calmed a bit. "Not lost. Let me ask you a question, Raven. If your camp was surrounded with no way to escape, would you give up and throw open the gates? Or would you hold out as long as you can, cling to hope until you can break out? It takes a strong person to hold onto hope when all seems lost."

"More like a foolish person." Raven growled and grit her teeth. She huffed and pushed passed him, ramming her shoulder into his on purpose. She stormed away, dissatisfied by the outcome.

Ironwood called after her, "I finally get you, Raven. I know what you are. You're a defeatist coward. The moment someone stronger than you appears or you get spooked by something, you turn tail and hide. You pretend to be strong, but it's all an act." With his point made and an angry Raven behind him, Ironwood walked off, not hearing Raven make any sound other than an enraged roar.

\/

The arena was just as active as it had been in the past intermissions. Right now, Tai found himself racing with Ruby. Once the young silver-eyed girl learned about her father's semblance, she wanted to test her own speed against his. Granted, he had to reduce his aura to half to match her, but that also left 35 percent open for him to outspeed her. Right now, though, it was a fair race. Tai slid into the end of the track and grinned, having won the race by a few inches, "Sorry, Ruby. Looks like your old man's still got it."

Ruby huffed, "No fair! You're taller than I am and your legs are longer."

"Maybe, but you were holding your own."

The parents and parental figures, inspired by some of the things they'd seen on the screen, had taken up training with the Beacon students. To the side, one could find Gira teaching the Kuji-in meditation hand signs to whoever would be willing to learn them; in this case, Sun and Ren. Velvet also found them to be helpful for controlling her stress levels. To another side was Qrow teaching the finer points of environmental control, or using the environment to your advantage in battle. Nora, Neptune, and Weiss found this quite helpful, though Weiss had issues with the teacher's mannerisms and constant drinking.

Blake didn't join any of the groups just yet. Her mother said she would train with her, but Kali was out for the moment. Blake took a deep breath as she waited against the wall. "So much for training."

But she gave up on that too soon. "Blake~!" Kali called from the entrance to the main arena. She jogged back into the arena, dressed in her lacquered armor and with her twin katana at her side.

Safe to say, Blake was a little surprised. "Mom?"

"Yep!" Kali grinned as she reached her daughter, "You ready?"

"Um… sure."

Blake and Kali made their way to the central area, set aside for sparring matches. Blake drew her weapon from her back and Kali took a wide stance with one of her blades drawn. They shared a tense moment of silence before Blake leapt up using her semblance to redirect away and to the left of her mother. Kali's eyes tracked her daughter and parried the attack. Kali's fighting style was close to home and focused on keeping her opponent on their toes. As Blake ducked another attack, she then found out her mother was ambidextrous, by getting a face full of the back of Kali's second katana. As Blake used a clone to get distance, she found her mother duel-wielding her weapons. Kali, rather than continuing to do so, placed one of her weapons away with a loud metallic snap. Blake was starting to figure her mother out. That second blade is used for counter attacks.

That was her mistake. Kali grinned and tossed her weapon in hand into the air with a slight twirl. As it descended, she kicked the hilt forward and sent it flying toward her daughter. As Blake ducked to the side, she found her mother had followed the blade with her second drawn. A slash took a heavy chunk of aura out of Blake's pool and Kali rolled around Blake to meet her first blade on the ground. Taking it in hand, she was back in her twin-bladed stance.

Kali smiled in her good natured way, "Bet you didn't know your mother was _this_ good."

Blake couldn't help smiling either, "If I'm being honest, I never really pegged you or dad for being too good at fighting."

"Fighting?" Kali laughed, "Oh, honey…" Kali cracked her neck and widened her stance a bit. "I'm a warrior." As she flew forward this time, her blades swung in a dance of steel and light. A graceful spin and a great swing knocked Blake back a bit. Her stance fell as she brought swung both blades into Blakes with enough force to knock it out of her hand. With one blade at her daughter's throat, Kali was the winner of their match. After helping her daughter back to her feet, Kali had to move them both off the circle. It was unspoken, but it was a courtesy to leave the arena once the match was over and allow whoever was waiting to take their turn.

As Blake and Kali went over what happened, Jaune stepped up into the arena. He was hoping to improve his skills with his knives and the handcannon before returning home. Standing opposite him was, interestingly, Sienna Kahn. He had planned to ask Pyrrha for help, but the White Fang leader was insistent. To Jaune, it made sense. Pyrrha would continue to help him with his swordplay, but the knives and a hand cannon were a bit of her training regimen. Jaune took a deep breath and opened his shield with his gun in his hand instead of his sword.

Sienna, after learning his family's history with faunas rights, agreed to help train him if she could. "Alright, now, I'm going to test you to see what I have to work with." She held up a set of freehand targets, "I'm going to toss these and you're going to shoot them out of the air."

Jaune stuttered a bit, "Wait, but I've barely even…"

"Go!" Sienna tossed the first one into the air over her head.

Jaune had to snap to attention and pointed Durendal toward the target. He fired the shot, but the target landed without a scratch.

Sienna looked at the target and nodded, taking the second and throwing it upward, "Again!"

Jaune fired another shot, but found the circular target unscathed again. This was a little disheartening, but Jaune knew the only reason he hit Weiss with it before was because she was point blank.

Sienna nodded and grabbed a third target, "Fire!"

Jaune leveled his weapon again and fired a shot. This time, however, the target flipped in the air as Jaune's shot hit the lower section of the target. Jaune felt his spirits improve almost instantly.

Sienna nodded. "You're quick on the uptake. Or just lucky. Let's test those knives."

Jaune put on a serious face and nodded. He placed the weapon away in a pouch resting behind his shield and grabbed the three knives hidden behind the metal. "Okay."

Sienna noted how he held the knives, a certain level of familiarity that made her think she might need to push him harder with the knives. That, or he was just used to holding them and had little skill with actually throwing them. "Alright, get ready." She held up a wooden version of the targets and tossed it upward, "Now!"

Jaune's hand blurred a moment as his knife was sent into the air, hitting the target square in the center at the height of its rise. The target fell to the ground between them with the knife stuck deep enough inside to remain despite the shock of hitting the ground.

Sienna blinked, shocked at first. "That was… impressive." She took two of the targets in her hands this time. "Now, for a real test." This time, when she threw them into the air, she was silent in order to test his reflexes. She could see his hand swing twice, sending the knives into the air at two separate times. The first stuck into the target at its height while the other hit the second a bit after.

Jaune took a much needed breath he didn't know he was holding. "How was that?"

Sienna took one of the knives from the targets, "You said your mother taught you how to do this?"

"Um… yeah. Why?"

"Because she's either an excellent teacher, or you learn freakishly quickly."

Jaune nervously scratched the back of his head, "Well… my mom does have a knack for this kind of stuff."

Sienna collected the knives and tossed them back to him. Despite being off guard, he caught them without hurting himself, though lacking in any sense of grace. She watched and decided to test something. She had tossed the first two together, one after the other. The third, she tossed in the same way as she tossed the others, and found he caught this one just a bit better than the others. "It's a start, at least." Their time in the arena was over for now, so they had to shuffle out and to the side.

As everyone was focused on their limited time for training, Oscar sat up and away from everyone. As he watched them, something stirred within him, an unfamiliar sensation. _What is that?_

Despite the fact that an Ozpin was in the very building and very much alive, the Ozpin in his head remained. " _Nostalgia. As you grow older, you feel it when looking back on things as they were._ "

Oscar looked back down toward the groups. _It's so weird… I know these faces, but they're so different._

" _Age will do that, Oscar. Get used to it._ "

 _It's not just that._

" _You're referring to Ms. Xiao Long's arm and Ms. Nikos._ "

 _Yeah…_

" _It's likely that they were brought here from a time before the Fall of Beacon. And as things are going now, that may be avoided altogether. I admit, I'm a little jealous of that._ "

 _That's something else I thought about. What happens when we go back? If you don't die in the Fall, our souls won't end up bonded. Will we just… fade away?_

" _Based on what we've seen, I doubt it. We will likely return to our version of events. The Fall had passed and we will return to how we were, though with a bit more knowledge._ "

 _So… we're going to have to live with that? We've seen their future. We have to live with how things turned out for us, knowing what could have been?_

" _Oscar, I have lived many lives thinking that exact thought. 'What could have been' is a phrase that haunts me more than I care to admit. But I have learned something in my time on Remnant, I had to make a choice. I could either wallow and sulk in what could have been, or I could stand tall and ensure no one has to live with those regrets. When we return… I cannot say things will not be difficult, but few things are easy. Surely, we can stand and create a world as grand as their future._ "

Oscar took a deep breath and nodded with a slight smile, _Yeah. Let's do that._

The intercom let out a tone before they heard King, " _Please make your way back to the main theater. Our next viewing will begin soon._ " With the familiar click of the PA system, everyone in the arena moved to put their weapons and armor away before making their way back to the theater.

\/

Before the announcement sounded out over the theater, Emerald finished her story and plea to the Headmaster. "And that's all I know."

Ozpin nodded, having let the girl tell her story without interruption. Now that she was done, he voiced himself for the first time. "I'm thankful for what you've told me, and we will do whatever we can to act on this when we return. But I have to ask what you plan to do after that."

Emerald's eyes lowered to the floor, still uncertain. "I… I don't know."

Ozpin nodded in empathy for her plight. "I understand your state of mind. Everything you've known has toppled down. It's a feeling I'm too familiar with. But, if you choose to, we are more than happy to find a place for you at Beacon."

The intercom sprang to life and signaled for everyone to return.

Ozpin turned to Emerald for a moment, "Think it over." With that said, he walked back to the theater.

Emerald was left standing there in the hallway. She didn't know what to do next. Cinder had commanded her and planned everything in the time they'd known one another. Many would think it would be liberating for her to get to think for herself now, but it wasn't to her. She'd been alone most of her life and now she'd abandoned what little she had. She was alone again. She turned back toward the main theater, wondering. She could go off to the theater, or she could leave and hope things worked out when they all returned and time moved for them again. _Where do I go now?_ She was silent, still, and uncertain.

Emerald shook as she made a step toward the theater. She thought back over what Mercury said to her. That if she wanted a real bond with others, she should try to find it with those kids from Beacon. She said kids, but they were actually the same age, save for Ruby, of course. For now, she'd stay and see if there was still hope for her. Maybe, just maybe, she didn't need to remain alone.


	127. Iron Blood and Steel Armor

**Knox: All hands to battle stations! All hands to battle stations!**

 **King: This went through more than a few resets... Anyway, Someone asked about this, but I wasn't sure if I would do it. I'd never seen it and I wasn't sure if I would. Then again, life is odd. Anyway, I hope you enjoy, as usual. As for why. I knew a bit about it, but didn't get too far into things. That said, I opened the story and found it rather interesting. I actually appreciate they kept in the sinking of the Hood in the opening. I don't know. I liked it enough that I wanted to get this out there. So... here we go.**

 **Inspiration: Azur Lane**

 **/\**

With everyone back together again, it was time to start a new viewing. That said, it was important to talk about the slight change in group composition. Cinder was now alone in her side of the theater, sort of. Raven had taken a place far in the back on that side because no one was there. For all intents and purposes, Cinder was alone. Mercury had moved to a side area not too far, but clearly on his own terms. Emerald, meanwhile, had moved to the opposite side of the group, as if they would shield her from Cinder's wrath, assuming she even noticed and/or cared at this point.

So the next world begins.

 **The world opened to a view of the sky, the vastness of blue stretching out over everything. Soon, the camera moved down to show a darker blue take over the bottom half of the screen. A small wave moved across to reveal this darker azure to be a vast body of water.**

Neptune shook in his chair, seizing up at the clearly large body of water.

Sun placed a hand on his friend's shoulder to help ground him. Few people in the audience new about Neptune's phobia, and said blue-haired 'intellectual' wanted to keep it that way. But this also meant that Sun was the only one there that could try to help calm him.

 **Something flew across the screen, kicking up the water behind it.**

Ruby grew up on an island, but she'd never seen anything that vast on the ocean before, "What was that?"

Jaune, whose home had a standing navy, wasn't too sure, but he tried to guess. "Maybe a speedboat? You know, a smaller boat designed to go faster than larger versions."

"I've never seen one before."

Tai nodded, "Most ships around Patch are either cargo, fishing, or ferries. We don't usually see any other types."

 **The camera moved across the surface quickly to try to catch up with what just passed it. When it caught up, it found something a little different than they expected. A foot fell onto the water, sliding along it like an ice skater, leaving waves behind them. The camera traced up to reveal a person sailing across this world of water. She was dressed in a red vest with a hood over her head. The rest of her attire resembled a modified navy uniform. The more interesting features, however, was the metal protrusions resembling parts of a naval cruiser; particularly two sets of twin batteries, one on either side. Torpedos were stored alongside the armor holding the guns. The girl slid across the water on what resembled skates. All of her armor was a bright, ruby red and her eyes were a glowing silver.**

Ruby was geeking out over the weaponry.

Yang was in a mini laughing fit at the look and how Ruby totally would create a weapon system like that if she could.

Some of them were focusing more on the fact that Ruby was SKATING ON WATER!

 **Ruby came a halt, skidding on the waves before standing as though she were on land. In this world of water, humanity's ambition led them to create a new form of warfare. Ships formed in the visage of their creators. Ruby grabbed a pair of binoculars from her belt and looked out over the ocean.**

Penny tapped her chin in thought. "Oh… I see. They are automatons created for naval engagements."

Ironwood tapped his foot on the floor of the theater. Pietro would have a field day knowing there was a way to make a whole army of robots that looked, and likely acted, like humans.

 **Ruby was soon joined by another girl with naval ship armor. She was about the same height of Ruby, however she was less armored over all. She wore a white dress and held what resembled a ship as a weapon. Her white hair was tied into a side-ponytail and her ice blue eyes looked out over the same ocean.**

Weiss raised an eyebrow.

Ruby grabbed the heiress in a hug, "Go team RWBY!"

Weiss groaned and pushed her team leader off of her, "Blake and Yang have yet to appear, so it's just us at the moment. Not exactly the whole team."

Ruby would have waved that off as nonsense, but she'd seen enough worlds where Jaune was a psychopath to see what her partner was saying.

 **Weiss glanced to Ruby for a moment, "You see anything?"**

 **Ruby returned her binoculars to her armor belt. "A few old style boats. Thankfully, no ships so far."**

" **Thankfully?" Weiss turned to Ruby, "What's that supposed to mean? You think we can't handle a battle?"**

 **Ruby sighed, "Suffolk, did you forget Bismarck is in the area?"**

Blake raised an eyebrow, "Suffolk? Is that supposed to be her name?"

Kali placed a finger on her cheek in though, head tilting slightly, "Codename, perhaps?"

 **Weiss nodded grimly, "Be that as it may, Norfolk, we can't let those boats through. We need to take care of them."**

 **Ruby groaned, "Right…"**

 **They both skated off across the water toward their incoming opponents. The boats looked more like traditional vessels, but were lacking in crews. They were automatic boats that were easier to create than the ships like Ruby and Weiss. As they opened fire, Ruby and Weiss snaked through the incoming fire with ease. Ruby's batteries leveled toward one one of the boats and erupted, sending explosive shells into the hull and sinking the boat. Weiss held her weapon like a giant cannon and fired a salvo to sink the other.**

Ruby went from geeking out to a full blown freak out. "Oh my gosh! That's so cool!"

Neptune didn't agree, but only as a result of the location. He was coming down from his freeze up and did see what was happening as being cool. Ocean notwithstanding.

 **Ruby grinned, "That's how it's done!"**

 **Weiss floated over and lightly smacked the back of her head, "Stay focused, Norfolk. We can't let our guard down."**

 **Ruby nodded, "Okay, okay. I got it."**

 **A loud sound grabbed their attention, a roar out into the world. A mad ship like them was charging forward in a mad dash, hull on fire and likely to burst. However, before she could get close, a heavy slavo ripped her to shreds.**

Everyone was shocked at the scene, but also found it might have been for the best given the ship had planned to blow herself up and take Ruby and Weiss with her.

 **Ruby and Weiss turned to see two more ships skating up toward them. One was dressed in naval regalia and jacket, skirt, and tall boots outfitted with the water traversal skates. Her armor resembled a heavy battleship with larger, four cannon batteries on either side. She had a long cape over her shoulder and a thin blade at her side. She slid to a stop to let everyone see her shorter black hair with a pink streak along one side.**

Nora giggled, "Oh hey! It's Li!"

Ren sighed, but didn't find anything objectionable. It was more about Nora's laughter.

 **Alongside her was what looked like Winter Schnee, dressed in a long dress coat with a mantle over her shoulders resembling some form of flag. She was surrounded by four sets of twin-cannoned, heavy batteries. The back of her hair was set in a long braid that reached to her knees, tied into form with an anchor.**

Winter admitted she liked her form in this. It was clear she was something stronger than what Ruby or Weiss were. If she had to guess, she was likely a battleship.

 **Weiss perked up seeing her sister's arrival, "Hood!"**

Qrow snickered a bit. "Hood, huh?"

Winter rolled her eyes, used to codenames in the field. She was just glad it didn't have anything to do with ice this time.

 **Winter gestured to Li, "Keep an eye out. Bismarck wouldn't ignore this if she has the choice."**

 **Li nodded and extended a radar array. It was rudimentary, but it worked for what it was.**

 **Winter turned back to the dual cruisers in front of her, only to punch them both on the top of their heads. "What were you two thinking deploying out here on your own?! Did you forget Bismark was spotted in these waters?! Neither of you are equipped to take her on! What if you got into a firefight?!"**

Nora chuckled, "Aw, she's just worried about them."

 **While Winter was scolding the two cruisers, the camera moved to focus on Li and the radar that covered her left eye. After a moment, a blip appeared, "Contact!"**

 **This got Winter to shift her attention to the distance. "How many?"**

" **One ship, seven boats. We can knock out the boats pretty quickly, but the ship is a little concerning."**

" **Bismarck?"**

" **I wouldn't be surprised." Li returned her radar to its starting position and readied her cannons.**

Ironwood crossed his arms and sat back a bit in his chair, "I get the feeling this Bismark is going to be more powerful than any of them."

"But there's just one of this Bismark," Sienna reasoned, "and there are four of them. If they work together, that power difference won't mean much."

Cinder rolled her eyes with a grin. Overwhelming power would always break down whatever teamwork Sienna believed in. Fear would overwrite any sense of cohesion. A feeling she knew well.

 **Winter's guns leveled to the distance. "Destroy the boats before they get too close. Suffolk! Norfolk!"**

 **Weiss and Ruby straightened in surprise, shouting in unison, "Ma'am!"**

" **Get ready for combat. Intercept anyone getting close."**

 **Weiss and Ruby moved together and moved in front of the two battleships. Li and Winter braced themselves before launching an opening salvo of shells toward the incoming enemy. Off in the distance, explosions ripped through the air, the light showing each boat as they erupted.**

Winter looked up toward the scene, a certain part of her amazed at the coordination and power on display.

 **Li brought up the radar again. "Boats knocked out. They've stopped moving. The ship is still advancing."**

 **The camera moved off to show the incoming ship. She skid along the water dressed in grey, black, and red. Her armor appeared similar to Li and Winter, being a battleship. Her attire was a navy-like tank top, short jacket, and heeled boots. Her armaments had four sets of batteries, torpedo salvos, and anti-air guns. A pair of armor horns curved out from her mint green hair.**

Emerald looked up toward the screen, a little surprised to see herself like that. Though, there was a part of her that could see things playing out as they were before her epiphony and subsequent turn.

 **Emerald grinned seeing the four. "Well what have we here? Is that the King George V?"**

 **Li growled, "Prince of Wales."**

This got Nora to pause, "Wait… so is she a he? I'm confused."

Ren tapped his chair in thought, "I think it's a naming convention for the ships. My guess is that Ruby and Weiss are named after locations while my counterpart and Winter are named based on people."

"Oh!" Nora smiled, "That makes sense."

 **Emerald rolled her eyes, "Whatever. All you Royal types look the same to me."**

 **Ruby and Weiss glanced toward one another and nodded.**

 **Emerald's grin turned to a smirk, "Now, why don't we get started!" Her guns were soon leveled against the four.**

 **However, Ruby and Weiss were ahead of the curve and fired a heavy volley of shells toward Emerald. Emerald skated across the water, avoiding the shells and moving to attack the two, only to have the sea erupt in front of her as Li and Winter provide supporting fire. Emerald had little choice but to dodge the incoming heavy shells. After one spin, she slid into a firing position and loosed a set of torpedos toward the cruisers. Weiss able to skate to the side to avoid it, but Ruby was in the middle of the radius. Ruby sped around and leapt over the incoming explosive.**

Ruby was starry-eyed at how cool her alternate version looked in that moment.

 **Li and Winter had an easier time dodging them as they were farther along the path, given them wider opens to avoid the attack. Winter slid to the side and fired a volley of shells toward Emerald, a heavy shell breaking against her armor. Emerald was knocked off balance for a moment, almost falling into the ocean, but she was able to right herself, only to find herself surrounded.**

 **Emerald chuckled and set her guns to fire around her, unleashing a powerful volley, only for most of the shells to miss due to the lack of targeting time. Though, it did give her enough time to escape the circle.**

 **One shell, however, hit Li's armor belt, bouncing off and into the water. Li was surprised for a moment. All the intel said the Bismarck possessed greater firepower than anyone else in the Royal Navy, but that felt like heavy cruiser fire at most.**

Winter's eyes narrowed, "She isn't this Bismark…"

 **Li held fire for a moment, "Hold on! She isn't Bismarck! She must be the escort craft!"**

 **Emerald smirked and spun with a little flourish. "I am the KMS Prinz Eugen! Proud vessel of the Ironblood! And you," Emerald's grin widened to a toothy smile, "are in range."**

 **Li's eyes went wide and returned the radar to her eye. The line went across the area and revealed a new contact some 15 miles off in the distance.**

 **The camera flew off and away over the ocean. Soon, they saw someone else on the water. The camera swung around to show her from behind. Her uniform was a similar black to Emerald's, though hers was a more full uniform rather than Emerald's tan top and jacket. Her uniform jacket was adorned in gold, her skirt had two streaks of gold and red to accent the black, and her boots reached up her thighs and ended in fur. A long cape fell behind her, giving her the appearance of royalty. Her sets of twin-cannon batteries surrounded her on her armor. Said armor had extra hinges to allow them to open a set of mouths like those of sharks. She held a staff in her hand with a red, black, and white flag flying behind her. Her golden blonde hair was long, but controlled beneath her military cap. Her sapphire blue eyes looked off toward the group with a look of sorrow.**

Nora gapsed, "Jeanne is the Bismarck they were talking about?!"

Ruby was awestruck at the arms and armor on display. But something caught her attention after a moment. "Hang on… her weapons are…"

 **Jeanne took a breath and sighed, speaking to herself, "I'm sorry…" Soon after, her batteries unloaded their shells off toward the group.**

 **15 miles. To some, this could be a great distance. A person walking 15 miles would take a long time. Biking could cut that time to be manageable. A drive at average speed limits would take minutes. But here, on the vast waves with shells raining down, this was seconds that few could afford. Li tried to warn them, tried to move, but Jeanne's fire would fall upon them soon. She did what little she could, shouting to evade.**

 **The camera hung on the group as the shells fell upon them before erupting the sea around them. One of the shells tagged Winter's armor belt and tore it apart like paper. Winter was a refitted battle cruiser. Jeanne, however, was a true battleship; a ship designed to destroy any and all opposition in her path. Winter skid to a painful halt as the plunging fire continued. Her eyes went wide as she looked up toward the end. The sea erupted around her before finally a massive burst ripped the ocean apart in an inferno.**

Weiss was cold from shock. She'd seen versions of her sister being killed before, even one more sudden. But the scene was unnerving. Even if they were robots and could be rebuilt, it was hard to watch.

 **Weiss screamed as her sister was torn apart.**

 **Emerald leveled her weapons, but the radio cut her off.**

" **Fall back, Eugen. Our mission is to reach the open ocean. Let them mourn and salvage as best they can."**

 **Emerald sighed and raised her weapons again, turning to rejoin Jeanne. Emerald soon met up next to Jeanne. With both beside one another, they now saw the differences in size. Emerald only reached to Jeanne's chest. Jeanne's armor and cannons were gigantic in comparison. Emerald had to skate across the water just to keep up with Jeanne's strides.**

Yang whistled, "Dang. And we thought she was tall before. Hold up," she turned to Jaune, "First time we saw her it said she got your dad's height. What's that about?"

Jaune shrugged, "I mean… Most of my family is taller than the majority of the population. My dad's height is rare, even in my family."

"Anyone else in your family that tall?" Coco asked.

Jaune paused for a moment, "I don't know… My dad is the tallest person in my family, probably on all of Remnant."

 **Emerald looked off to the horizon, "If we were supposed to escape unnoticed, we'd have been better off taking them out too."**

 **Jeanne shook her head, "It was too late for that. Once we were spotted, it was too late for discretion. We needed to focus on our escape. And once we reach the open ocean, we'll need to conserve ammunition." Jeanne was silent after that.**

 **This drew Emerald's attention again, "You alright?"**

" **No, Eugen. But I doubt I'll ever be. We have betrayed our alliance and sunk someone I called a friend. I've no doubt this will haunt me for as long as I live." Jeanne looked out onto the horizon, allowing the scene to transition.**

There was a certain somberness that fell upon them. They'd just watched Jeanne turn Winter into scrap metal. But, thankfully, she seemed to have no joy in the situation. It was painful, but at least there was still a humanity to it.

 **A flag flew over a large harbor, a blue and white visage of the Royal Navy. As the camera moved around, they heard someone speaking in the background, sounding a lot like Peter Port. "** _ **The Ironblood have turned their backs upon us. In their grasp for power, they have taken lives from us. Today, I regret to inform you all of terrible news.**_ "

 **The scene moved to show Winter on something like a hospital bed, her body torn in half with her lower half missing. Wiring and oil fell onto the bed like blood and gore.**

" _ **The jewel of the Royal Navy, the HMS Hood, has been destroyed.**_ "

This just made the feeling in the room worse. It was one thing to assume her death, but to see the actual effect was a horrifying aspect.

" _ **And so I call upon all the vessels of the Royal Navy! To every ship in our service! This is an order from Prime Minister Peter Port! Sink the Bismark!**_ "

 **The camera showed Weiss as she improved her armaments.**

" _ **Sink the Bismarck.**_ "

 **Another shift showed Li sitting by the sea, face down and hidden by a military cap as a tear fell.**

" _ **Sink the Bismarck!**_ "

 **Another showed Ruby as she relayed what happened to another ship in the service, a battleship that looked an awful lot like Yang.**

" _ **SINK THE BISMARCK!**_ "

 **The screen turned black with those three words across the screen before fading out.**

Yang turned to the viewers, hoping to diffuse things a bit, "Well… that was a thing."

Weiss shook her head, "Yang… just stop. It won't help after something like that…"

Yang looked between Weiss and her older sister, understanding. "Right. I got it."


	128. Valentine's Special

**Knox: 7 Million views!**

 **King: Talk about crazy numbers. When we started, we didn't think we'd have 1 million, much less 7 million.**

 **Knox: You also didn't know you'd reach 100 chapters. And hell, I didn't exist. Yet here we are.**

 **King: This deserves a special! But what to do?**

 **Knox: I mean... it's Valentine's Day, right? Why not do something with that.**

 **King: Do you... have any idea what you've done?**

 **Knox: What?**

 **King: Well, everyone, hope you enjoy the chapter. And have a very... funny Valentine's~**

 **Knox: Oh... I see what you did there.**

 **Inspiration: Funny Valentine from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run (RWBY)**

 **(Note: For anyone interested, this will reference major events during Steel Ball Run, or Part 7 of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. If you only watch the anime, you might get lost. But I do want to encourage you all to read Steel Ball Run. Anyone not caught up with the rest, don't worry. It's an alternate world reboot. No need to catch up with parts 1-6. You're call. Let's do this!)**

 **/\**

Nora sat back, a part of her her happy that was over. "So… what do you think the next one will be like?"

Jaune sighed, "Hopefully, better than that."

 **The screen opened to the dense Emerald Forest. The camera moved close to the ground, stopping somewhere seemingly random. Soon, a white-gloved hand came into frame and dug into the ground. After a moment, the hand seemed to break apart into ribbons with a strange, spiraling force within the body.**

This got the viewers to jump a little.

Nora gasped, "What the heck is that?!"

 **The hand strained as much as it can, and the camera moved back to show the body of the man dragging himself across the ground. He was a blond man with hair long enough to curl into full circles at his shoulders. He wore a long pink coat with a pair of purple pants and shoes to match.**

" **Damn it." Once he spoke, it was clear exactly who this was.**

Coco started to laugh at the ridiculous outfit, "That's Arc?! Oh my gods, that outfit is just tragic."

 **Parts of his body were starting to open up like ribbons, only to seem to force themselves back into place.**

Something that got Coco to stop laughing real quick.

 **Jaune dragged himself across the ground as best he could while keeping his body together. "That pocket world was useful for getting here. I just hope this utterly foreign world can stop the Spiral. I just need to find another version." He reached his other hand across the ground, moving slowly, but with purpose. After a while, he looked upward and sighed, "Well, that's a little disappointing."**

 **Up in the trees of the forest was a more common version of Jaune Arc, pinned against the tree by a red and bronze spear.**

Nora gasped in shock, "There's two of them?!"

Yang snickered a little, "Does that make them partners?"

 **The Jaune on the ground sighed and groaned from the pain he was experiencing, "Let's get you down from there. I don't think I can yell…"**

 **A strange wind-like force seemed to moved up to the Jaune pinned to the tree. Suddenly, the spear was pulled from the tree and Jaune returned to the ground. As he shook his head, he looked around to make sense of what just happened, only to find his alternate self propping himself against a tree. Jaune, understandably, freaked out, "W-what the hell?!"**

 **The long haired Jaune strained to keep himself together, "Stop yelling. Listen, I need to talk to you."**

" **I… but you're…. But I'm…!"**

" **Focus!"**

 **Jaune had to clam up fast.**

" **My name is Jaune Arc. I am the 23rd President of the United States!"**

Nora's head tilted slightly, "President?"

Ruby had a similar reaction, "United States?"

Oobleck adjusted his glasses back onto his face, "If I had to guess, it would be similar to a council member. Possibly more powerful."

 **The President pushed himself to a more comfortable seat on the forest floor. "I am a proud patriot and a man who would do whatever necessary for the good of my nation. I am not proud of everything I have done in this pursuit, but I do not regret what I have done. Unfortunately, my story no doubt ends soon. I've tried to run from it as best I can, but I've had no success. My hope is that you may have use of what's left of my power. I warn you, taking on this power risks ending up in the state I am."**

 **Jaune was shaken, "I… I don't understand."**

" **I doubt you would if I tried to explain it. Know only that I offer this power on some level of selfishness. Taking on my power will also save what's left of my soul to live within you. You'll have all my memories and take on what I had done with you as well. With it, you will have a great amount of power."**

Roman nodded, almost impressed, "Got to admit, at least he's honest. Lot of deals like that don't tell you all the bad."

 **Jaune looked toward his counterpart, still confused. "Wait… I'm lost. How would you even do that? It's not like there's just a machine that can transfer a soul."**

Ironwood and Winter tried their best not to say a word about that one.

 **The 23rd President's body was becoming more and more ribbon-esc. "I'm going to need that answer soon."**

 **Jaune, ever the kind soul, found it difficult to ignore someone in need. Even if it was himself in this case. "How can I help?"**

" **Just stay put." The wind force moved around the President again before flying toward Jaune.**

 **Jaune's mind was filled with memories that weren't quite his own, like pictures in a book telling his story.**

 _ **The scene showed a young Jaune, no older than 8, in an old wooden cabin home. His mother was off to the side of the room as a family friend in a military uniform was kneeling in front of the young Jaune. He was holding a handkerchief with Jaune's birthday embroidered into a corner. The man spoke through the memory, "Your father gave up everything, but this was the one thing he could neer part with. Because it represented everything he was fighting for: his family and the nation they call home. He was a true patriot.**_ "

Ironwood nodded, approving, "Few people, especially huntsmen, ever really think about why someone would join a military. That is often the most common reason."

Winter looked away with a slight amount of shame. True, she wanted nothing more than to defend life on Remnant, but her primary reason for joining was getting out of the Schnee family. She still cared about Weiss as any big sister should, even Whitely to a degree. But their parents… not so much. Their father was overly controlling, micromanaging everything in the home. The White Fang attacks didn't help things as he would only grow more angry and frustrated over smaller and smaller things. Their mother was the opposite, lackadaisical to a fault and vinctive to no end. And that was when she was sober, which was rare. When she's drunk, she becomes mopey and would often try to pull others into her own state of mind. Winter didn't regret leaving, but she _did_ regret not being able to take Weiss and Whitely with her. Maybe then, Whitely would have turned out better.

 _ **A new scene formed as the last one faded out. This time, they saw Jaune in his mid-teens. Having lied about his age, he joined the Union Army in the United State's Civil War, fighting to keep his nation united and his family safe. He had been captured by Confederate forces and was tortured. The scene showed his back, now marred by scars. His left shoulder was covered in bloody holes, while the rest of his back was covered in slash marks.**_

Weiss jerked up. She remembered seeing a similar design during an intermission not too long ago. It was a strange flag of red, white, and blue. Now that she thought about it, the President version looked an awful lot like the man she saw in the library before finding that flag.

 _ **The new scene to fade in showed Jaune in his mid-thirties. He stood before a massive crowd of people with his hand on a book of some kind with the other raised. A man opposite him was speaking, "It is my honor to name you as the 23rd President of the United States." The crowd let out a massive cheer once they heard those words.**_

Oobleck thought for a moment before nodding slightly, "I see. My best guess is that a President is an elected position, but in a more centralized capacity."

 _ **The scene faded again to show the now President Jaune in his pink and purple. He stood on an elevated platform, addressing a massive group, "The first horse and rider to reach the finish line in New York will be granted a prize of 10 million dollars! Welcome to the Steel Ball Run!"**_

"10 million?" Yang remembered that a dollar was similar to the Lien, even in value. "That's a lot for a horse race."

Knox flickered in to explain, "To be fair, it's a continental race. They start one side of the nation and race to the opposite side."

"Okay, that's fair."

 _ **The next scene showed Jaune standing before a table. The table was set for a formal event, but with a small guest list. President Jaune placed a hand on the table as he spoke, "That is the truth of societies. Traditions are made by those willing to make the first step before anyone else. That is what I wish for my nation. That we can lead this world and become something that creates these new traditions."**_

Nora groaned, holding her head, "What does that even mean?"

Jaune thought it over to try to explain it, looking up toward the screen and finding his analogy. It was easier to explain things to Nora by using examples. "I think I get it. Nora, let's say you have to attend a formal dinner. You take your seat and look down at the set table. You have your plate, glass, and utensils. However, the napkins are placed between each plate, one to your right and one to your left. Which one do you take?"

Nora crossed her arms and tried to think about what he was saying, getting a bit frustrated, "Is this one of those weird riddles that doesn't have an obvious answer?"

Jaune shook his head, "Weiss. Which one do you take?"

"The left," Weiss answered without missing a beat.

"And that's what we know, but how did that start?"

Weiss was about to answer, but found said answer lacking.

Jaune nodded and turned back to Nora, "Someone had to decide to take the left napkin first. He's planning to be the one that starts things. Or… making so his country is? That part's confusing."

Nora had a moment of epiphany, "Oh! I get it now!"

 _ **The next scene to fade in showed multiple moments separated by glowing golden lights. One was Jaune as he shot Mercury, a professional rider in the race who had found a way to force himself into the search for the Saint. Another showed a moment where he found out his wife had been replaced by a spy, Ilia, as her disguise fell apart. Another showed a scene on a train as he fought Yang, looking at home in the horse race complete with a stylized race hat with her name across the front in seemingly melting lettering, and Blake who looked one tie away from hiding the fact she was a woman.**_

 _ **These soon shattered to reveal Jaune standing alongside a moving train, surrounded by a wall of glowing light. "So long as I stand within this light, any misfortune brought upon me will be reflected upon another. So long as I am within this light, I am the most fortunate man on Earth. This is the power I will give to our nation. The United States shall be the frontrunner, the most prosperous nation that all others will aspire for!"**_

Ozpin tapped his cane in hand, "I admit, as a government official, that is a good outlook for what it is. Thinking about your people and wanting the best for them. However, I do disagree with one finer point."

Glynda nodded, "The redirection of misfortune. It would mean that you condemn the rest of the world to take on whatever ills you would suffer."

Qrow groaned, thinking of how nice it would be, though. Granted, he didn't want to condemn anyone else to his personal hell, but he had to admit it was tempting.

 **The memories ended and Jaune fell back onto the ground, his breathing indicating his shock. He looked over to the President with a myriad of emotions: loss, pain, confusion, anger, indignation, and understanding.**

 **After a moment of silence, the President smiled. "Good. The Spiral didn't spread to you. I wonder if that's because you are so different from me. Everything I've done has been for my nation, but you aren't so constrained. Your gaze is set on bettering the entire world and protecting them from its monsters. I'd call it noble if it wasn't so naive. But maybe… just maybe, you'll pull it off with this new power. I wish you luck, Jaune Arc." The President finally let go, allowing the Spiral to flow around his body. In seconds, he was gone, like ribbons in the wind and lost to all the multiverse. President Jaune Arc had died.**

This shook the room. First off, they just saw someone die. Second, his body just disappeared into ribbons. There was nothing left of the man, not even blood to mark his existence. It was concerning to say the least, to say the least.

 **This left Jaune alone in the forest again. He sat on the ground with memories swirling in his head and shook from everything he'd felt: people he'd never met, places he'd never go, and a world he'd never known. Everything, so foreign but familiar, swimming in his mind. Eventually, he had to make himself stand up again.**

 **He knew he had to get moving now, but something to the side grabbed his attention. Weiss had forced her way through the brush, ending up looking toward Jaune, making eye contact. She seriously considered turning around and pretending this never happened.**

Jaune sighed, a certain amount of defeat in his tone. Looking back, he regretted how he acted early on.

 **Unfortunately for her, she was not alone. Ruby popped out of the brush behind her, "Oh! Hey Jaune!"**

 **She was soon followed by Pyrrha as she picked up her weapon, confused how it failed to stay pinned in the tree.**

Pyrrha blinked in confusion and surprise. She wasn't sure where things were going at this point.

 **Weiss tried to sneak away, but Ruby wouldn't let her, grabbing her by her jacket without missing a beat.**

Yang and Ruby started to laugh at how ridiculous it all was.

Weiss sighed. She didn't like who she was back then, but she also didn't like who Jaune was, so it evened out to her. But the way things were going, she could see where this would end soon enough.

 **Jaune looked at the odd number, realizing the situation, but still confused. "So, um, which of you is my partner? I mean, I figure two of you are already partners, so…"**

 **Ruby chuckled, pulling Weiss back to the group. "Right here. I found Pyrrha while I was running through the forest and we found Weiss a bit after that. She's been sticking around saying it was a good idea to help her find a partner." There was a certain vindictiveness behind her voice, like she was taking joy in watching Weiss squirm after how the heiress treated her before.**

Ruby wouldn't admit it, but at the time she _may_ have acted like that in the moment. She ended up burying the hatchet, but this was a time when she saw Weiss as this crabby girl that hated her.

Her team, however, was taken off guard by the tone.

 **Jaune looked between the group before finally responding, "Oh. Cool."**

 **This made Weiss blink in surprise. She expected him to try to act like a tough type or use this to flirt with her. Granted, she was unaware he basically lived a whole other life in the blink of an eye.**

 **A leaf fell and transitioned to show a Beowolf running to the side, finding itself tripping over a black ribbon before a figure in green came down from the trees to finish it off. Ren pulled the blades out from the creature as Blake walked up next to him.**

Sun laughed a bit to himself, "Truly a partnership with a great amount of communication between them." A joke about how neither seemed to join or initiate conversations and are usually very quiet.

It wasn't lost on anyone there, but they had… different realizations.

 **Another transition showed Nora slam her hammed into an Ura and send it back to a waiting Yang, who preceded to pummel the creature to dust.**

Glynda felt a chill run up her spine, a revelation at the two most destructive students being paired together. "Oh thank the gods they didn't end up partners…"

Yang and Nora laughed to themselves before sharing a high-five.

 **Another transition brought the scene to the ruins with the relics. Jaune looked around, finding some similarities with memories of places called Rome or Greece, not that he really knew what those were. It was all still settling in his mind and hadn't quite reached the point where he could understand it. The group of four found their ways to the 'relics' to find chess pieces waiting for them. As Jaune's eyes moved across the pieces, his new partner Weiss made to grab the white knight piece. Ruby ultimately found herself grabbing the partner piece.**

"What would the team name be?" Nora thought out loud.

This actually got people thinking. It would be easier if Ruby and Jaune were on separate teams, but they weren't. Both Ruby and Jaune were leaders of their respective teams, so they weren't sure who would lead this team. But there were guesses.

Yang offered the first option. "Well, whatever it is, we know Ruby will be the leader."

This offended the hammer wielder, "No way! Jaune would totally be the leader!"

Weiss just growled, being left out of the conversation. She had long accepted that she wasn't the leader of team RWBY, but to not even be brought up in this conversation just felt unnecessarily cruel.

 **Jaune felt something off and turned back to the forest. After a moment, the tree line broke apart as a massive Deathstalker slammed its way into the area. Its claw swung and tossed the destructive duo into the four already there.**

 **Ruby, obviously, was taken aback by her sister's sudden appearance, "Yang?!"**

 **The blonde girl chuckled nervously, "Oh, hey Ruby. What's up?"**

 **The Deathstalker roars in frustration and started to charge after the two it threw.**

Ruby turned to the duo, "What the heck did you two do?!"

Nora laughed triumphantly while Yang sighed and shook her head.

 **As the Grimm charged, Weiss spun slightly and created a wall of ice to stop it. "There."**

" **That won't hold very long." Everyone jumped as Blake made herself known.**

 **Ruby had a hand over her heart with heavy breathing, "When did you get here?!"**

" **A few seconds ago."**

Yang chuckled a bit at that one.

 **Oddly, Jaune didn't seem too phased, "Probably best to pick up your relics and get moving. We don't have to fight that thing."**

 **Ren nodded, "I agree, but I have the feeling we won't get the chance."**

" **What?"**

 **The camera moved to show the ice wall as it cracked. The crack growing larger before shattering in half. The Grimm roared and climbed over what was left of the ice and charged them again.**

Weiss groaned, "It would have been better if I could have frozen its tail in the wall. The muscles in the tail are weaker than the claws."

Port smiled, "Excellent observation, Ms. Schnee. It's good to know someone is paying attention in my class."

Weiss looked off and away, trying to act nonchalant about the fact she learned that in the field during initiation.

 **As the Grimm approached, they scattered as the claw came down trying to crush them. As Jaune moved to draw his sword, a new memory forced its way into his mind. A being with a pair of long ears(?) like a rabbit's, though ending in a point. They only saw it in silhouette, so they didn't know what it looked like exactly.**

This did get Velvet's attention, though.

 **Jaune's eyes went wide, as if realizing something. He looked up back toward the creature as it stormed about to try to attack Nora and Yang. He started looking around the area, eyes ending their search on Ruby. Rather, on her cape.**

Tai raised his eyebrow, "Where's this going?"

 **Jaune ran over, running passed Ruby, "Sorry, need to borrow this." As he ran, he unclasped Ruby's cape and ran off with the red fabric, leaving the scythe wielder without hersigniture hood.**

Ruby looked like she'd just witnessed the greatest heresy.

Everyone in slightly connected to her was just amazed someone had the gall to take the cape.

 **As he ran, he shouted to get the Grimm's attention. The giant scorpion creature turned to the small human trying to distract it. WIth claw reared up, it slammed down onto the puny being to rid itself of this annoyance.**

Most of the room recoiled in shock at the suddenness of the attack, crushing Jaune under its claw.

Roman cringed, "And here I thought the kid would make something of himself here."

 **As the claw raised again, it only found that red fabric. Not even a splatter of a being beneath it. As an older Grimm with** _ **some**_ **mental faculties, it knew some blood should have been there at least.**

 **The camera moved in to the cape as it rested on the ground.**

Something that angered Ruby.

 **After a moment, something seemed to rustle underneath. Something that shouldn't happen given it was flat against the dirt. A hand reached up around the cloth, seemingly from the shadows themselves. A pull of the cloak revealed Jaune, perfectly fine. This got under the Deathstalker's exoskeleton, changing its ire to this blond.**

Qrow whistled, impressed, "Damn. That was a hell of a trick."

 **Jaune shouted back to the others, "I've got it distracted! Focus on the tail and legs!"**

 **Weiss instantly saw his strategy and sprung into action, creating a short wall of ice to bury the creature's legs. Pyrrha and Ruby were quick to follow, slashing at the legs with enough force combined to tear one off. Nora, on the other hand, leapt in and slammed her hammer into one of the legs hard enough to shatter the skeleton.**

Nora grinned from ear to ear. "Break it's legs!"

 **The creature found standing difficult, but its ire was still driving it. With one last thrust of its tail, it tried to impale Jaune. This was met with Ren and Blake landing on the tail and shooting out the stinger. With it unable to support itself any longer, Blake cut out the stinger and kicked it over the creature's head. Yang then lifted the item over her head and slammed the stinger into the creature's eyes. An extra punch pushed the stinger further in and destroyed the creature from within.**

Yang jumped up in celebration, "Booyah!"

Port nodded, approvingly, "Excellent teamwork and a great show of strategy."

 **With the creature dead, Ruby stormed over to Jaune and grabbed her cape back, still mad he took it to begin with. He apologized, but didn't really explain why he took it specifically. Ruby could guess it had to do with that trick he pulled, but when she asked, the only answer he gave was "it's kind of hard to explain."**

 **The camera moved up to the sky. It turned to night and returned to the students as they filed into their rooms. Unbeknownst to any of them, each of the pieces had either a K or Q etched on the bottom, differentiating them from the King's side and the Queen's side of the board. Thanks to a leak, they decided to change up the method of team pairings. As a result, the King's Knight and King's Rook were paired while the Queen's Knight and Queen's Rook were paired. This resulted in Teams AWBR (Auburn) and RYVL (Rival).**

Glynda brought her hand to her chin in thought before nodding, "I must admit, that's a good way to mix things up. Students have been figuring out that version of initiation for a while now."

Ozpin took a sip from his mug before speaking, "I agree. It would certainly help with costs. And we can etch the letters into the same pieces and use them for both versions."

 **The scene changed to two months later. In that time, Jaune has learned more about his new power. First, he needed to place something between two objects. With it in place, he could push or pull whatever it is between realities. That was how he avoided the Deathstalker's attack with Ruby's cloak, muscle memory learned with the President's memories.**

The audience was silent. Hearing it, it was certainly hard to imagine how that could even work. Of course, there were a few that couldn't help but make… connections.

Nora gasped, "It sounds like one of those Stand things!"

"Nora." Ren tried to calm her down, "You don't think it might just be his Semblance? Or a strange effect of that alternate version that said he'd give him the power? Why would it be a Stand, specifically?"

Nora, to her credit, did give it a bit of thought to it before shouting, "That other version had some weird invisible thing right? Well, if those Stands are like our aura, you can't really see them. Plus, those Stands are either super simple or have some kind of weird condition. Like, say, having to wedge whatever you're sending away between two things?"

Ren blinked in surprise. As did many of Nora's friends. They hadn't thought of things that way. They'd always seen the Stands through the screen, so they never really thought about them being invisible.

 **Jaune also learned a few more important things as memories flood back into his mind, often during less than advantages times. Jaune learned that the objects in question had to be inanimate, nothing that can move of its own volition. He also couldn't use a loophole like being between the ground and air. Whatever he used, it had to be solid (or liquid, which he learned by accident when he was practicing and it started raining). After some time, he got to learn what this power really was.**

Nora leaned forward, waiting to hear what it really was and how close her guess was.

 **The scene changed to show Jaune as he was now. He was dressed in his usual hoodie, but his jeans and sneakers were replaced with slacks and reinforced shoes designed to take the constant punishment he would give them. They could see that he added a long-sleeve, white shirt under his hoodie. He also added a large, folded blue cloth around his waist similar to a sash of some kind. Everything else, from his hair to his armor, was the same. They could see a strange shadow behind him that soon faded into form.**

 **It was a humanoid creature with bright white skin/armor. Small sections, mostly the joints and a line along each limb, of the creature was gold. Atop its head was a pair of ear-like protrusions giving him the appearance similar to a sharp rabbit.**

Nora gasped even louder, "It isn't _like_ a Stand! It _IS_ a Stand!"

"But how can that be possible?" Ren asked. "As far as we can tell, no one else has a Stand. I know the power came from the alternate version, but if that power is supposed to represent the spirit, how can it be transfered?"

 **As this figure appeared, a strange effect surrounded both it and Jaune in a familiar effect. Words and stats soon followed.**

 **[Jaune Arc] [Stand Name: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (Remaster)] [Power - A] [Speed - A] [Range - C] [Persistence - A] [Precision - A] [Potential - C]**

 **[Powers: Dimension Hop (The ability to cross dimensions with conditions met), Singularity (Across all versions, this is the only version of the Stand, and can therefore be transferred between other versions of the user), Remastered (After swapping to a non-Earth version of Jaune Arc, the powers have linked to his aura and semblance; giving him access to the ability Love Train).]**

Yang sputtered before bursting into laughter. "Okay! Okay. First, his Stand is called Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap? Really? Second, he has an ability called Love Train?!" She started to fall over in her laughter.

Blake thought everything over, "It's odd though. As I understand it, the Stands' names are songs from King and Knox's personal world."

King appeared, nodding, "Mostly. Some are named after bands, albums, or other musical references. At least compared what we know."

"Right. So, it makes sense that they would have strange names like 'Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap' or 'Love Train'. However, I also noticed that the name is supposed to have something to do with the user; either their personality or something about them. I had Sound of Silence. Ruby had Silver Bullet."

Nora jumped up with a fist in the air, "THUNDERSTRUCK!"

Blake nodded, "So it _is_ odd that Jaune would have something like Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap."

Roman started to laugh just loud enough to get everyone's attention. "Seriously? First off, kitty cat," a name that made the hairs on Blake's neck stand in anger, "you've got to remember that that isn't your friend's ability originally. That President seemed to be the type that got into the fight himself despite the fact that he's a national leader. No need to hire someone to do whatever you're trying to do. I.E. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap."

Blake blinking in surprise before thinking it all over. It made sense, as much as it angered her that she had to get that from Torchwick of all people.

 **The scene started to change back and move again, revealing Jaune was mid-fight against a large Beowolf in Forever Fall. This time, however, they could all see his Stand as he fought the creature. Jaune jumped away from a swiping attack and grabbed the sash at his belt. He pulled the cloth off his waist and revealed the blue cloth was larger than it let on. He swung the cloth in one hand against his shield and stood to defend another attack. Jaune reached between the cloth and shield and pulled a clawed paw out before swinging a copy of the Beowolf from his shield.**

Neptune was confused by this, "Why on Remnant would he want to bring a second Beowolf into the fight?"

 **Jaune then kicked the new wolf into the first. Their bodies started to try to push into each other's position and tore the two apart at a near molecular level. As this happened, a box appeared to the side to explain, [Two of the same object cannot exist in the same reality. As a result, they will try to fix this, resulting in the destruction of both versions. Jaune is the sole exception to this effect.]**

Sun whistled, impressed, "Damn. That's a good ability."

 **Jaune ran off again and found another Beowolf. As this Grimm charged him, he skid to a halt and flared his bright white aura. After a moment, it turned gold and gave off a more powerful effect. As the wolf tried to hit him, the Grimm was tripped and its attack missed Jaune cleanly. Jaune released the golden effect and ran the Grimm through, slicing up through the creature and bisecting it from the waist up.**

 **Another box appeared. [Love Train: The ability to amass fortune on the user and deflect incoming misfortunes. Originally requiring the blessing of the Saint's corpse, Jaune can access the power by eating into his aura reserves. By using his aura, he can also limit the effect to prevent the misfortune from striking others at random. However, attacking while the effect is active can spread the fortune to his opponent.]**

Qrow chuckled to himself, with a slight sigh, "That's a hit I wouldn't mind. Could use a little more good fortune in my life."

 **Jaune kicked what was left of the Grimm to the ground and placed his sword back into its sheath. He then refolded the cloth and tied it back around his waist. Leaves fell over the camera and transferred the scene to a new time and location.**

 **Jaune stood in a large stadium with his sword and shield still at his belt. He looked around, finding no one there. He did this on purpose, sneaking into the arena when everyone was sleeping. He used this time to think and sort through memories. He needed time like this to help him ground himself back in Remnant. He'd catch himself looking at his back in mirrors, half excepting those scars to be there. One day, he looked at himself in the mirror and thought it was weird his hair was so short. He'd wonder where his coat went or what happened to D4C, its original body being blue and pink instead of white and gold. Then, there was the weirdest memory of all.**

" **I thought I'd find you here."**

 **Jaune turned to find Weiss walking up toward him as memories flooded again. He stood before an old altar, dressed in his bright suit. Opposite him was a girl with white hair and ice blue eyes, dressed in a long white dress with a grin on her face. The day the President married the nation's new First Lady.**

Weiss raised an eyebrow. It wasn't the first time these alternate worlds put her and Jaune into a relationship of some kind. Though she had to admit, it was even weirder this time. A certain part of her feeling his confusion and pain. First off was the constant memories that weren't his own. And now they knew that, in this other dimension away even from what they see on screen, he had married Weiss. Yet here he was, with memories of a wife he never had while the same girl stood in front of him. Even she could find it in her heart to feel bad for him. Even if she wasn't a fan of the underlying idea.

 **Jaune shook his head slightly to get himself back to Remnant. "Hey, Weiss. Did you need something?"**

" **I'd need to know why my partner keeps sneaking out."**

" **Sorry. I've just got a lot on my mind."**

Roman chuckled, "Putting it lightly."

" **Every day for the past week? You can't fool me Arc. It doesn't help that for the past three days you look at me like I'm someone else. I want answers."**

 **Jaune sighed and thought to himself about whether to tell her at all. It wasn't about wanting to keep it a secret. It was weird to him, so it would be nothing short of utterly bizarre to her. He was quiet before he nodded, "It's a long story and you'll probably think I'm crazy."**

 **Weiss sighed, "Jaune, nothing you say can be any stranger than the people in our group of friends."**

This got a laugh out of most of the group in question. Calling them eccentric was an understatement, much to the annoyance of those who try to stay level headed.

 **Jaune sighed, "Want to bet?" Jaune stood up again and moved toward the entrance, "Let's head back at least."**

 **The two made their way back to the room as Jaune explained the strange situation he found himself in. Everything from the President's appearance to the odd memories he had to live with now. As they reached their room, Weiss just looked confused and apprehensive. But, she could tell he wasn't lying. She'd spent enough time to pick up on his tells. Once they walked into the room, which turned out to be empty at the moment, she opened her dresser drawer and handed him 10 Lien. Apparently, she did want to bet.**

This got Yang and Ruby to laugh a little.

 **Jaune looked at the Lien and back to her.**

 **Before he could say anything, Weiss cut him off. "Listen. I can tell you're not lying. And you were right, it** _ **does**_ **sound crazy. But at least it explains why you've been acting the way you have these past months, including your change of heart during initiation. I just have one thing I want to ask you."**

" **Um… Okay. what's that?"**

" **In the future, don't leave me or the rest of our team in the dark about something like that. When they get back, you need to tell Blake and Ren what's going on with you. Got it?"**

 **Jaune blinked in surprise. He expected something less… team oriented. Like hiding the truth to not embarrass her or something. After a moment he nodded, "Sounds like a plan then."**

 **The scene was covered by what looked like a blue canvas as Jaune's voice could be heard in the background, "** _ **Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.**_ " **Then, everything went dark, ending the viewing.**

"Okay. That was weird." Jaune tried to make sense of things he'd seen, but one thing got his attention. "Also, what did the President mean by that _pocket world_?"

Weiss jerked up in shock. "Wait… that actually was him?"

Yang turned toward the heiress, "What?"

Weiss had to explain the situation from an earlier intermission. About the blond man with the pink coat and the flag he left behind. As she ended her story, she continued a train of thought, "If I had to guess, he could use the connection to his version and used it to jump to another, like those twins from before."

King and Knox turned to one another, a silent conversation to finish their work patching up the dimensional walls again. Just to be sure.


	129. Chapter XIV

**King: Here we go again.**

 **Knox: I was wondering when we were going to do this.**

 **King: Right. It was a long time coming at this point. As always, hope you enjoy. I'll keep this one short so as to not spoil too much.**

 **Inspiration: Destiny 2**

 **/\**

Time to get back to business.

 **The scene opened on a strange device resting on a bright planet, surrounded by a forcefield of some kind. The device in question was sleek and well designed, though its purpose was not clear. The camera showed the spinning blades overhead with someone standing below. The camera then moved to the ground level to show a woman dressed in a long, feathered coat. Her collar was ringed by these feathers over her shoulders. Her head was covered by a hood resembling the head of a hawk and a mask covering the lower half of her face. She looked up toward the device as her Ghost appeared and floated next to her. The shell of the device was disconnected and floated around the body like rays from the sun.**

This made everyone uneasy. The last time they'd seen that kind of device had been the infamous tale of the Ace of Spades. They wondered what else there was to add, but also hoped it wasn't as emotional.

 _Oh you poor, poor things._

 **The ghost turned to the woman, "So… you think it'll work?"**

Yang was shocked for a moment, "Wait! That's me?"

 **The woman turned her eyes away and toward a doorway to ramp on the outside, "Time to find out."**

Blake raised an eyebrow, "And I'm the one in the coat."

Nora tapped her chin in thought, "What do you think they're talking about?"

 **The camera moved over Blake's shoulder to show a new person running up the ramp. It was hard to tell more than the general body shape through the pale, electric blue armor. Soon, she walked up to Blake and removed her helmet, revealing orange hair and her light blue eyes.**

Nora laughed in triumph, "I'm back baby!"

 **Nora waved, "Hey Blake. Been a while."**

" **Time is immaterial once you set foot in the Infinite Forest." Yang made a sound of clearing her throat, forcing Blake to continue, "But it** _ **is**_ **good to see you again."**

 **Nora looked up toward the device, "So, what's this thing?"**

 **Blake sighed, looking back up to the device. "This is the Sundial. It is… my greatest failure. I attempted to recreate the effects of the Infinite Forest. That perhaps I could tap into that power and use it to actually walk through time."**

" **Wait! Seriously!" Nora looked back to Blake and then back to the device.**

The viewers had similar reactions.

Oobleck was going off on the possibilities to observe the past directly. He then went on a philosophical rant about whether he should and what it would change.

" **Quite. And it's why I called you here." Blake turned back to Nora, grabbing the titan's attention again, "You have a knack for doing the impossible." The elder warlock started listing off Nora's achievements, "You defeated Dominus Gaul, killed the Worm God Xol, broke the Vex Mind Panoptes in the Forest, and shattered the Crimson Keep's hold on the Moon. I'd say this is exactly what you're good at. So, I called you here to do what I never could."**

The tense moment was welling up, making it nigh impossible to comment.

 **Yang floated between them for a moment, "This is a big moment. She's finally admitting she can't do something."**

 **Blake batted the Ghost away and back over her shoulder, "Quiet you."**

That gave them an out from the tension and let them speak again.

Yang couldn't help but laugh. "Oh wow. Did not expect Blake to be _that guy_."

Penny turned to the blonde brawler, "I am confused. I thought Blake was female."

Yang was still grinning, but her laughing was coming down, "It's an expression. In this case, it means someone who's arrogant and can't admit that they're wrong about anything."

 **Nora looked between them, still confused. "I don't get it. If we have the Forest under control now, why would you need this?"**

" **Because the Forest truly is infinite. A super computer running every possible outcome. Yet even with the power to run these simulations of the past and futures, they are just that. Simulations. We can break the Vex's calculations, but we can't use them to change the present. That's why I built this, in the hopes of fixing my greatest regret in life." Blake placed a hand on the Sundial and walked around it in a circle, hand sliding along the device. "I'd tried to step into the past, but I could never find a variation where I succeed. So many projections, all going mad. Some went so far as to kill themselves in grief or through bouts of insanity. I've experienced my own death so many times on this mission alone."**

Cue another heavy pause in the crowd. It was hard to say anything after hearing something like that!

 **Nora watched as Blake rounded back to where she started, "And you want me to try?"**

" **Like I said, you seem to have a knack for doing the impossible."**

" **I appreciate the sentiment, but you still haven't told me what** _ **is**_ **the impossible thing."**

 **Blake's hand on the Sundial curled before clenching into a fist. "To save my old fireteam partner. My friend."**

 **Nora's eyes went wide. Blake was once the lead Warlock of the Vanguard. She'd worked with some of the most powerful figures in Vanguard history, but one had a clear connection on this planet.**

 _ **The scene changed to show an old corridor, mechanical formations jutting out along the walls. The camera moved in a way that suggested it was from a person's point of view. Mechanical beings strewn across the ground in pieces. These are the Vex, a biomechanical race of creatures setting out to terraform everything they can to fit their own outlook for the perfect, mechanical existence void of all life but their own.**_

Gira growled, particularly angry about people or creatures with outlooks like that. He still hated that dalek thing they'd seen before for a similar reason. His wife had a similar reaction, but on a more subdued level.

 _ **The person walked along the corridor until they found a person, floating as though lying on a bed of some kind. Wrapped in the wires of the Vex at his feet, he was adorned in faded, cracking white armor. His helmet was broken, revealing half of his face set in a calm end. This was the greatest Titan to have ever lived. The man once called Saint-XIV, Jaune Arc.**_

Jaune looked up toward his counterpart, amazed at such a description. He hoped one day he could be so influential and powerful that he could be remembered as a hero like that.

 **The scene returned to the present as Nora lurched forward toward Blake, "Are you serious?! To bring back Saint-XIV is… But we…" Nora, in particular, was having a hard time articulating herself. Saint-XIV, Jaune Arc, was her greatest inspiration as a Titan. He was the reason she stood firm and charged into battle for others. The ideas that he exemplified were everything she tried to live. "Can we really do that?"**

 **Blake looked toward her, sullen, "I don't know. But I'm willing to find out if you are."**

 **The camera moved up to the spinning blades as they started to pick up speed. Electricity erupted from the structure and the screen went white. After a moment, things started to fade in again, showing a large, mechanical hallway. Nora stepped out onto the ground and started to walk through the hall. Her ghost appeared soon after, sounding a lot like Ruby, "This is incredible." Ruby's Ghost shell was a bright red and seemed to give off a rose-like projection with petals falling away before disappearing.**

Yang snickered a bit, "Some things never change."

Ruby wasn't complaining about her Ghost form. She wasn't exactly as happy about the lack of cape, but that was neither here nor there.

 **Nora walked through the hallway, bringing a hand to her head, "I can't help but feel we missed something. Like there was this whole battle I can't remember."**

 **Ruby floated around, scanning the area, "Must be an effect of traveling through time," she said distractedly. "This is insane! According to my internals, we're still on the planet Mercury, but before the Fall!"**

This got Mercury's attention. "A planet _named_ Mercury? Now I'm invested."

 **As they continued, static reached Nora's communications, "** _ **... -aint- … -Fall- … -cape- … !**_ " **Nora looked toward her Ghost before running down the rest of the hall. As she ran, Jaune's voice came through the radio more effectively as she got closer, "** _ **I repeat!This is Titan Saint-XIV! I am surrounded by Fallen forces! The settlers…**_ " **He paused, "** _ **The settlers are all gone. I don't know if there are any other survivors. Retreat! Escape while you can!**_ "

Those who lived through it found stark reminders of Mountain Glenn.

 **Nora's fist clenched and she picked up speed, "Hold strong, Titan!"**

" _ **What? Who is this? What are you doing here?! Get out of here! There's too many of them!**_ "

" **Not happening!" Nora finally reached the end of the hall as it opened to an overlook platform.**

 **Creatures of many arms and hellish visage were swarming the area. One of the strange creatures was a dark, metallic being resembling something of a giant purple eye. A massive tank resembling a six legged spider with a cannon on its back lurched forward on top of an outcropping, looking down toward the platform. Its cannon lowered and fired a heavy shell onto the ground, kicking up a massive amount of dirt. As the dirt fell, the viewers, and the Nora on screen, saw a bright purple bubble in the center of the platform. Within was a man in breaking armor, cracked and dirty from a grueling battle. Everything, however, looked far too similar to the body of Jaune Arc they'd seen in the flashback. He had fallen to a knee, arms out and straining to keep his shield up as best he can. Another shell rocked through his shield, shaking his body from the effort to keep it up.**

 **Jaune strained to stand again as best he could, shouting to the Fallen, "What are you waiting for? Last words? Finish me, you cowards!"**

"Come on me! Get in there and save the fearless leader!" Nora shouted, taking a dramatic position with a foot resting on the back of the chair in front of her.

 **Nora moved quickly, taking a heavy grenade launcher off her back and fired four shots into the group of Fallen grunts, killing most and scattering the rest. As Nora ran in, she looked toward the Servitor (the eye) and the tank. The grounded Fallen were easy enough for her to handle, but those things would be a problem. She needed to break one of them at least, so she turned her gaze to the tank to start. Between the two, it was the easiest to knock down with what she had to hand. She swapped her launcher for a shotgun and ran around the incoming fire. The viewers could see an odd glow around her body as she ran closer to the tank.**

"Go NORA!" Nora shouted to the screen. Anyone else and anywhere else, that would have sounded positively insane. But here we are.

 **As Nora approached the tank she leapt forward, the glow gathering in a now open hand, forming into a short war hammer. A heavy uppercut of solid flame caused the leg of the tank to give out from under it and force the main unit to overheat from strain. The front of the tank extended and revealed some very important looking machinery. Nora took the opportunity to jump up onto the tank's side and fired a series of shotgun shells into machinery. Unfortunately, she couldn't knock it down that easily and it knocked her off and into a nearby wall. A heavy shell soon followed and tore the ground to pieces.**

"NO!" Nora cried, about to go on a tirade.

Ren had to calm her down and point her back toward the screen.

 **Ruby floated out quickly and dragged the dead body to safety before imbuing her with the Travelers Light. So long as her Ghost lived, Nora could be brought back no matter what kind of punishment she took.**

Nora's gasp worried her friends that she would need to breathe, "I forgot all about that!" But that then reminded her about the story of Jaune-6 and bummed her out a bit. At the very least, she had calmed down.

 **Nora shook off her death and looked back up toward the now limping tank. She cracked her neck and the light appeared around her again. Fire licked at her body and pooled in her hands. She made a motion as though taking hold of something. The fire burst out from her hands and connected between them. The flames pooled on one side and solidified into a massive maul of fire and sunlight.**

Nora was practically drooling, wishing she could do that with lightning.

 **Nora jumped up and onto the platform with the tank. One heavy swing took out another leg. This time, however, when the machinery was forced open, she slammed the hammer against the ground and sent an explosive wave of solar energy, erupting into an inferno of destruction and tore the tank apart from the inside. The body of the tan exploded and pushed Nora back onto the main surface.**

 **Her breathing was heavy and her muscles were screaming. She was immortal, but dying still hurt like hell. She looked back up toward the Servitor, getting ready for its attack. However, she found it hovering over the tank, draining excess energy from the broen husk. "Crap."**

 **The Servitor is a powerful device used by the Fallen to gather, desperce, and fight using their preferred source of power, Ether. Mainly a support unit, the larger versions like this one are almost revered as gods. The Servitor's eye began to glow bright purple before unleashing a burst of energy toward Nora and knocked her back into the sectioned wall again. If not for her Ghost, an impact like that on the outcropping of the wall, as she had, would have broken her spine in two.**

A fact that caused many in the audience to recoil from sympathy. Most of them, obviously. Cinder really didn't care, only here for ideas and because returning would just freeze her in time. Raven may have her issues, but she could recognize and sympathize with the pain and impact on screen. She just didn't show it.

 **Nora stood up again, firing more grenades into the automaton's eye. This angered the creature and made it fire another burst toward Nora and cracking the wall behind her from the impact, remaining solid only because it was the ground beneath them. Nora twitched and pulled herself out of the wall, refusing to let this beat her.**

Nora stood triumphantly again, "Now show it who's boss!"

 **The Servitor was having none of it and pooled a great amount of Ether into its eye. This attack would make the others pale in comparison. Ruby didn't have enough time to fix all of Nora's injuries before that blast would go off. Nora sighed, knowing this would likely kill her again. "Oh, this is going to hurt."**

 **The Servitor finished its charge and unleashed a powerful energy bolt toward Nora, flying just fast enough to keep her off guard. The ground burst and erupted around her as dust and chunks of rock flew into the air.**

Nora growled, "No! I know that Ghost of yours can get you back up! Stand up and finish that thing!"

 **The dust started to fall around Nora, but she felt no pain. Infact, she felt rejuvenated, like the Light was welling up inside her more than it ever had before. She couldn't help but look around, finding herself inside a purple bubble shield. "What? When did…?"**

" **Why are you still here?" The camera moved from Nora to show Jaune had picked up and moved his shield to block the attack. Jaune's body was shaking from the impact and keeping the bubble in place around them. "The settlers are all gone. Everyone is dead. The Vanguard is meant to protect the people, but there's no one left!" Another burst rocked his shield, creating a series of small orbs of Light power.**

 **Nora didn't even realize she was absorbing the Light, eyes fixed on Jaune. This was the mighty Saint-XIV, but he sounded… broken. Then she remembered when and where she was. This was the Dark Age, the fall of humanity and their greatest loss in the galaxy. It was this event that ended the Golden Age and killed most of the civilian population. This was the worst era for humanity to have ever found itself in. It was no wonder that Jaune sounded the way he did.**

Oscar gripped his chair as memories of past lives flooded into his mind. Ancient peoples living their lives until the Grimm would flood over them and bring what little they had to an abrupt and swift end.

 **Jaune shook as another blast hit his shield. He groaned from strain and moved his arms a bit further forward rather than to either side, focusing his power toward the Servitor. "Listen, you are clearly powerful, but this isn't worth you dying for. I can hold the shield for a bit longer. Get out of here and get back to Earth. With the Fallen's attacks, they'll need someone like you back at home."**

 **Nora looked up toward the man, her eyes going wide at what he was saying. Pain welled up in her heart and she grit her teeth. This was Saint-XIV, her inspiration, telling her to save herself. As Ruby finished healing Nora, the Titan stood up again. "No."**

 **Jaune glanced back toward her, his iconic helmet cracked over the left side of his face. "I said get out of here! It isn't worth it if we both die! Get out of here and warn them about the Fallen's attack!"**

" **I refuse!" Nora clenched her fist as the Light surrounded her again. This time, instead of the orange flame of the sun, blue sparks flew off her body. "I'm not going to let anyone else die if I can help it! As long as I can breathe, I'll never give up on anyone! I'm not going to die here, and neither are you!" Nora ran out of the shield as the electricity sparked at greater volumes around her. As the Servitor tracked her and charged another blast, Nora leapt off the ground with the power surrounding her and fist reared back. She seemed to fly toward the Servitor for a big punch. On impact, the camera moved away from the scene, showing the planet's surface from a distance. Suddenly, a massive bolt of lightning ripped the sky apart.**

If Nora threatened to drool at how cool the maul was, she was unrepentantly drooling at the beautiful display of lightning-fueled power on display this time.

Everyone else was just concerned to ever see their Nora show that kind of power. She had enough of that as it is.

 **The camera returned to Nora as she flew up into the sky like a bullet. The combined power of her attack and the stored Ether sent her upward from the impact. She glanced down toward the ground and sighed. From this height, she would die again and she'd feel it in her bones for the rest of the month. She sighed and chose to accept this coming death, knowing it would not be her final death. She just repositioned herself so that, when she hit the ground, it would be across her back to minimize the impact force across her body. It would still kill her and likely pop every organ in her body from sheer impact force, but it was better than nothing. She closed her eyes behind her helmet, waiting to hit the ground.**

"I don't know how I feel about someone being so callus with the idea of death." Salem sighed. Being an interdimensional variation, she wasn't the immortal witch from a world long passed. Instead, she was just a normal human, just with some less than human features in her white skin and black veins. As a mother of eight with a famous huntsman for a husband, she was naturally afraid of death. Both for herself and for her family.

 **As Nora accepted what was to come, she found an odd weight adding to her own, pushing her up just slightly. She opened her eyes and found herself in the arms of the Saint as they fell to the ground. Jaune hit the side of an inclined wall and slid down the surface to the ground. At the last moment, he jumped off the rocks and landed against the ground again, running and decelerating to a walk to further decrease force over time.**

Port nodded, "An excellent landing strategy, but heavy on impact force. Without Aura, that would no doubt hurt like nothing else."

 **Jaune looked down to a surprised, and honestly star stuck, Nora. "A Titan should never let her back hit the ground." He returned her to her feet and grunted as his legs finally gave out. After hours of holding his shield against the Fallen and the, not exactly smooth, landing, he needed to stop standing. True to his word, however, he fell to a sitting position, keeping himself propped up with his arms as he leaned backward.**

Nora chuckled, "I like that. Never let your back hit the ground!"

 **Nora stood as her Ghost attended to her injuries. "See? We're both still alive."**

 **Jaune took heavy breaths as he tried to stop his ears from ringing and his muscles from screaming. "We are…" He stood as best he could and looked out over the planet. "But we are alone. Was my one life worth everyone elses?"**

 **Nora shook her head, "You can't think like that. Every life is priceless. Every death is painful." Nora absentmindedly brought her hand to a handcannon on her side. A black and white cannon with a spade set in on the grip and another just in front of the cylinder.**

This got everyone to seize up again. It was hard not to recognize the Ace of Spades after what they saw.

 **Nora continued, "But we need to keep moving forward. For their sakes if not our own. I arrived in time to get your message. Everyone else was already gone. I couldn't save them. But you were still alive. I could save you." She tried to sound collected, almost like a hero. Truth be told, she was speaking in a way she always imagined Saint-XIV would have.**

Yang snickered a bit at that one. But it didn't last. Yeah, Nora had this star struck style and tried to emulate her hero, but said hero was also a broken man after a painful experience.

 **Ruby looked toward Nora for a moment before floating over to Jaune. "Saint. Can I call you Saint? Big fan. We have something for you." She released a shotgun from her storage and 'handed' it to Jaune.**

 **Jaune took the weapon, having lost his own during the first attacks. It was sleek, white and gold with his symbol [XIV] etched into the side.**

Ruby's turn to drool. "That thing is so well designed. It's obviously powerful, but with a controlled recoil!"

 **Jaune looked at Nora and Ruby, nodding slightly. "A fine weapon, but I question if one weapon will be enough. I can tell by your stance, you haven't been home in a while. Humans huddled against walls, never knowing if that day would be their last. We live with painful reminders that everyone we know could die. We are immortal through our Ghosts, but** _ **they**_ **are not."**

 **Ruby turned to her Guardian, waiting for her nod. With it, the Ghost moved over to Jaune again, "This is going to break a bunch of rules, but I think you deserve to know." Ruby's eye started to glow and projected a hologram of a massive city around Jaune. "This is the Last City. Humanity survives into the future. They sleep on beds, warm and happy as the Vanguard protects them. They go about their days with smiles. All because of people like you, Saint."**

 **Jaune looked at the city, amazed but skeptical. After everything he'd just seen, it was hard to imagine a world so safe and secure. "You have given me much to think about." With that last line, the screen went white.**

Ruby looked up toward the screen, "Is it over?"

Weiss shrugged, "It doesn't feel over. If it was, the screen would be black, right?"

 **The screen faded back in and showed Nora running across a dark ground of stone. She had reappeared on Mercury after a series of trials and time travel. This was a time just before her first revival, only months before Ruby found her in the outskirts of Vostok. Nora jumped over a large rock formation and reared a fist back before slamming down onto a Vex Goblin. Kicking off, she ran toward another, only for its head to shatter apart from a shotgun blast. Nora slowed to find Jaune kicking the robotic creature to the side.**

 **Jaune turned to Nora, his armor showing clear ware and tear, "Now this is a surprise." He sounded more jovial, almost happy again. "It has been far too long, my friend!"**

 **Nora chuckled a bit to herself. Thanks to the Sundial, it was only a few hours, but to him it was decades. "Hey Saint."**

 **Jaune walked to her and slammed his hand against the back of her shoulder, a gesture that could knock lesser Guardians to the ground from force. "It is great to see you again!"**

" **You seem better."**

" **I've had plenty of time. Not only to think, but to act. You were right. As long as we stand, we need to save as many people as we can. I have fought many battles, but I have asked many more questions to myself. On the off hand, I still have a question for you." Before he could ask, a large Vex hand came crashing down over them.**

"Come on!" Yang really found these interruptions really annoying.

Nora huffed, having a similar reaction.

 **Jaune dipped away and looked up toward the large Vex Hobgoblin looking down toward him. Jaune just laughed, though. "Agioktis, the Martyr Mind. A Vex built specifically to destroy me. I heard about their little project, but didn't think they'd ever actually finish it." Jaune laughed, seemingly unfazed by the giant killer robot in front of him. "Should I feel flattered?"**

Jaune shook his head, "I wouldn't."

Yang disagreed, "Think about it, though. You're so awesome people need to focus on just trying to take you down. Pretty flattering in a way."

 **Agioktis raised a hand and Jaune was surrounded by an odd distortion effect before disappearing. The Vex mastered portal and teleportation technology, sending him to a pillar nearby. Once in place he was surrounded again by a bright hologram. Said hologram was a hard light structure meant to hold him down and drain his Light. Jaune tried to overpower the effect, but found it effectively impossible. "Damn it! I can't move!"**

 **Agioktis turned to Nora, its single eye/faceplate glowing a bright red. Nora didn't take the time to wait and ran around the creature, firing the Ace of Spades into the large Vex, focusing on the joint regions in the hopes to exploit a weakness. However, Agioktis was built to fight off the infamous Saint-XIV if it needed to. If Nora was going to beat this thing, she'd need to get creative. Unfortunately, she was going to have company. More, normal sized, Vex swarmed from nearby, ensuring Nora would have her hands full. The younger Titan didn't have the luxury of planning so she had to run and gun, literally.**

 **She ducked under a melee attack from a shielded Minotaur and kicked off the ground to slam her fist into a set of Goblins. After a roll to keep her momentum, she fired a series of shotgun shells into the grunts as she made her way toward Agioktis. The larger Vex leveled its gun toward her, charging the energy bolt within. Once it fired, Nora leapt over it and used the impact force to propel herself over the rest of the grunts toward the Martyr Mind. Using the force and her own Light abilities, her body surrounded by lightning and she flew down to slam her fist into its face. It was weaker than what she showed before, but it was enough to knock the Mind off balance.**

Nora cheered again, shouting about showing that 'big robot jerk' who's boss.

One would imagine Penny would have issues with what was happening and being said. But she really wasn't. For one thing, the Vex on screen were non-humanoid, giving off an almost demon/Grimm like vibe. For another, they didn't seem to be entirely robotic. Whatever that weird, electrified liquid was, it seemed almost organic. Like turbocharged milk or something. It just made her ask more questions than anything.

 **Nora fell to the ground again and ran between the Mind's legs, peppering its legs and back with her shotgun. As the Mind lurched forward, falling to a knee, Nora jumped onto its head and started to beat it down with her fists. The Martyr Mind, having had enough of this girl, used its ability to trap her in the light pillar instead.**

Nora swung her arms in fury, "No! No! Come on! Break out of it!"

Pyrrha thought for a moment, "Hold on. If the hologram is holding Nora now, does that mean…?"

" **AGIOKTIS!" Jaune was freed from the light, purple energy flowing around him. As the Mind turned to face its new opponent, Jaune jumped into the air and created his Void shield. He bashed the Mind with the edge of his shield, flying past the Mind and landing in front of Nora. He turned with a hand still reaching out toward the Mind. As Agioktis turned, the viewers could see the glowing shield stuck between the Vex's body plates.**

Jaune thought for a moment and played back events they'd seen in his mind. "Hold on. Isn't the effect a bubble shield?"

 **Jaune smirked behind his helmet and brought both hands together before snapping them both to the side. The shield lodged inside the Vex expanded in an instant and tore the Martyr Mind apart from within. Agiokktis's limbs went flying in separate directions and its torso crushed into each limb like paper. Its head fell to the ground and its faceplate cracked in half.**

 **Nora, without the will of the Martyr Mind to hold her, fell back to her feet and looked on in amazement. She had done damage, sure, but that was insane. She'd never imagined using the Ward of Dawn like a bomb. This was the ingenuity of a seasoned veteran like Saint-XIV.**

This accomplished three major things in the audience. The students thought over their own abilities and the skills of the huntsmen around them. They had never seen any of them actually exert themselves. Sure, team RWBY had seen Oobleck fight on the train. They'd seen Goodwitch's powers in action first hand. The breech gave them a look at their teacher's abilities. But they'd never seen any of their teachers seem tired in battle. They never seemed out of control or struggling against their opponents. It really put their own abilities into perspective. They were good, they all knew that (most of them, anyway). But the huntsmen they see everyday were the best. Even if it was proxy, it was humbling to think about.

 **Jaune laughed in triumph. "They sent everything to try to take me down! Yet I'm still standing!" With another, laugh, he slapped Nora's shoulder again, "Thanks to you!"**

 **Nora smiled behind her own helmet. "I'm just glad it all worked out. Now we can get out of here and head back home."**

 **A pulse of energy washed over them as more, smaller Vex walked through portals to join the fight.**

 **Jaune nodded with a small chuckle. "Go on ahead. Someone should stay behind to keep these bots in check." Before Nora could argue, he continued, "Like I said, they sent everything to kill me and they failed. I've waited a century on this planet. What's a few more years?"**

Ozpin, having many memories of many centuries could see the logic. A few years seem like nothing compared to everything he and his past lives had been through. He could also recognize a similar look across the boy's face, but it was clear it was more distant. Almost as if he was hearing it from someone else.

 **With that, everything went white again. This time, when things faded back in, Nora was running across the surface of present day Mercury. She gunned down the Vex around a massive triangular portal. She slowed as the last of the alien bots fell to pieces on the ground. She looked up toward the portal, half tempted to walk through herself.**

 **Suddenly, a Vex Goblin flew out from the portal, missing the lower half of its body. As it sparked, a shadow appeared through the portal, dragging the lower half of a Vex against the ground. His armor showed signs of going through hell, breaking in some places. The faceplate of his helmet had shattered open to reveal his face, showing Jaune was an Exo with purple light effects behind his plating, gold paint on the top of his head and ornamenting, and bright blue mechanical eyes.**

Viewers were starting to see a pattern with Jaune in these realities, constantly ending up as this robic figure. Granted, each had been different. The first was a Warlock, Jaune-6 was a Hunter, and this version was a Titan.

 **Nora looked up toward the man before her. She'd met him twice now, this champion of humanity and a legend made flesh (so to speak). She'd seen the man broken by grief and pain. She'd seen him captured by a beast designed for his death. But now? Now she saw the legend. The man called Saint-XIV. The light effect from behind didn't help make him seem less superhuman.**

 **Jaune saw her standing there and grinned. "My friend! It is excellent to see you again." He tossed the Vex legs to the side and started to walk closer to the stairway. As he did, a Minotaur stormed through the gate to try to finish Jaune off while his guard was down. Jaune just sighed and turned to the incoming robot. Jaune leapt up to meet the bot and grab it on either side of its head before slamming his head into the robot. A series of headbutts followed, breaking more and more pieces off of the creature's body. As it twitched from the onslaught, Jaune dropped what was left and turned around like nothing happened.**

Coco stifled a laugh as best she could. "Damn. I knew he was thickheaded, but that's nuts."

Jaune turned to her, confused, but felt that would prove whatever point she was trying to make.

 **Jaune met Nora at the bottom of the stairs. "You still owe me an answer from a few years ago. I deserve to know the name of the woman that seems to show up right when I needed it most."**

 **Nora, after grounding herself again, nodded. "I'm Nora Valkyrie."**

" **They call me Saint-XIV. You," he reached his hand toward her, "may call me Jaune."**

 **Nora met her hand to his and shook. It was a great moment for her, really meeting the man she'd looked up to for so long.**

Nora giggled in her own Nora way, "Yeah! I saved the fearless leader!"

 **Jaune didn't seem too impressed anymore, looking from her hand and back toward her.**

This made Nora a little nervous. "Wait, what's going on?"

 **Jaune scoffed, "What are you, a Warlock?! Try again like you mean it!"**

 **Nora jumped a bit, but soon found her footing again. She practically beamed with energy as she repositioned her hand. Now, it was as they were going to arm wrestle in the air. Bright blue sparks and a purple vortex surrounded their hands as they squeezed down on one another's hand. This was a Titan's handshake.**

"Oh!" Nora smiled, "I get it now. Much better!"

" **Nice to see you finally have someone willing to get their hands crushed." Blake was walking up to meet the two.**

 **Jaune laughed, "Osiris! Blake! How long has it been?"**

" **Too long, Jaune. But what's important is that you're back now. We can finally… what are you doing?"**

 **Jaune had his arms open toward her, "Come on! Bring it in!"**

 **Blake felt a chill run up her spine. "What? No. I'm not going to…"**

" **Not happening! I've been away for over a hundred years! I said, bring it in!" Jaune jumped to Blake and picked her up in a crushing hug.**

 **Blake writhed in his grip. She wasn't a Titan, so her body didn't have the same power within. "Let me go! I can** _ **feel**_ **my spine being crushed!"**

 **It was on this that the world faded to an end. That day, on the closest planet to the Sun, a legend stood amongst the living once more.**

Yang started laughing, "Oh man! That's just funny. Think I can get someone to squirm like that?"

Nora jumped up again, "I know _I_ can!"

"Nora, no!" Ren had to try to calm her down again before she hurt someone. Worst part was, because it wasn't an outright attack, she still could according to the theater's rules.

 **It took some wrangling from everyone involved, but things calmed down eventually.**


End file.
